In The Ballroom
by Jude Rigby
Summary: Settling in Los Angeles Castle and Beckett and family work their way through season 31 of Dancing With the Stars. While they're supporting Skye in each dance on the show they also explore Southern California and teach the children as autumn arrives. Thirty-second in the Beware Of Darkness series. Caskett pairing. Complete
1. Prologue- Made It Up In The Ballroom

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: I just want to say now at the beginning of this story that I don't know everything about filming _Dancing With the Stars_ so some things may not be exactly right, but I tried to write what made sense as much as I could with what I didn't know.

A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _New_ and _Ballroom Dancing_ by Paul McCartney, from his albums _New_ and _Tug of War_.

A/N #3: The title of this story and the title of this chapter are lyrics from the song _Ballroom Dancing_ , the same one mentioned in the A/N above.

Made It Up In The Ballroom

Listening to the tower, Beckett looked away from the plane that was banking above them and said to Derek, "How's it looking?"

"Great," the dancer replied. "They just need her to bank and then land."

"Good," Beckett said.

Smiling Derek said with a slight laugh, "Julia's ready to leave?"

"She may not be conveying that but believe me; she is," Beckett said, nodding her head. When the dancer laughed again she looked up at Skye's dad's plane she was flying while the film crew from _Dancing With the Stars_ was filming her at the Santa Monica Airport. She was there with her husband, Julia, Mari, Peter and Clive as they would be heading to the dance studios where the pairs on the show practiced. It was the thirty-first of August and the first day they would be able to watch the investigator practicing. She knew her daughter was eager to go but the boys were having fun watching the plane.

"That's so cool she knows how to do that," Clive murmured to Peter.

Nudging him the boy said under his breath, "You are getting a crush on her." Peter wasn't surprised when Clive frowned at him and shrugged before they watched Skye coming in for a landing before she parked near the hangar the plane had been in.

"Is she ready?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Beckett said as the plane was pushed into the building and the investigator got out. "Ready?" she asked when Skye was near them.

"Yeah," she replied with a smile. "So how was my flying?" Skye asked the kids.

"Great!" Mari said eagerly. "But… where's everyone else?"

"They're already at the studio," Skye said, smiling as she gestured for them to follow her so they could go to the crew. "Are we good?" she asked the cameraman.

"We are," he replied. "You got us some great shots."

"Thanks," Skye said before she went to Derek. "Ready?"

"I am, so is your family," the dancer replied in amusement.

"You got word they're there?" Skye asked in surprise.

"Yes, and your other daughter," Derek directed to Castle and Beckett.

"Of course she is," he said, knowing he meant Eliza. "We can go?" Castle asked.

"Yes, please," Skye said before they walked together to the parking lot where their two cars were. She let Derek drive and she went with Julia and Mari in the car with him as they made their way out to Hollywood.

"Wow… it looks just like on the show," Julia breathed once they were parking. "Well… from the side."

Derek laughed and said, "There are a lot of aerial shots I know, you'll definitely recognize it once we're inside."

"Probably," Julia said with a smile. When they had met up with her parents and the boys, she took her mother's hand before they were walking inside.

"Hey Mum," Kathleen said first, a wide smile on her face as the group was meeting them in the lobby. "Where?"

"Give us a sec sweetling," Skye replied with a slight laugh. She wrapped her arm around Ivy when the little girl had gone to her and they were following Derek to a room.

"Oh cool, I know this room," Julia said eagerly as she looked at the mirror along one wall and the steps against the side.

"Where should we go?" Castle asked though he wasn't sure there was anywhere else they could go and be out of the way of the two practicing.

"The steps," Derek said as they looked away from Skye and her wife who were kissing one another in greeting. "The cameras will come in eventually, but we'll have a voice over intro and probably your interview Skye?"

"That's what I said," the investigator replied, nodding her head. "I've done the interview for my intro for the premiere already," she told Castle, Beckett and the New York kids. "And I introduced you kids and you Rick, Kate."

"You needed to?" Beckett guessed.

"Had to," the investigator replied. "We'll be back," she told the others as she and Derek left hurriedly.

"They're not gonna change together are they Mommy?" Iris asked Mary.

Shaking her head, the doctor said, "No, they just both need to change." Mary said to the four kids who were staring at the mirror wall, "Go, I think you can go dance."

Glancing at her friends and then her parents; who nodded to each other; Julia jumped up with the others before she started to call out the names of the steps to the Jive and they were dancing together eagerly.

Beckett was smiling as she watched the two pairs, not surprised that Derek; and then Skye when she walked in behind him; paused just past the doorway to watch them. She wondered what her friend would say before the kids were stopped and the two at the door were applauding before the investigator was speaking to them first, which was no surprise to her as she'd been watching their steps closely.

"There's a reason why I asked you guys here," Skye told them with a smile. "Luckily I'm not incredibly dense and I knew what you were going to do as you called out the steps." She turned to her partner and said, "You're not going to start doing that are you?"

"No," Derek said with a laugh. When the four kids had started to go back to the steps he said, "Wait, there's one thing I wanted to check before we started our dance."

Eliza's eyes widened when she realized Derek was looking at her and she asked, "Me?"

"I've heard you can dance too," the dancer said.

"Sorta," Eliza said quickly, standing up when her sister took her hand.

"Can I see? I forgot to ask you last week, but I wasn't sure who you danced with," Derek added.

"With me or our teacher," Peter said.

"I practice at home with her," Julia then added.

"Will you dance with her?" Derek asked the boy.

"Yeah," Peter replied quickly.

"Jules," Eliza said in a desperate whisper, squeezing her sister's arm.

"Wait, what if I dance with her better?" Julia said quickly.

"Sure," Derek replied.

Watching Julia whisper into her sister's ear, Beckett was tempted to go over to them to see if the little girl was alright. But Eliza was soon smiling and nodding, so she remained where she was on the step before Julia was counting them in.

Calling out the steps again, and letting her sister know that time when to kick and flick, Julia lost herself in the dance they had. It was one she'd made up for them; basic steps so it was easier for Eliza; and when they stopped she was a little startled when she heard the applause from everyone. She then looked at Derek, hoping her little sister had done well enough so that she could be on the show as well.

"You'll be a good dancer if you keep practicing like that," he told the little girl with a smile. "So we'll keep you in mind should we need extra kids; if it's okay with your parents."

Hurrying back to the steps, Eliza wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and said, "Mommy-"

"We'll let you be in any dance Skye and Derek need you to be in," Beckett reassured her.

Squealing Eliza hugged her tightly before doing the same to her father and she said to the dancer, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Derek said. "Now we can start. Since it's Monday, let's go over from the start."

Julia, sitting with her friends, watched as the pair was talking about the intro, not surprised they were going to be standing in front of a prop of real airport chairs with a screen with a British Airways plane at a gate on it. She laughed when Skye looked back at them and she was able to say first, "Good idea."

"She's right," Mary said to her wife quickly. "But how are you getting the chairs out of the way."

"We didn't finish," Skye told her in mock annoyance.

"They're going to pull the chairs away and we'll have the sound of people talking and announcements," Derek took up. "Like in an airport."

"And the music will take over?" Castle asked.

Derek nodded and said to Skye, "Should we have that explanation in the intro?"

"I don't think so, the announcement was going to mention a flight number and a gate number so…" the investigator replied, shrugging her shoulders. Skye then said, "We'll hear the intro music and head a few steps and start," so he would know she had remembered.

"Yeah, toss your cap," Derek replied as they went to stand in front of the mirror wall.

"I'm wondering if we should just take them off beforehand," Skye said after a bit of hesitation.

"Disrespectful?" Derek guessed. When she nodded he suggested, "We should place them on the chairs with our coats."

"We should have said they're not pulling the chairs away too far," Skye told the others. "They're just going to be moved aside."

"And that's where we start moving," Derek said.

"Okay, your count," Skye started to say before there was a knock on the door. "Hey Bert, Vic," she said to the two men, one with a camera. "We were just going to start."

Castle glanced at his wife when the pair went to the _barre_ against the wall as the camera man prepared to film. He was relieved when that happened quickly, and they were filming, not surprised Eliza leaned against him while Skye and Derek went back to where they'd been standing before.

"Alright, one two three four," Derek counted off before they started to dance. "Twice… flick and step!" he called to her before they grabbed each other around the waist and started to turn one another.

Julia's eyes went wide on that, surprised the investigator wasn't getting sick as she knew beginners spinning like that would do. She wanted to comment about it but knowing the camera was filming she felt a little shy talking. The pair was spinning a second time before Skye stopped him and turned to her to her surprise.

"What do you think?" the investigator asked the girl. "Spinning twice like that?"

"Where are you in the music?" Julia asked after hesitating for a moment.

"Remember it's not the full song," Skye told her.

"Singing _grá_?" Mary asked her wife.

Nodding Skye then looked at Derek and after he'd counted them in she sang as they moved, though not quite as fast as they'd been moving, " _I can try to give you everything you ever wanted, you're not hard to please_ -"

"Wait!" Peter said quickly. He blanched a bit when the pair stopped and said, "What if you clapped instead of spinning."

"I was going to say," Julia said, nodding and not surprised Mari and Clive were doing the same too. "After the whole verse. It's a lot of clapping though."

"I think we can do that. And spin while, _Keep on sending your love_ , is going?" Skye asked. When the four kids nodded, she smiled and looked at her partner before saying, "For two lines, then travel down and spin again?"

"Sing for me?" Derek said to her.

Nodding, knowing from the past two weeks they'd been practicing together that he would use it to choreograph, Skye sang the first verse and the chorus as he showed her and the others how they'd dance and move on the dance floor. When she sang the second verse she wasn't surprised when he made a gesture with his hand to go with the lyric, " _Got a feeling there's a jungle rhythm beating in me_ ," before he spun around and started the steps again. When she had finished she said with a smile, "You'll have to make sure I can do that."

"We will right now, but each section of lyrics," Derek replied. "Don't sing though."

"I know," Skye said with a laugh. "I tried that the first week and…" she started to say before she stopped herself.

"Did you get out of breath?" Mary asked.

"Mum!" Marie and Kathleen said at the same time.

"I was alright, we stopped and took a break," Skye reassured them. "We're using the music."

"Is the band going to be performing this?" Beckett asked her as Derek went to the speaker that was on a chair near them on the steps.

"No, Paul gave us permission to use the song luckily," Skye said with a smile. She then turned to Derek, as he'd instructed Marie to play the song when he said, and they got ready to dance again. She was able to perform the first few steps when she stepped on the left and needed to be doing that on the right.

" _Yazyk_!" Beckett said jokingly to her friend since she'd cursed in Russian, saying the word language herself. "You had a good start though."

"Are you two watching her closely?" Derek asked Julia and Peter. When they nodded, looking confused, he then said to Mari and Clive, "Back them up."

"Okay," the latter two said with a laugh.

"Once more, your right…" Derek told his partner. "Two… three… one… two, kick flick. Ah, on the heel."

"I know, I know," Skye said with a sigh as they had to stop. "Julia, come here and help me?"

"Sure," the girl said, jumping up. Julia tried not to pay attention to the camera that was focusing on her and she glanced back at her mother who smiled at her. She smiled back quickly and then went over to Skye saying, "You're thinking of the spinning step, you don't have that anymore remember."

"I know, but I have a bit of trouble getting that transition since it's new," Skye replied. "Which is odd since it's a simple slide."

Shrugging Julia said, "Just think of moving over to the other part of the floor… or think of the lyric."

" _You've got something that'll save us, save us now_ ," Skye sang. When Julia was just smiling at her she urged, "Well go on then, do it."

"Oh!" Julia said in surprise. "Sure," she said before she waited for the investigator to sing the lyrics again. She kicked and flicked a bit before stepping forward with her foot before she was doing the skipping steps the pair was going to be doing yet again. "Good?" she asked.

"I knew there was a reason I had you here," Skye said with a smile, ruffling her hair. "Let's try again," she then said to Derek, turning to him. "And then I'd like the two to try those dance steps so we can see them."

"Also let you dance," Derek commented as he went over to her. "We can tell," he said as both Julia and Peter looked slightly abashed. "Don't worry, it shows me you're dedicated. The four of you," he added.

Beckett wasn't surprised when Julia was smiling as she sat down, and she squeezed her daughter's shoulder before they watched Skye and Derek beginning to dance again. They were doing that for a while; the same steps; before they stopped and allowed the two pairs of kids to try out the steps themselves. "Great job," she said to the kids when they'd finished taking turns.

"Thanks," Clive said. "Can I ask something?" he directed to Skye.

"Sure," the investigator replied, drinking some water.

"Are you gonna have a name?" Clive asked.

"You mean like a team name?" Derek said.

When the boy nodded Ivy said, "Team Take off!"

Laughing with the others Castle said when they'd stopped, "Maybe that would work."

"It might," Skye said. "Captain and Tennille?" she then asked her partner.

"Oh no," Derek said, laughing with everyone. "We'll think of something-" he started to say before Skye was interrupting him.

" _I've got my feet in the clouds, got my head on the ground, I know that I'm not a square as long as they're not around_ ," the investigator sang.

"Team Feet in the clouds?" Mary said slowly.

Skye laughed and then shook her head saying, "No, something with the sky, that was the first song that came to mind. But Derek's right, we'll need to wait and see what we might come up with."

"Skye Hough?" Castle said.

"Let's leave off the names," Skye said when they'd stopped laughing again. "We'll never get anything done. I see why that stopped," she said to her partner.

"I know, let's get some more in before we use up time before lunch," Derek said before he nodded to Beckett who had his phone and they started over with their dance as everyone was watching again.

* * *

"Are you tired at all?" Beckett asked her daughter as they got out of the car.

"Nope," Julia replied with a smile. "You?"

"I wasn't the one dancing," Beckett replied.

Sighing Julia said as they walked across the McDouglas' backyard, "I wish we hadn't had to leave."

"I know, but they wanted to be alone to practice," Beckett told her gently. "And they're going to keep doing that just for this first dance."

"Yeah," Julia said. "I'm just glad you let us come here though we won't be there that much."

"Like your mom said, just the first week," Castle said before he looked up to see his father in law coming out quickly before he was calling to his wife to their surprise.

"Josie needs to nurse," Jim told his daughter simply. When she was jogging up to him he said, "I was just about to get some formula ready, but I saw you."

"Thanks Dad," Beckett said quickly, entering the house and hearing Josie crying. She went over to the living room in front of the house and saw that Martha was walking with the baby against her shoulder. "I've got her," she told her mother in law.

"Oh good," Martha said with a smile as she turned to her daughter in law. She handed Josie over to her and then said, "I'll help Jim and Mary with the kids."

"It's just the four of them," Beckett called. "The McDouglas girls and Mary stayed at the studios to have lunch with Skye but they'll be here soon," she said, talking in a rush as she was opening her blouse to set the baby to her breast.

"Hello Mother," Castle said, walking up to her.

"Hello, how was it?" Martha asked.

"Fun, we're not going to be going in too often," Castle said, glancing to the other room since they were in the hallway from the family room and kitchen to the living room. "But just this first dance since they're making sure Skye knows the basic steps."

Though she wanted to ask her son what he thought of the dance so far, Martha knew he was itching to be with his wife so she nodded and said, "It'll be nice to see."

Hurrying over to the living room, Castle saw his wife was fine nursing the baby, looking down at her and letting her hold her index finger. "Hey love," he told her as he walked into the room.

"Hey," Beckett said with a smile as she looked up at her husband. She shared a kiss with him when he sat next to her on the couch. "You left the kids with our parents?"

"Of course," Castle said simply as he knew what she was doing. He gently ran his hand over the back of Josie's head and said, "Are you ready for school?"

Beckett was about to reply to him teasingly; as he'd done to her; when she remembered her father was going to be working with Eliza that day and was about to tell him to talk to him when her husband spoke first.

"He knows, I mentioned it to him when I was setting lunch in the kitchen," Castle assured her.

Nodding, Beckett switched Josie to her other breast and then told him, "What's the schedule for the sixth graders once I finish with French?"

"Math, we're keeping that first," Castle replied as he was going to be teaching Mari, Clive, Marie and Kathleen. "Luckily that's the same between our states."

Nodding Beckett said, "You need to get me a towel," as she realized she didn't have one. "And then head to the kitchen to make sure we get everything ready for them to eat."

"And you," Castle commented as he got up reluctantly.

"I think that was a given," Beckett said, smiling as she watched him go for as long as she could before facing forward again.

"Here Dad," Julia said, coming up to him. "Gram said Mom needed it."

"Thank you," Castle said gratefully before he walked back to his wife. "Mother told Julia," he explained when he saw the surprise on Beckett's face.

"Oh… I'm glad she did," she replied. Beckett took the towel then and got it on her shoulder just in time as Josie was finishing. She began to burp the baby, saying to her husband, "Are you ready for everything else?"

"I am, don't worry," Castle said, knowing why she was talking about the lessons they would be giving the kids that day. "We're doing fine so far love."

"I don't want any of the kids to fall behind," Beckett confessed. "Especially ours."

"They won't," Castle said reassuringly. He then squeezed her hand on their baby's back and told her, "Luckily we have those guidelines."

"I know," Beckett said with a slight laugh before she handed the baby to him as she could tell Josie had finished. She fixed her blouse and then stood up before they went to the kitchen, startled to find the McDouglases were outside in the backyard with the other kids.

"We have enough food," Castle hurriedly told his wife while she was giving Josie to her father. When she looked at him he said, "I figured you were thinking that."

"Did you know she was coming back?" Beckett asked. "They were," she corrected herself.

"No, I just thought we should have extra… and there are a lot of us," Castle replied, since he'd been the one to order their dim sum lunch. "Luckily now there are even more so there won't be too much left over."

Beckett shook her head as she smiled before she went over to the sliding door to head outside with him. "You're finished already?" she asked.

"I am," Skye replied. "We just wanted to review before we stopped. Tomorrow I'm heading in in the afternoon."

"Good to know," Castle said, studying her.

"What's going on?" Beckett then asked, not surprised when the kids looked at her in confusion.

"Alright, you found me out," Skye said, a wry grin on her face. "I was planning this next week but since most schools are now back in session we can do this."

"And our contacts pulled through and we have front of the line passes," Mary added, not surprised when their two oldest gasped.

"Where are we going?" Kathleen asked. "Magic Mountain?"

"Knott's!" Marie cried out. "It's Knott's isn't it?" she said in a rush.

Beckett was startled and then realized they had lunch in the kitchen and she was going to bring that to Skye's attention when the investigator was turning to her.

"Look, I know you bought lunch, but I'd like us to head out for both meals… it will keep until tomorrow," Skye began. "And we have to use these tickets today."

"Mommy-" Eliza started to say.

"We can go," Beckett interrupted her. "But what about you two?" she said, turning to her father and mother in law.

"I'll tag along," Jim said.

"I should stay home," Martha said. "Well… where is this park?" she said after hesitating for a moment.

"Buena Park, and are you thinking of the baby?" Mary asked her. When she nodded she told her, "Good thinking, it's eighty-nine there right now so it's a bit hot for Josie."

"But Gram-" Eliza said in disappointment.

"What you could do," Skye said then. "Is come meet us for dinner. I should have said the park closes at eight but the restaurant where we go is outside the park; right outside. We'll eat there, head back in and spend the rest of the night before we come home and go straight to bed," she said, ending by looking at her five daughters.

"We'll go to bed Mummy," Fleur said first.

"Good," Skye said.

"Do you have a ticket for her?" Castle suddenly asked.

"I do, I forgot about the baby and the heat and told our contact our full number," Skye said.

"Will it be cool enough after?" Julia asked.

"If we eat at five or five-thirty it would be," Beckett said. "Come and then we'll decide for Josie and you can have the final say after," she told her mother in law. When she nodded, she then hurried so they would all be ready to go to the park before she went to Martha to make sure she would be alright with the baby.

"Don't worry Kate," Castle's mother told her as she was checking where the baby's bottles were in a cupboard in the kitchen.

"I know, I just wish we'd been with her a little longer today," Beckett said. "But," she continued as she closed the door and turned to her mother in law. "We're not going in to their practice tomorrow so I'll have the chance."

"And you'll have fun today," Martha commented.

Beckett said, with a smile, "I'm sure your son will make sure I do. But I did want to visit this place. When Skye and Mary were talking about it they seemed eager."

"Well of course we were," the investigator said as she and her wife were coming into the kitchen from the stairs. "The first time our youngest three get to see it."

"You haven't had the chance to take Fleur yet?" Martha asked with a smile as those three girls were with the two.

"Just Disneyland," Mary replied. "Oh, good they're coming," she said, hearing the steps on the stairs behind her. "And we'll have to do something special for your dad," she said to Beckett. "Since he'll need to babysit a number of times."

"He won't mind," Beckett assured her.

"We'll still do something," Skye said firmly. "Now you have the extra clothes for them all?" she asked.

"Yes," Castle said, holding up the bag with extra clothes the two women had told them to bring for water rides. "And ours."

"And we have ours," Skye said. "We're ready to go," she told them, to let the Castles know they needed to say goodbye to Martha and Josie.

"We'll see you at dinner," Castle's mother told her family firmly when they came to her and the baby. "So just a quick ta kiddos," she said to her granddaughters.

"She's right," Beckett said, giving her mother in law a quick hug last. "Thank you again and please do something you'll enjoy."

"I have plans already darling, have fun. All of you," Martha assured her before she said the last to everyone.

"We will, see you at five," Skye said before they were heading outside and to the cars.

After splitting up in their cars, the group drove east to Buena Park and gathered together at the parking lot for the amusement park. They walked up to the entrance, Skye walking backwards in front of everyone so she could talk to those that hadn't been there yet which were most of them.

"Our restaurant for dinner is here," the investigator said, indicating the building. "And does anyone mind Mexican for lunch?"

"Oh Mum, _Cantina_?" Marie asked eagerly.

"Yep," Skye replied.

"We're here!" Clive exclaimed. "The first theme park?" he asked Skye and Mary.

"Derek!" Julia and Mari were suddenly crying out at the same time.

"Hey, I made it," the dancer said to the group with a laugh. "Surprise," he said to the kids.

"Are they filming you?" Castle asked as the adults were all shaking the pro's hand.

"No, Skye and Mary invited me and I said why not," Derek replied. "I haven't been in years though, so you'll have to guide me."

"Mum and Mom will do that," Kathleen commented.

Beckett smiled as the kids were soon distracted by the corkscrew roller coaster they could see and another that was going straight up on a single line of track before it went backwards. They were walking into the park itself finally and she wasn't surprised when the kids nearly ran to the huge water tank that spilled down water and she said simply, "You go underneath, no rides."

"That's not fun Mommy," Eliza said from her father's shoulders.

"We'll go on a water ride…" Castle began though he looked at Skye and Mary.

"I'm not sure about the height restriction," Skye said first.

"But we're going to walk through the part of the park just for her," Mary said with a smile.

Eliza was frowning in confusion at that before she gasped and cried out, "Snoopy!" seeing a sign that said _Camp Snoopy_.

"There he is," Julia told her little sister when she saw the character.

"Want to get a picture with him?" Castle asked. He felt Eliza nod and when they got close to the character he set her down on the ground, watching her run to her mother.

"I'll take your picture sweetie," Beckett assured her.

"This is boring," Peter said, not surprised when Julia and Marie; who he was standing with; glared at him. "Sorry, I can't help it."

"Oh, he's hungry," Julia said to her friend.

"Oh, that explains it," Marie said with a laugh before their attention was being called and they started to walk again. "The rides are for little kids, but Mum and Mom tell us they're good rides for after we eat. Well… some of them."

Nodding, as she'd seen a kid roller coaster, Julia said, "Have you been on that?"

Shaking her head Marie said, "That one's called Montezooma's Revenge. See how they spelled it?"

Giggling at the two o's, Julia nodded and said, "Has your mom gone on it?"

"No way," Mary replied, having gone to the two since they'd slowed down. "Come on, we're eating over here."

"It's not a restaurant," Skye was telling Castle, Beckett and Jim apologetically. "But we love this one since it reminds of us of the _Alamo_ in San Diego."

"This is fine," Castle said first. "They have a kid's menu, right?" he said.

"They do," Mary said, not surprised he'd noticed how small the menu was. She and her wife gathered their children then and after Castle and Beckett had gotten theirs, they moved up to the menu and ordered before they were gathering around the tables in the shade and sat to eat.

"Do we need to go to Camp Snoopy Mum?" Kathleen was asking her mother when they were nearly all finished eating.

Not surprised their daughter was asking that, Skye answered and said firmly, "We do, also we need to give Eliza a good chance to have her turn at rides."

"But she can ride Ja-" Marie started to say.

"She can't," Skye said after she'd wiped her mouth. "Did we have a good meal?"

Laughing, as she knew that was directed to her, Beckett said, "Don't worry, I enjoyed my tacos."

"The fajita plate was very good," Jim said.

"Mine too," Castle was quick to say.

"I liked my taco!" Clive said firmly.

Hearing the same from the other kids Derek said, "I think it was a success."

Skye explained why she had been asking that and was pleased when her partner told her he had enjoyed his food as well before they got up to walk over to Camp Snoopy. "Okay, so we have a few slow rides," she began. "And we're all going on them… well, this isn't directed to you Derek."

"I didn't think it was," he said with a laugh. "What do you want to go on Eliza?"

Smiling shyly, the little girl then hurried over to Marie and Kathleen and asked, "What's a good ride."

"Huff and Puff?" Kathleen said to her twin who nodded. "That one," she then directed to their mothers.

"Let's let you two see and decide," Mary told Castle and Beckett. After they were walking to it she explained the ride saying, "Unfortunately only she and our three youngest will be able to go on that ride."

"I don't think I'd want to," Mari couldn't help saying when they saw it, carts that small kids were moving a cart by pushing and pulling a lever.

"I wanna go!" Eliza said eagerly.

"Me too," Fleur said, not surprised Ivy and Iris agreed immediately.

"Come on, let's get into line," Skye said to the three girls.

"I'll take her," Beckett said before she got Eliza's hand and they went to the front of the line since there wasn't any. She let the little girl go onto the cart on her own, smiling as Eliza waved at her before she left so she could take pictures of her.

"I'll have to bring them back here when you're on the roller coasters," Jim said, standing next to his daughter as the four youngest were going around. He was about to ask her if she was planning to go on all of them when Beckett answered him first as she was smiling.

"Are you sure you'll have fun here?" she asked.

"I will," Jim assured her. "I'm not going to go on every roller coaster but hopefully I'll find one or two." He looked at Eliza who was coming back up to the end of the ride and said quickly, "Will she have anything bigger to go on besides these rides?"

"I'm not sure," Beckett replied. "Let's hope there's at least one roller coaster."

"I think she's hoping the same," Castle said.

"She's only tall enough for one," Skye said. "It's why I wanted to come so much later in the day."

"I'll have to tell her," Beckett commented.

"She won't be mad, will she?" Skye said as Mary was going to the end of the line as the four girls were getting off the ride.

"No, there's other rides, right?" Castle said. "Not roller coasters?"

"There are," Skye said with a smile. "A number of them luckily," she added before she went to her three daughters.

"I don't know if Mum would want us to tell you about all the rides," Marie said slowly, she, her sister and the four oldest from New York standing together as they waited for the four youngest.

"What's that one then?" Julia asked, pointing to the red and yellow roller coaster they could see.

"Silver Bullet, Mum loves that one," Kathleen answered quickly.

"Does your mom like any crazy rides?" Peter asked.

"Thrill rides," Julia corrected with a smile. "And does she?"

"It depends," Marie said after she and her twin shared a look.

"You guys," Castle called to them since they had the four youngest off the ride. "Let's go on the Ferris Wheel."

After they were all together the group made their way through Camp Snoopy and the slower rides until the parents were satisfied they had digested their lunch well enough.

"What's that?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide as they came to a ride that was going around and the people were riding it while laying down.

"Linus Launcher. You'd like to give it a try honey?" Mary asked her.

"Yeah," Ivy said eagerly.

After everyone said they wanted to go, the group went onto the ride, the younger kids crying out in exhilaration though the older six were just laughing together. When they got off the ride they gathered together, talking, before Beckett went to them in time to hear them.

"I hope we're done with the little kid rides," Clive groaned. "They're so boring."

"Guys," Beckett said simply. She smiled when all six of them looked at her with wide eyes and she said, "They need a chance too. But we're going to another ride."

"What land?" Mari asked eagerly.

"Area," Kathleen said quickly.

"Area," Mari corrected herself.

"Here," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the kids all groaned, and she beckoned them to follow her before they reached the ride.

"Oh, cool!" Peter said eagerly as they quickly saw it was a roller coaster.

"The cars are turning!" Julia said in surprise as a train was going then.

"They are," Beckett said before she heard her husband calling her name. She went over and saw he was pointing at the sign for the ride, making her shake her head. "Sorry sweetie, I don't want you to get sick," she told Eliza as the little girl looked angry though it said she was tall enough to go with a guardian.

"But-" she started to say, sounding as if she were in tears.

"There's a better roller coaster over there, we wanted to take you there," Beckett interrupted.

"You're not going to come with us Mom?" Julia asked.

"We'll take the kids; Skye and Derek will go with you," Beckett said. "We'll go on another roller coaster together later."

When she nodded, Julia watched her mother go with Castle, Eliza, Mary, Jim and the three youngest McDouglas girls before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She smiled at Mari before they held each other's hand to go in their line for the Sierra Sidewinder roller coaster.


	2. Made It Up In The Ballroom (Part 2)

After the two groups had gone on the two roller coasters they regrouped outside Montezooma's Revenge where they watched the roller coaster going before Skye spoke first of them all.

" _Quien quiere continuar con esto_?" the investigator asked.

"We do," Marie and Kathleen said.

"Did anyone else understand that?" Mary asked the rest of the kids.

"Um… something about this," Peter said first.

"Who wants to go on this?" Julia guessed.

"Good guess," Beckett said. "She's right, she asked who wants to go on this. And for you Eliza you'll need to stay, you're a little too short for it and I don't think I'd let you go on this yet."

"Kay," the little girl said as she had watched the roller coaster going through the loop backwards.

"Are you going?" Castle asked Mary.

"No, I'll stay with Jim," the woman said. She picked up Fleur and said, "He needs someone to help him watch the girls."

"Are you going on a ride?" Castle asked them.

"This'll be quick," Mary answered. "And I'm sure the girls will want to watch," she added, indicating the four of them staying off the ride.

"We'll be back," Beckett said, squeezing Eliza's shoulder before they made their way to their line. "How will we sit?" she asked.

"I wanna go with you Mom," Julia said.

"I'll go with Mari," Castle said quickly before he looked at Clive and Peter.

"Should we divide these two between us?" Skye asked, indicating herself and Derek. "Marie and Kath have been on this already."

At the agreement about their seating arrangement they went to the front of the line and were soon dividing up to take their seats on the roller coaster train.

"Mom?" Julia asked as she looked at the lap bar and seat belt they had for restraints.

"It'll be alright," Skye said, behind them with Peter. "This ride has been here for years."

Beckett wanted to ask how many exactly when the operator at the front was giving a thumbs up saying, "Clear, dispatch." She was about to warn Julia they were about to start when the roller coaster was launching and fast, making her cry out with her daughter. They flew into the ride's inversion as it was shortly after the launch and she was laughing slightly as Julia next to her was crying out in joy.

When they climbed up the track, Julia was screaming with Mari as they came very close to the top of it. But it was luckily brief before they were going backwards, and they were screaming again. She was grateful for the ponytail her hair was in as she could at least see the track they were leaving behind. When they went through the loading station she was laughing, as it didn't seem like something they should be doing. But they were stopping again on the track on the other side of the station before going forward again, dropping down and coming to a stop where they'd begun. "Is that it?" she asked her mother in slight surprise.

"It is, sorry sweetie," Beckett told her.

"That's okay, we can- Mari!" Julia said worriedly when she saw her father picking up her friend in the row ahead of them.

"She's okay," Castle said quickly, waving off the worker who started to walk over to them.

"What happened?" Julia asked, going to her and hugging her tightly when her father set her down.

"I'm okay, that was a really fast start," Mari replied, smiling at her.

"Let's get out of the way," Beckett said, putting her hand on the girl's back. "And get you some water." She held Mari's shoulder as they walked, gesturing to her husband to take Julia with him so she could make sure the girl was alright.

"Thanks," Mari said to Beckett once they were away from the line.

"You're very welcome," she replied. "You're okay?" Beckett asked, kneeling in front of her.

"Yeah… I've been on rides like that before," Mari said in embarrassment.

"It surprised me too," Julia said, having broken away from her father to run back to the two.

"But I still want to go on roller coasters," Mari said rapidly.

"Why don't we try something else first?" Beckett suggested gently while she was standing.

"Sure, but it looks like everything's roller coasters," Julia stated.

"We'll ask Skye and Mary," Beckett said before they headed over to where everyone was standing.

"Is she alright?" Skye said first in concern.

"Yeah, just a little surprised," Beckett said.

"Don't worry, I had the same reaction the first time I went on this one," Mary said, gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Should we have a break then?" Skye asked.

"No, are there any rides that would be okay for her?" Beckett said.

"Not in Camp Snoopy," Castle said quickly, looking over at the two boys who had sucked in breaths of air hearing him.

"No, well… there is the log ride," Mary said, looking at her wife.

"There's a drop in the dark," Skye said. "But nothing so scary. And of course, the last drop though it's less than Splash Mountain."

"Can I see it? Can we see it?" Mari asked hopefully.

"Come on," Castle said with a laugh as he knew they shouldn't try to keep her from that at least. He got Eliza and put her up on his shoulders before she was squeezing him around his head. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Will you do this for Fleur… and Ivy and Iris?" Eliza asked him, keeping her voice low.

"I would ask but I don't think they'd want me to," Castle said, surprised she'd asked. "They would want to stay with their mothers I think."

Eliza nodded, looking around at the rides they were passing as well as the buildings. She smiled at the screams she could hear before she noticed they were coming to some rocks with trees on them. "Is that it?" she guessed.

"It is," Kathleen said first. She smiled and said, "This ride has been here forever."

"It has," Derek said in agreement. "Someone told me that the first time I came here."

"What do you think Mari?" Beckett asked the girl when they'd come around to the front of the ride and could watch a boat coming down the drop.

"It looks cool," the girl said eagerly. "I'm okay now, I want to go on this one."

"Alright," Beckett said with a nod as she'd been watching Mari while they were walking. She could tell the girl was okay but wanted to delay for just a bit longer for her sake, so she asked the others, "Who can't go?"

"Everyone can," Marie said quickly. "The little kids get to go with an adult to companion with."

"A supervising companion," Skye said, playfully ruffling her daughter's hair. "Five to a boat," she then directed to Castle and Beckett.

"Ten kids," the latter said first. "With six adults."

"Too bad we weren't even," Derek said.

"Well we can't divide the kids evenly," Mary said. "We should group now though. I'll take Ivy, Iris and Fleur."

"Go with them Mum," Kathleen said.

"And you two?" Skye said.

"We'll go with…" Marie started to say.

"We'll go with Julia, Eliza and Mari," Beckett said for herself and Castle.

"I'll go with the boys," Derek said. "If you guys don't mind." He smiled as the two shook their heads wordlessly, their eyes wide, and looked at Jim.

"Do-" Beckett's father started to say.

"We'll go with you," Kathleen said. "We can tell you about the ride."

With everyone laughing, the group separated into who would be riding with who and walked into their line, reaching the front shortly after and getting on the log boats as soon as they stopped at the loading platform.

"Keep an eye on Eliza, Mari," Beckett told the girl as they started through the water and then were going up the lift hill.

"Mommy," Eliza said, looking back at her mother and wrinkling her nose.

"Hey driver," Castle told the little girl teasingly. "Where are we going?"

Turning to look ahead of them, Eliza saw the sign above the wooden tunnel they were heading up to. Since they were moving a little it took her a moment to guess at the name and said, "The Calico Mines Daddy."

"Good, make sure we don't get wet," Castle said. He was startled when his wife looked behind her at him and said, "What?"

"Just for that we're going on whatever water ride we need our extra clothes for," Beckett said.

Castle wanted to tell her she would get wet too, but the boat had reached the top of the hill and they were entering someplace that wasn't a mind. "Sweetheart," he called as they were passing figures of men at machinery. "I think it's Calico Lumber," he said.

"They're cutting down trees?" Mari asked. "Boo."

Julia giggled and squeezed her friend's arms in front of her as they were watching two men sawing with a two-handled saw. "A drop!" she then cried out as they came to a small one. She laughed when her little sister put her arms up and they were soon going down and through the water a little faster. They turned to the right and then again to a short tunnel in the rock structure, going down a little dip again before that. "Okay?" she asked her friend.

"Yeah," Mari said laughingly as they were going faster and turning to the right for a third time. They soon made a slight turn to the left and went under a covered portion of the ride, turning to the right before they suddenly came upon a figure that made her, Julia and Mari nearly scream.

"It's fake," Beckett said, not surprised at the gasps and cry from the three girls at the figure on a porch of a log cabin playing a banjo.

"Doggie!" Eliza said eagerly as she had caught sight of it.

"Stop that!" Julia then said as to their right they were passing a lumberjack who was chopping down a tree with an axe.

"He'll be there for a while," Castle said, not surprised Eliza was then squealing at the sight of the small train past the lumberjack. He was relieved they were passing the logs on the cars behind the engine quickly but let out a groan under his breath at the sight of more logging equipment when they came outside.

"Mommy!" Eliza said worriedly when they straightened and came to where water was falling from above.

"Lean-" Beckett began before she realized they couldn't really do that in the narrow boat. They all got wet, hoping the girls would be alright going on whatever other water rides the park had as they turned to the left and passed another lumberjack.

Crying out as they came upon another figure, Eliza glanced back at it on their right turn and asked, "Was he a hobo?"

"He was, look forward driver," Castle said. He laughed when she looked to the side, sticking out her tongue, and he glanced past her to the turn to the right. He was trying to see what there was and saw what he guessed was likely the drop above them and to the left. He didn't point that out to anyone, and luckily their next right turn going behind a waterfall distracted the girls. He squeezed his wife's hand when they turned to the right into a tunnel and he knew they were getting close to the drop in the dark Skye had mentioned. He was about to ask Beckett if she wanted to warn the girls at all when she was speaking first, making him smile as he knew he should have realized she would make sure she did.

"We're probably getting close to the drop girls," Beckett told them.

"We can hear!" Julia cried out as the sound of falling water was in the distance. She held onto the railings on the sides of the log, tightly, as they went down the drop, crying out with her friend and sister. She laughed when they came to the bottom, getting splashed a little. They turned left in front of a waterfall, making her wish they'd had a little more time to admire it before her sister was squeaking in surprise as they passed a figure on a ladder in dim light.

Going by another waterfall, Beckett could see something up ahead and smiled when Eliza gasped in delight as a wolf was the first thing they saw when they were close enough to make out the details of the night scene. She laughed when the three in the front started to at the next scene of a camper outside his tent, his hat being taking off by what she guessed was a squirrel, unsure since they were moving so fast. "Easy," she said to Eliza who cringed at the bear they passed and mountain lion after.

Nodding, the little girl faced forward again and her mouth dropped open as it wasn't hard to see what was next. "It's a party!" Eliza cried at the man who looked like he was dancing.

"I think he's running on the log," Mari said laughingly before they passed more figures next to the first two. She only had a moment to see kids in a structure after a man sitting on a barrel and she said to Julia, "It's going too fast!"

"I-" Julia started to say before she cut herself off as they were passing by more loggers and machinery and then started up a lift hill. "Mom," she said, looking over her shoulder.

"I know," Beckett said quickly. "Eliza, we're going to be at the drop soon."

"I know," the little girl said though she was watching the men to their left holding sticks of dynamite. Eliza wrinkled her nose at one of them repeating the phrase, "Fire in the hole," but not lighting the sticks. She turned her attention forward and squeezed the railings as she could see they were approaching the outside. She didn't know it, but she was soon pressing back into Mari as they came out and it took her a moment to adjust to the light. The drop seemed incredibly tall and she was screaming with her sister and Mari as they were flying down to the bottom. When they splashed and slowed down, she laughed at the water and squealed saying, "I wanna go again!" before her father was talking to her from the back as they made their way around to the loading station.

"We have more rides to go on," Castle called to her. "But if we can we'll try to come back on this one."

Though she wanted to protest, Eliza had to focus on climbing out of the log, doing so with help from Mari before she was hurrying to her mother. "Mommy-" she started to say.

"Let's wait until we're with everyone else," Beckett interrupted her.

"Hey, what'd you lot think?" Skye asked once they were all together.

"It was fun, Lizzy wants to go on it again," Julia said.

"Okay," Skye said with a laugh. "I've been thinking of having us go on the big water ride here, get it over with now so we can change into those clothes."  
"Sure, but do the kids know we can only go on this once?" Castle said first.

"Our girls do," Mary said, glancing at Marie and Kathleen.

Shrugging the former said, "That's fine, we just want to go."

Taking Eliza, Castle put her onto his shoulders and followed the others over to the ride, wondering if he should ask the name of it. But while they were making their way through more of the park he saw they were passing several buildings that appeared to be Old West themed. He saw a lot of trees in the distance and was about to ask why they were placed there particularly when Eliza was screaming above him and making him take her off his shoulders to make sure she was okay.

"Did you see the horsies Daddy? Did you? They have horsies on the coaster!" the little girl was exclaiming eagerly as her father held her in front of him.

"Set her down Rick," Beckett told him quickly. She watched their third oldest hurry in front of the other kids to watch the roller coaster they were near. "I hope she can go-" she started to say before Skye was handing her the map and she saw the height restriction.

"Not good?" Derek asked. When Beckett shook her head, he scratched his cheek and said, "I could watch her."

"My father-" Beckett began to say, surprised at the dancer's offer.

"Julia wants him to come with us," Castle murmured to her.

"If you don't mind," Beckett said to the pro.

"I don't, we'll watch the ride," Derek said with a smile.

"In the shade," Beckett told him, gesturing to some trees. She was relieved when he nodded, and she went over to the little girl, picking her up. "Sweetie," she told her with a sigh when she saw how eager Eliza was. "I'm afraid you can't go on this ride."

"But…" she replied before her chin started to wobble as her eyes filled with tears. "I wanna go on the horsies."

"I know, I wish you could, but the park wants you to be taller," Beckett said, though she wasn't surprised when her words didn't make a difference and Eliza's tears began to roll down her cheeks. She sighed again and was going to talk to her daughter when Derek was walking over to them with Julia.

"Lizzy, Derek's gonna stay with you," the girl told her little sister.

"Oh… yeah?" Eliza asked in surprise. "But the ride-"

"I'll go on it another time," Derek said, reaching for her hand once Beckett had put her down. He was a bit startled when Castle came over to him and murmured in his ear, making him smile before he tried to wave off what the writer was trying to give him. But he didn't have the chance and he watched with the little girl as the group walked to the ride. "Okay," he said to Eliza. "Luckily your parents said we could get dessert."

"They did?" the little girl said, her eyes wide in shock.

"They did, your dad even gave me money for it," Derek said. "So let's get something now before we miss seeing them on the roller coaster."

As she looked around them, Eliza gasped and said, "Can we get a churro?"

"I think we can," Derek said, though Castle had suggested to him already to get that. He walked with the girl over to the stall, buying the dessert before they made their way to the best viewing point for the Pony Express roller coaster.

"That's weird," Julia said, watching the roller coaster train that was boarding ahead of them. She saw her mother was watching her and she said, "The way you sit."

"Well, if you're supposed to be riding a horse…" Castle commented. He smiled when Julia looked up at him and he said, "That's what they're doing."

Beckett smiled when Julia rolled her eyes and said, "Are you sure you want to go with Mari?"

"I am," Julia said seriously, nodding her head. She then smiled and said, "Are you gonna be okay riding together."

"Get on the ride," Castle told her in mock annoyance. "Smart aleck."

Smiling widely at her parents, Julia hurried ahead to where Mari was standing with Jim and they held hands before they moved ahead to the roller coaster that had come back. She let her friend go into the row first and she then followed her, sitting and holding onto the front of the horse in front of them.

"Are you girls set?" Jim asked, looking behind him at his granddaughter.

"Yeah," Julia said first.

"Are you?" Mari then asked.

"I am, I don't think this ride is very long though," Jim told her.

Beckett was going to say something to the girls, but the roller coaster was starting to leave the loading station before they made a slight left turn. She was a little startled when there was no lift hill, but then realized why that was. She had no chance to say anything as they were soon taking off and sweeping up and to the left before going down a drop. She was relieved when the girls were crying out in front of them but forgot about that as they went up and then down to the right before going up again.

They were swooping down to the right yet again and were going into a slight dip before coming up and Julia cried out, "A tunnel!" just before they went through one in a bank to the right. They were going up and down a small drop before they came right into the loading platform.

"It's… that was too short," Mari said in complaint.

"I know," Julia said. "But they said," she added, shrugging her shoulders. She then smiled and said, "Hopefully we can go on the water ride next."

"We will," Beckett said, getting off the ride with the others.

"I told her," Skye said with a smile as she walked up to them. "And we'll all be able to go on that one."

"Oh, I almost forgot about Lizzy," Julia said guiltily to her father.

"She'll be fine," Castle said, looking ahead of them before he spotted the pair who hadn't gone on the ride with them. He wasn't surprised when Eliza; seeing them and running up to them; thanked him for the churro and he glanced at his wife, hoping she wouldn't get mad at him for doing that.

"I had a feeling," Beckett said to her husband as she'd been quick to notice his look. "But sweetie, we can all go on the ride now."

"Oh… I can too!" Eliza told Derek happily.

Beckett placed her hand on Julia's shoulder, able to tell she was jealous of that, before she squeezed her and then said, "Will you ride with me?"

"Sure," Julia said eagerly, taking her mother's hand. As they were walking all together she knew Beckett had seen her envy of the time Eliza and Derek had spent together. But with her gentle touch she knew her mother was telling her that she didn't need to be as she might be spending more time with Derek for the show. She smiled up at her before she realized she could see the ride and she looked over at it, about to exclaim over the boats when her sister was doing so just before her.

"I get to go on those?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"You do," Beckett said before something came to mind. "But we need to wait."

"Mom-" Julia started to say.

"There's some buildings around here I'd like to get pictures of," Beckett said. When the kids all groaned she told them, "Just for ten minutes though and then we'll cool down."

"Is it because of Lizzy's snack?" Julia asked her mother as they were walking.

"It is, but it was just half a churro," Castle answered before his wife could. "So we'll be going on the rapids soon."

"I hope," Julia said firmly. She smiled when her parents both started to laugh, and she went to her mother, taking her hand and holding it as they were taking pictures of the Ghost Town area with their cameras in their other hands.

* * *

"We've gone on every ride?" Beckett said to Skye.

"Just barely but we managed to fit them all in," the investigator said, looking over at the kids. Skye smiled and said, "Good thing for the pass we had or else we would have been pushing it."

"And two rides are closed today," Mary added. She glanced further into the restroom where the oldest four girls were and said, "I'll check on them."

"I thought Kathleen looked a bit green," Skye said, sounding angry.

"She wanted to go on the ride," Beckett called as her friend walked inside after her wife. She looked over at the last roller coaster they'd gone on in the park, GhostRider, and wasn't surprised if the little girl had gotten a bit sick at the end as the wooden roller coaster was intense. "Is she okay?" she asked as soon as Skye and Mary were coming back with the girls.

"Yeah, I was patting her face with cold water," Marie said first, looking up at her sister with concern still. "Mom took over and she feels better."

"She could use something settling in her stomach though," Skye said as she was carrying Kathleen on her hip.

"It's time for dinner," Beckett said, smiling at the girl.

"Mummy?" Kathleen said then.

"Do you feel like you're going to be sick?" Skye asked in concern, leaning a little so she could look down at her daughter's face.

Shaking her head Kathleen asked, "Can I still go on rides?"

Laughing softly, Skye kissed her forehead before she said, "Let's make our way to the restaurant." As they were walking back to the others, she said to Kathleen, "You can lass, but you're not going on GhostRider again."

"Good," Kathleen said, nuzzling her face into her mother's neck.

"Are you two okay?" Beckett asked Julia and Mari as she was holding their hands.

"Yeah, it was fun," Julia said. "But we can't go on it again can we?"

"To be fair for Kath?" Mari added.

"If you two wouldn't mind," Beckett told them with a smile, running her hands over the backs of their heads. They'd reached the others who'd been waiting for them by then and she let the two girls go over to the other kids before she went to her father herself. "Okay Dad?" she asked him.

"I didn't go on that ride," Jim replied. "But it's been fun."

"It has," Beckett said, watching him go to where Eliza was waiting for him as her husband walked to her and they held hands while they walked out of the park. Since they had their hands stamped to get back in she wasn't surprised the kids were talking about that before she noticed someone with a stroller up ahead of them and she broke away from the group to reach her mother in law and Josie first.

"She's been doing wonderfully," Martha said with a smile as she handed her youngest granddaughter to her daughter in law.

"I know, I'm just glad to see her," Beckett said, nuzzling the baby's cheek with her lips. She smiled when Josie cooed a little and then said, "How was your day?"

"It was very relaxing," Martha said, speaking quickly as her granddaughters were hugging her by the waist.

Castle was taking Josie then, kissing her and playfully blowing on her cheek before he suddenly heard laughing next to his ear. He pulled away and looked at the baby, seeing the smile on her face. "Did she?" he asked his wife.

"She did," Beckett said, smiling herself before she was kissing their baby.

"That's the first time she laughed," Eliza said to Fleur who she was standing with.

"She thinks your daddy is funny," the little girl replied.

Nodding her head, Eliza went over to her family before she said, "Now you can laugh at Daddy's jokes Josa."

"We need to go inside," Castle said then, looking at Skye and Mary.

"He's right," the former said first. "Come 'ead you lot, we'll get to our tables."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said as she and her husband let everyone go inside first. "They always laugh at that."

Nodding, Castle pressed his lips to Josie's temple and then told his wife, "It got me emotional."

"I know," Beckett replied. "And Fleur's right, all our girls think you're funny." She smiled when her husband looked a little unsure about that and she kissed his cheek murmuring to him, "So do I. But they love their dad and I love my husband."

"Good to know," Castle said, smiling at her. They shared a brief kiss, as there were people walking by them and standing in front of the restaurant, and he told her before they walked into the building, "I love you."

"I love you too," Beckett replied before they went inside and to the dining area outside where they found their family and friends moving around a set of tables that were pushed together.

"It appears we're playing musical chairs," Skye said to the two when they were close.

"It looks like it," Castle said since it was mostly the kids that were walking around. "Guys?" he said to the kids. "Thank you, do you want to go on rides again after this?"

"We'll sit," Julia said, knowing what her father meant by that. She and the other kids hurried to the empty chairs and she was surprised when Derek sat in between herself Mari and she leaned over to look at her friend.

Though they'd known Derek for a while by then, Mari smiled a little at Julia, knowing she was thinking the same thing as her. "Um… have you been here before?"

"I have," Derek replied though he was repeating himself. He smiled at the girls; able to tell they were nervous; and he said, "But I think Marie and Kath are eager to be here."

"We wanted to hear what you're saying," Marie said as she and her twin were leaning over onto the table.

"Sit back you two," Martha said with a smile since she was sitting across the table from them. "We'll have enough time to talk while we wait."

"What is it?" Skye asked, watching her partner as he had gotten his phone from his pocket suddenly.

"They confirmed the order we're going in on premiere night," Derek told her.

Beckett raised her eyebrows slightly when Skye uttered what was obviously a curse though she wasn't sure what language it was. "What does that mean?" she asked the two though she was directing it more to Derek.

"We're going to be first," the singer said. "She doesn't want to do that." He glanced at Skye when she groaned, and he said, "If you couldn't tell."

"A lot of pressure being first," the investigator commented wryly.

"But what we saw of the dance is good Mummy," Iris said earnestly. "They'll love it."

"Thank you, lass," Skye said, smiling at her. "When are we practicing next?" she directed to her partner.

"Don't worry," Derek assured her. "We'll have more than enough time to go over everything."

"When can we go next?" Julia asked. She was a little frustrated when they needed to order, and she waited as patiently as she could for the waiter and waitress to finish and leave them before she looked at her mother expectantly to see if she would answer her question.

"We'll try on Thursday," Beckett said, looking at Derek as she spoke.

"That would be fine, I'll see how things are tomorrow," the dancer said. "But that'll be it for this week."

"Hopefully it's enough," Skye commented as their salads were being served with some biscuits. "Now even though we have dessert with the meals, you have to try their boysenberry jam."

"Along with the pie?" Jim asked as they'd all ended up ordering that except for the dancer and investigator who'd ordered the boysenberry sherbet at Derek's insistence.

"Yes," Skye said slowly as she was already slathering some butter on the biscuit she'd picked up.

"We're walking around the whole park," Derek told her as she was looking at him. "But tomorrow we're going vegan."

"Not really, we were joking about that," Skye said with some laughter as the kids were looking at her with wide eyes.

"Will that be on the… whatever you call it?" Castle asked.

"No because I don't know what the whatever you call it is," Skye said. "The rehearsal footage?"

"Yeah," Castle replied, smiling though his wife was glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"I don't know," Skye said. "We don't choose what goes into that. So we'll be as surprised as you are when we watch it. Okay, so back to these biscuits. Put the jam on but watch your kids. Ivy," she said to her daughter who was sitting next to her as she was using a spoon. She gently took it away and said, "You'll have some pie you know."

"But I have to share it with Iris," Ivy replied immediately.

"Yes, but it's enough sweets," Mary said. "Let your mummy take care of that."

After she had gotten a biscuit ready for Eliza, Beckett got her own and started eating, feeling her husband touching her arm before she looked up at him to her left.

"Is it the same jam?" Castle asked her.

"It is," Beckett said. "Do you like it?" she asked him, seeing he'd started to eat his own.

"Yeah, it's nice, sweet," Castle said with a nod.

"I like it," Eliza said. She smiled when her mother turned to her and she smiled as she'd made sure she'd gotten the jam all over her lips.

"Sweetie," Beckett told her with a loving smile as she gently wiped her mouth clean. "You're meant to taste it, it's not lipstick."

Giggling, Eliza pursed her lips at her mother before they shared a kiss and she bounced a little in her chair before they heard Josie starting to fuss.

"When was the last time she ate?" Castle asked his mother when his wife got up to go to the carrier where the baby was.

"Only an hour ago," Martha commented, unbuckling the baby for Beckett. "She must want her mother."

"Her mother wants her," Beckett replied with a smile, picking the baby up and kissing her before she took her back around to her chair. "Tell us how your rehearsal schedule will go next week, I just realized we need to know for their lessons."

"Well, I was planning on having us getting used to our schedule we'll have once the show starts," Derek began when he paused to finish his biscuit. "We have the show on Monday evening and right after we'll meet up at the rehearsal studio we're assigned and get next week's dance and song. We'll practice through to Friday and you'll have the weekend off though I may give you time off depending on what happens. Monday before the next show we'll go in for camera blocking and do some final practicing."

"Mom already knows the next song," Kathleen said in a loud whisper.

"I don't," Mary replied. "I just gave a list of songs and what they used… I won't know until your mum does."

"Mum sing that song!" Marie gasped.

"Not now, perhaps after while we perambulate," Skye said as she noticed waiters and their waitress coming with plates. She smiled when her daughters, the Castle girls and Mari groaned in disappointment, but was surprised when Peter and Clive joined them in that. "You two haven't seen me doing that before," she told them after they had their plates.

"We saw the music videos you were in," Clive said first.

"Fair enough," Skye said after thinking for a moment. "We should eat though, we have your favorite rides to go back on."

With that the group settled down to their food and ate for a while before the kids were talking about the rides they absolutely had to go on again.

"Do we need to make a list?" Jim asked with a smile.

"I think we should go in order of age; we did that at Disneyland," Julia said, finishing the last of her share of the cherry rhubarb she and Mari were sharing as the kids were all splitting meals since they were an even number.

"We were going to," Skye replied with a smile. "But what are you going to do once we're finished with dinner?" she directed to Martha.

"Oh, don't tease them," Castle's mother said, smiling at the investigator. "You told them I have a ticket as well, so I'll be joining you."

"And Josa too?" Eliza asked, looking at the baby though she'd been taken back across the table once their food had arrived.

"Yes, but she won't be able to go on the rides," Castle said.

"Will you go on rides Gram?" Julia asked her.

"Of course, of course," Martha replied. "I have my good walking shoes on and I'll see what's in this park."

"Can we show Gram the water ride?" Eliza asked.

"Of course, we just can't go on it," Castle answered her. "Unless she brought a change of clothes."

"I didn't," Martha replied. "I don't think I'll want to get wet."

"Let her see before you ask her about the log ride," Castle said as their desserts were served. "You don't even get to have a little taste of pie?" he asked the investigator.

Skye was about to speak before her wife was putting her spoon into her mouth with a small piece of the end of her slice of boysenberry pie. "Thank you," she said after she had eaten it.

"You're welcome," Mary said with a smile. She kissed her wife's cheek and then turned her attention to her food.

After they'd had dessert, Skye and Mary paid for the meal and then stood to make their way back inside the park.

"Hmm… I suppose I was expecting something more like Disney," Martha said once they were inside. "I shouldn't have," she said to her son.

"No, but it's a great park," Castle told her. "More Western."

"So he loves it," Martha said to her daughter in law.

"Mum!" Marie called then suddenly.

"I thought you two would have forgotten," Skye said wryly. She wasn't surprised when all five of her daughters were protesting; and so were the other five again; and she laughed before she said, "Let's wait until we're in Camp Snoopy."

" _Grá_ ," Mary said simply. When her wife was looking at her, she smiled and nodded ahead of them and said, "We _are_ in Camp Snoopy."

Sighing, though she didn't really mean it, Skye then said, "Alright."

"What was the song?" Clive couldn't help asking. "You never said."

"I didn't," Skye said, looking at Derek. "It's called _Ballroom Dancing_."

"From…" the dancer said.

"Paul," Skye said laughing. "Usually how it happens. But don't tell the show-"

"They know," Derek said with a smile at her. At the investigator's wide eyes, he explained, "You performing that Queen song went viral you know, and so have those two music videos you did. They'll talk to you both," looking at Mary as well. "How would the O'Dells feel about performing?"

Sharing a look, Mary stepped close to her wife and murmured into her ear before they spoke quietly to one another until she squeezed her wife's hand and let her answer Derek's question as she was smiling.

"We can't speak for the other three, but two fifths of the band will perform," Skye said. "We'll talk to the others."

"Great, I'll let them know," Derek replied.

"Mum!" "Mummy!" the McDouglas girls said.

"So much for that," Skye told her wife.

"I have the song ready," Mary said simply.

"Oh, great help you are _grá_ ," Skye said in mock annoyance. She couldn't help herself and kissed her wife briefly before she said, "Go ahead."

Nodding, Mary played the music, watching her wife walking back and forth in front of them before Julia and Peter were dancing together before Skye began to sing.

 _Well I used to smile when I was a pup  
Sailing down the Nile in a china cup  
With the recipe for a lovely day  
Sticking out of my back pocket_

Watching her friend, Beckett smiled as Ivy hurried to her, wrapping her arm around her before Skye was doing the same and singing again.

 _But it wasn't always such a pretty sight  
'Cos we used to fight like cats and dogs  
Till we made it up in the ballroom_

 _Ballroom dancing, made a man of me  
One, two, three, four  
I just plain adore your  
Ballroom dancing, seen it on TV  
I got what I got from ballroom dancing  
Big B.D._

 _Well I used to fly when I was a kid  
And I didn't cry if it hurt a bit  
On a carpet ride to a foreign land  
At the time of Davy Crockett_

 _But it wasn't always such a pretty sight  
'Cos we used to fight like cats and dogs  
Till we made it up in the ballroom_

 _Ballroom dancing made a man of me  
One, two, three, four  
I just plain adore  
Your ballroom dancing, seen it on TV  
I got quite a lot from ballroom dancing  
Big B.D._

Castle, seeing his wife was about to walk over to the four kids who were dancing, reached for her and said, "When they get tired they'll stop," under his breath.

Wanting to say she didn't think they would, Beckett stopped herself and then breathed out hard, watching Ivy walking with Skye. She couldn't help smiling as the investigator didn't seem to realize the little girl had to jog to keep up with her while she paced.

Looking at her daughter, Skye hugged her against her and looked at the four dancing together. As the music went on she was trying not to laugh too hard as Julia and Peter started to try to dance like the characters in the movie _Give My Regards to Broad Street_ were at the same point in the song. But eventually the music got a little faster and she was laughing with everyone else as the four started to jump up and down together.

Since she knew the song well from Julia listening to it Beckett knew it was nearly time for Skye to start singing again while the kids were jumping, and she watched her as the investigator was hitting her hand in a fist against her leg before she started up again.

 _Well it went so fast and we all grew up  
Now the days that passed in the china cup  
Are the memories of another day  
And I wouldn't want to knock it_

 _But it wasn't always such a pretty sight  
'Cos we used to fight like cats and dogs  
Till we made it up in the ballroom_

 _Ballroom dancing made a man of me  
One, two, three, four  
I just plain adore  
Your ballroom dancing, seen it on TV  
I got quite a lot from ballroom dancing  
Big B.D._

 _Oh!_

Beckett looked around at the people who had stopped to listen to Skye as she'd sung and smiled at their applause, doing the same though her husband next to her was unable to do so since he was holding Josie. She squeezed his arm and then went over to the investigator telling her, "This'll go viral too."

"I know," Skye said before she noticed that a young woman had walked up to them.

"Sorry, you're… Skye McDouglas, aren't you?" the woman said shyly.

"I am," the investigator replied with a smile. "I take it you saw me on _GMA_?"

"Yes, and then I watched that video on the internet of you singing," the woman said. "Could I take a picture with you?"

"Sure," Skye said, trying not to show how startled she was. She stood with the woman as Beckett took the picture with the woman's phone and shook her hand saying, "I hope you'll watch the show."

"Oh, I will," she replied eagerly. "I'll vote for you too."

Skye was about to speak when she felt her wife holding onto her arm and she smiled and said, "We appreciate that, thank you." She waited for the woman to take a picture with Derek before she sighed and said, "I'd wanted us to get votes based on my ability to dance."

"I think you'll get votes for that too," Mary told her wife.

Sighing, Skye nodded and was about to speak when she saw some people were coming up to them. She stopped herself from groaning as she turned her attention to the people, squeezing her wife's hand.

"She wants us to go without her," Mary said, walking over to Castle and Beckett.

"I don't think so," the latter said. "And I doubt your girls would want to either," Beckett added.

Nodding Mary said, as she was looking at her wife, "Neither would I."

"Mary," Castle said. When the woman looked at her he said, "Your daughters."

Beckett wasn't surprised when the doctor rushed over to the youngest three who were looking upset and she said, " _Why_?" in Irish.

" _They're noticing the women_ ," Castle said. When his wife glanced at him in surprise, he told her, " _You could tell too. But I don't think they need to be worried_."

"No," Beckett said with a slight smile. Looking back at the girls she saw that their daughter and her friends were talking together a little way away from them. She was about to walk over to them when Skye told the people around her and Derek that they wanted to keep going around the park before it closed and managed to get them to disperse. "Good job," she told her friend with a smile.

"Thanks, I'm just lucky it worked," Skye said wryly. "Okay, who's ready for another trip through Camp Snoopy."

After the kids were with them, the group went around the slower rides until enough time had passed after their meal. They started their list of everyone's favorite ride by starting with Eliza's which was the log ride. Jim elected to stay off that time, since Eliza was begging Martha to go, and he remained with the baby. Ivy and Iris ended up choosing the same ride after, the roller coaster Coast Rider since Eliza could go on that too. Fleur took a bit of time to pick her ride, but finally chose the bumper cars the park had. They had to split up after that, since Marie and Kathleen picked Montezooma's Revenge, Mari chose the Pony Express roller coaster and Clive's choice was Xcelerator. Peter had the next pick, but the boy went over to Julia and they spoke together in a whisper for some time as the others were watching them.

"Peter?" Castle said first. "You know you don't need to talk with Julia about your choice."

Shaking his head, the boy said, "We both want to go on the same thing."

"Which ride?" Beckett asked.

"Jaguar," Julia answered quickly.

"Luckily we're not too far from that one," Skye said. She took Marie's hand as they were walking to the ride before she said to Beckett, "What have you thought of this park?"

"It's nice," she replied. "But what I've been wondering more is how often you come here?"

"Not all the time," Marie said.

"We tend to go more to Disneyland of course," Skye said. "We have season passes."

"When can we go Mum?" Kathleen asked, running up to them.

"When there're less crowds," Skye said.

"Oh Mum, you have guest passes, we can go more than once too," Marie said in protest.

"Girls," Mary said firmly to them. "Leave your mum alone, she needs to focus on the show and you have to focus on school."

"It's alright," Beckett told the two when they looked dismayed. "We will go to Disneyland. Though what if we gave each park their own day?"

"One after the other?" Skye asked as they stopped in the plaza under the track for the roller coaster they would be going on.

"No, separated," Beckett said. She was startled when her friend looked to her husband instead of answering and she glanced at Castle as well.

"I guess we have to tell-" he started to say.

"We? I think you mean you," Skye interrupted him.

"Okay… me," Castle said slowly, looking at her as he spoke. He then turned his attention to his wife and said, "I wanted us to go to the parks on your birthday."

"What day of the week is it?" Beckett asked him.

"A Tuesday," Castle said. "I just realized it's better I say now."

Derek was about to answer when they all were turning to Julia as the girl was gasping but she didn't say anything so he said, "What's the date?"

"November seventeenth," Julia said quickly.

"That's going to be iffy," Derek said. "Of course we don't know if we'll make it that far but that's going into the finals week if we do."

Nodding, Skye said, "Maybe we can go Wednesday?"

"No, what we can do is film there," Derek said. "The show would be alright with that of course and it would let you go."

"But choreographing… the music…" Skye said with a slight frown on her face.

"I'd advise you to think of that sooner than that Tuesday," Derek said with a smile. "But I'll talk to the show and if they'll agree we can go that day." He turned his attention to Beckett and asked, "Would you mind?"

"It'd be quick," Skye said rapidly.

"I don't mind," Beckett said with a smile. "You'd join us the entire day, right?"

Derek looked at the kids as the four dancers were clamoring for him to do that and he smiled saying, "I'll see how my schedule is then, but I think I'll be able to stay."

"We'll go on the rides," Skye said. "But first, what was that all about Julia?"

"I was going to ask earlier," the girl said. "What are you going to do about your glasses?"

"I'll see," Skye said. "Okay, let's get going before we lose our time to go on the rides."

"Be a good girl for your gram," Beckett told Eliza as she kissed her cheek.

"I will, have fun," the little girl told her mother with a wide smile. "You too Daddy," she said to Castle, hugging him tightly.

Picking her up, Castle threw her up above him slightly and said, "We will, but we'll go on the log ride again."

"We will?" Julia asked in surprise as her little sister gasped.

"That's my choice," Mary said. "One of the few rides I can handle here," she said wryly.

"So you've got that to look forward to," Castle told her with a smile.

"Yeah," Eliza said, hugging him one more time before he set her down as she watched the others leave before she checked on her little sister while she sat with her grandmother.

Going through the line Julia said to her mother, "I want to go with Mari this time."

"Alright," Beckett said. "Go to her, you don't need to walk with me," she said as they'd gone into the line together. She let her go and turned to her husband saying, "I wonder why she didn't do that in the first place."

"She's waiting for you to say something about your birthday," Castle commented.

"If I haven't by now…" Beckett said before she trailed off and smiled at him. She let him take her hand but was the one to entwine their fingers though they weren't that far from the loading platform.

Once they were set in their rows, Castle reached ahead of him to squeeze Julia's shoulder saying, "You're lucky."

"I know," the girl said with a smile since they were in the front row before they left the station and went into a lift hill. Julia smiled at Mari as they reached the top and she started to raise her hands as they dipped down to the left. She cried out when they banked up to the right and then around back around to the temple where they'd gotten on the ride, though right on the top. She looked over at Montezooma's Revenge that was to the left and looked down when they were going through the loop of that ride.

Beckett was about to wonder aloud if they'd go on the other roller coaster next when they were banking to the left and then going right and left, going through some trees before they came to the second lift hill. "I'm surprised they wanted to go on this one," she said, speaking close to her husband's ear.

Shrugging hurriedly, as they were going up quickly, Castle said, "They like it."

Nodding, Beckett looked at the track again before they banked down and went into some bunny hills. They were going up and then to the right to avoid the log ride before going left and right and eventually banking into a helix, coming out of that into the brake run. She smiled when the girls in front of them applauded and waited for them to be able to get off the ride before she murmured to her husband briefly.

Castle squeezed his wife's hand and then held it while they were leaving to head back to his mother, Eliza and Josie. "You guys are next," he told Skye and Mary. "What're you planning on picking?"

"I'm going for the log ride remember," Mary reminded them.

"I'll pick the same," Skye said quickly.

"We'd like to stay with Josie," Beckett said. "We'll wait off the ride for you and then we'll go on the Mine Ride."

"Alright, stay in front of it since it's easier to get to that ride from here," Skye said.

Walking to the log ride Julia asked Castle; since she and her sister were walking with him; "What're you gonna pick Dad?"

"This one," he replied quickly. "If everyone doesn't mind heading on the log ride again."

"I don't!" Eliza said eagerly.

"Yeah, that's an awesome ride," Clive said.

"But it'll be the last time we go," Mary said, though she was talking to hers and Skye's daughters.

"She's right, we'll be going on it enough," Beckett said as Julia and Eliza were looking at them. "Alright, have fun and we'll see you when you come back," she told hers and Castle's daughters. She hugged them both and once they had left with the group she said to her husband, "It's been exhausting."

" _Straight to bed_?" Castle asked in Irish.

" _I hope you didn't want to do anything_ ," Beckett said, studying him.

Castle leaned over and kissed her gently before he said, " _I didn't, we have school to focus on tomorrow_."

" _Yes, but we're not going to be too strict about that_ ," Beckett replied. She cupped his cheek gently before she looked at the baby as she made a soft noise. "And she laughed," she said, speaking in English.

"For the first time," Castle said, reaching into the carrier and gently brushing his fingers against her hair. "I just hope she won't say her first word at Disneyland."

"I don't think she will," Beckett said with a laugh.

"Or any other amusement park," Castle added. When his wife laughed again he wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "I love you Kate," he said when she looked up at him.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett said, knowing he had wanted to stay off the ride to be with her as well as with Josie as she'd wanted to be with them. She shared a kiss with him and they looked ahead at the log ride, waiting to see their family and friends taking their turn on the drop. Leaning her head against his shoulder she held onto him, intending to enjoy the rest of their time together until they were reunited with everyone else and would continue through the amusement park once more.


	3. I And I In The Sky

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The poems in this chapter are the _Sonnet 116_ by William Shakespeare and _The Charge of the Light Brigade_ by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Save Us_ written by Paul McCartney, from his album _New_ , and _P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)_ by George Harrison, from his album _Brainwashed_.

A/N #3: There's a brief femslash love scene in this chapter towards the end of this half when it goes to Skye and Mary alone. If anyone doesn't want to read it go to the next half of the chapter.

A/N #4: I was so happy getting the reviews for the start of this story, so I'll go right into my thank yous for them! TORONTOSUN (Really nice to see you thought the chapter was good writing for the Castle family),

MononenMinna (It was great to see you liked the chapter and thought it was great writing too. I'm happy you think I write so lively and the rides well enough you can imagine being there and seeing how everyone is there. I'm pleased you can't wait to read more too. And I loved seeing you loved the kids here with what they were saying and thinking about the show and the rides too),

Guest (I was happy to read you thought the prologue was a great start and that you think my series is great too. You're very welcome!),

Emma (It was really nice to see that you were grateful I'm continuing to write the series. And I'm happy that you found my stories too, also that you're enjoying them. You're welcome!) and

Mb (It was great that you thought the chapter was a fantastic start. And I'm so happy you love the look at them preparing to practice to dance on the show since of course I've never had experience writing about this before. I was pleased that you loved that Derek was so enthusiastic hearing what the kids had to say about the dance and steps and that he wants to use them all, including Eliza. I figured since Julia knows Skye he'd use that as an advantage. I'm not surprised you want to go on vacation with them, lol. Great you thought Knott's Berry Farm was sweet, I wasn't sure what the reaction would be since I'm not sure how widely known that park is. And great you were looking forward to my description of the park plus the ride and then fun they'll be having there. I'm happy that you thought this first half was a good start to a new experience for them all. You're welcome for the first half also! I was glad that you thought the second half was a fantastic update. I'm relieved too you thought it was a great description of the park and the rides as well as I haven't been to Knott's in a while, lol. And you're right, there's a lot more rollercoasters and since I can't really go on crazy ones I don't go to this park a lot but it is fun. It was nice to see you loved seeing them having fun as well as Derek. And great you loved the concerts, as you put it, that Skye and Mary gave. No surprise you called Skye a renaissance woman. I was happy to see you thought this was a nice update and hopefully your shopping went well. I'm pleased to read you're looking forward to more already. And you're very welcome for sharing! And I wondered why I'd gotten two reviews but that explains it, lol.).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading each one and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #5: The title of this chapter are lyrics from the song _Elevation_ written by Bono, from the U2 album _All That You Can't Leave Behind_.

I And I In The Sky

"Hey Yarnell," Skye said, walking up to the man.

"McDouglas," he replied with a smile, shaking her hand. He peered around her at everyone that was there and said, "So it's true."

"I think everyone knows already," Skye said wryly. She squeezed his shoulder and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Just the 747 model?" Yarnell asked.

"Of course," Skye replied.

"Mummy-" Fleur started to say.

"Hold on _mon petite_ , we'll go up to my office soon," Skye said.

Studying the two youngest McDouglas girls, Beckett saw they were shifting back and forth on their feet. It was the second of September, and with twelve days left until the premiere of the show the producers had asked Skye and Derek to film some scenes in the flight simulators Boeing had at the building they shared with the NTSB West offices. But she was able to realize from the girls' demeanors they likely hadn't had the chance to see their mother's office and were more eager about that before she glanced at her husband.

Shrugging his shoulders, though he'd seen exactly the same as his wife had, Castle turned his attention back to the others. Skye and Derek were soon leaving, going into the simulator in the large room they were looking out on through a window, so he said to Mary, "What exactly are the rest of us doing here?"

"I have no clue," the doctor replied with a slight laugh. "But I guess she just wants us to go to her office."

Beckett smiled when her husband looked at her, as with that she knew why the investigator wanted them to do that, and she then said, "Nice of her to invite us," though she was wondering what was going on in the simulator.

"So you know how to fly all this," Derek was saying once they were settled in the seats in the mock flight deck.

"Yeah, and a few other models as well," Skye replied. "Headset," she told him, having put on the one above her. "We'll take a quick flight to Ontario and come back."

"You're not going to have anything happen?" the cameraman asked in concern.

Shaking her head Skye said, "Don't worry Victor, it'll be a smooth flight. But what exactly are we talking about?"

"How you feel about your job," the sound guy said.

Nodding, and knowing she didn't have to go into detail about the plane crash she'd been in when she was a child though her feelings about her job were related to that, Skye turned to the instruments. She moved them to the runway; of LAX though it was simulated; and she spoke into the headset until they had clearance. "Here we go," she said with a smile to Derek before she gestured to him to put his hand on the throttle. She put hers on top and pushed them forward with him until she could say, "V1… rotate," and pulled back on the yoke to raise the 'plane' as the simulator moved them. She got them up to a certain altitude and called, "Banking left," to warn the three men with her. Once they were going straight, she quickly directed Derek in what to do though he only had to hold his yoke straight. She was about to lean back to watch when Victor got her attention from behind them, making them both turn.

"Can you put autopilot on this?" the cameraman asked her. "It'd look great if you were turned towards each other, but the plane was still going."

Skye nodded and then set the autopilot where she needed it to be before Derek was asking her why she loved her job so much. Since she had already spoken a bit about the crash when she'd been six already, she knew she wouldn't have to mention it then while they spoke which was a relief though she was still unsettled.

"Okay?" Beckett asked Mary, since the woman was standing a bit away from them at the large window.

"Yeah, I'm just a little worried about what they're going to discuss," the doctor said with a slight frown on her face. She shook her head and said, "She might be distressed if they're talking about how she can work her job after what happened to her as a kid."  
Beckett looked back out to the simulator where they'd seen the four go into and said, "Hopefully you can check on her."

Nodding, Mary didn't stop watching the simulator until it lowered finally, and she held onto the sill of the window. When she saw the cameraman and sound guy walk out, she ran over to the door, opening it and shooting up the stairs around the two men before Derek was stepping out.

"Should we really have come here?" Castle asked, standing with his wife as they watched the doctor disappear into the simulator.

"Yeah," Beckett said, smiling slightly at her husband before she went to the door to meet the dancer who was coming over to them.

" _Grá_?" Mary said, slipping into the simulator and closing the door behind her. She saw her wife was sitting on what was supposed to be one of the jump seats and went to her, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands, squeezing them gently to let her speak when she was ready.

"I didn't talk about it," Skye told her wife. "But…"

"I know Skye, I know," Mary said soothingly. She leaned down and kissed at her hands saying, "I thought this was a bad idea."

"It needed to be said," Skye replied, having her let go so she could stand up. "But I told them I only did this because I needed to help the victims, to help others who're flying."

Nodding her head, Mary wrapped her arms around his wife's waist and then said, "And you do, but no more talking about this okay?"

"If I get to the point where they have more information about me," Skye said simply to her wife.

"I'll be with you for that interview," Mary told her firmly.

Skye nodded, embracing her wife and having her move her arms to around her neck. She leaned down and kissed her before hugging her tightly and pressing her face against her neck. "I want the girls to come here; all the kids," she eventually told her.

"Don't worry," Mary replied. "I know they're hoping, especially Marie."

Laughing softly, Skye pulled away and said, "Of course she is. But I'd like Kate to come in first."

"I'll get her," Mary said before she kissed her deeply. After they had parted, she cupped Skye's face and then brushed her lips against her saying, "I love you."

"I love you too," the investigator replied before they were embracing tightly. "Thank you _grá_."

"You're welcome, let me go Rose," Mary told her.

Skye laughed softly and let her go before she watched her leave, sitting back in the jump seat as she waited. She breathed out a little heavily as she was fighting her memories from the crash and her eyes flew open when the door opened.

"Now I see why you asked for me," Beckett said with a smile at her friend. She hugged Skye as soon as she stood, doing so firmly and saying, "They'll be impressed with your determination; as much as I was when we first met."

"Flattery won't get you out of this Kate," Skye told her before they were letting go of each other as they laughed. She was about to tell her to take the co-pilot's chair for a quick flight when her friend was speaking first.

"Any reason why you want me to do this?" Beckett asked her.

"Well… oh, school," Skye started to answer before she realized what she was talking about. "The kids will want to fly."

"But can they?" Beckett pointed out.

Thinking about that for a moment, Skye nodded and said, "Alright, Marie's the only one who can. Unless Clive and Peter know how to?" When Beckett shook her head she said, "Then I'll bring them in three at a time but have Marie fly with me last."

"I'll get the first three," Beckett said. "But good luck with deciding who gets the co-pilot's seat," she added.

"Go on," Skye replied, shaking her head though she was smiling at the same time. She waited for the first three kids to come in and smiled when it was Julia with Mari and Peter. She was about to ask the oldest where Clive was when Castle and Beckett's daughter was quick to anticipate her inquiry and answer her.

"He's a little afraid to do this," Julia said. "Grandpapa is staying with him so they'll just watch us move."

"Did anyone try to let him know we wouldn't do anything crazy?" Skye asked as she closed the door and locked it.

"Yeah, my dad," Julia answered.

"And Kate talked to him too," Peter said. "But he wouldn't come in, which is weird, I don't think he minds planes."

"I know what it is," Skye said. "There's something about the different switches and buttons and the like that scares him. But don't worry, people will react like that, so leave him be. I just hope Jim's alright staying out there." When Julia nodded, she smiled at the three and said, "Alright, so who's brave enough to help me take off?"

"You can't do it on your own here?" she asked.

"I could but I'm seeing if anyone wants to help; it's not much but I want to make sure," Skye replied.

"I'll do it," Julia said, looking at her friends who shrugged.

"You won't need to worry," Skye reassured her as she led Mari and Peter to the other two seats. After they were set, she helped Julia into the co-pilot's chair and said, "All you need to do is help me push the throttles and if you'd like you can pull back on the yoke when I tell you to."

"Okay," Julia said though she was a little nervous.

"Oh cool!" Peter was exclaiming as on the screens of the 'windshield' the scenery was moving.

"We're about to take off from 24L at LAX," Skye told him.

"Could you do this at other airports?" Mari asked.

"Oh of course, I just use this one to have fun with since I can fly around without needing a set path," Skye answered. "Okay Julia," she told the girl next to her. "Hands on the throttles… good. Here we go," she said. She made her push forward on them and they started down the runway, having her hold onto them before she said, "V1… rotate." She pulled back on the yoke then and smiled at the way the two behind them cried out slightly as they lifted up. She didn't go too high up, flipping some switches before she leveled them out and said, "You didn't help," teasingly.

"Yeah, I was watching," Julia said laughingly.

"We're just going to circle around you guys," Skye told the three. "There's a lot of others here, we have to give them a chance of course."

"Could I turn the plane?" Julia asked hopefully.

"Sure," Skye replied. She looked at the screens and said, "We're going to do that soon."

Julia looked behind her chair and beamed at her friends before the investigator was touching her shoulder. "Sorry," she said, sitting normally quickly.

"Okay, we'll be turning now," Skye said. "You're going to turn to the right so you'll be turning the yoke that way. But turn it slowly at first." She watched Julia closely as she was turning the yoke, smiling as she soon had to tell her, "A little more, good." She then helped her, not surprised when Julia eased up in her hold and they turned until she took over, bringing them in for a landing shortly after. "Okay, what did you think?" she asked, pushing back on her chair.

"That was awesome!" "That was so cool!" Peter and then Mari said.

"They're right, it really was," Julia added with a smile as she was getting up from the chair. "Are you coming with us?" she asked as they went to the door.

"No, have whoever's next come in," Skye said simply.

"Wow, you got to fly a plane," Mari said to Julia as they went down the stairs outside the simulator.

"A fake one," she said quickly. "But that was still a lot of fun." She then looked behind them at Peter and asked, "You didn't want to do that?"

"Not in front of a real pilot!" the boy exclaimed before he laughed with them. "No, I can see why Clive's a little afraid of those switches and buttons and everything. There's a ton. But I wonder what's so cool about her office," he added as they went up the stairs to where everyone else was waiting for them.

"I don't know, but there must be something there," Julia said. "Probably you can see the airport from there." She did her best not to laugh at the gasp of realization from Mari and they went into the hallway to send the next three into the flight simulator with Skye.

* * *

"We're here," Mary said to everyone who hadn't been to her wife's office before. "Who wants to go in?"

"Open the door _grá_ ," Skye said wryly.

"Oh… fine," Mary said in mock annoyance before she did so and let their daughters in; the three eldest pulling Ivy and Iris with them. She shared a smile with her wife and then headed in after with the others trailing behind them.

"Weird being here," Castle commented.

"A little," Beckett said with a smile, not surprised when she saw all ten kids were running over to the window as soon as they were close to it.

"Wow," Ivy said.

"Yeah," Clive said, his eyes wide as he was staring at a plane landing on one of the runways they could see.

"And you see this every day?" Derek asked his partner.

"I do, but I'm not staring like the kids are," Skye said with a smile. She looked at her two youngest daughters and said, "What do you think?"

"It's really neat," Iris said, squeezing her hand tightly.

"I'm glad you think so," Skye replied, hugging her to her before she turned to Derek. "Nothing until Friday?" she asked.

"After today? No," he replied. "But come in after two, I know you have some Spanish for them."

"And French," Skye added. "But I'll see you then."

Watching the investigator leave with Derek; after they'd all said goodbye to him; Beckett said to her husband and father, "Are we ready for school?"

"I am," Jim assured her as he would be with Eliza.

"Me too, I'm so glad I have my glasses on," Castle commented. He smiled when his wife rolled her eyes and he squeezed her hand quickly before he went over to the window with the kids and Mary.

"That was fast," Beckett said when she heard footsteps coming up to the doorway and saw it was Skye.

"Oh, I know," the investigator replied with a smile. "Someone came over to escort him the rest of the way out. I didn't want to just leave him, but he was fine with it. Told me to come back to the girls."

"They do love it," Beckett said.

"I know," Skye said before she froze. When her friend asked her what was wrong, she smiled and then went over to her desk saying, "Ivy, Iris? Come here." When the two girls were standing on either side of her in her chair, she pulled one of the pictures she had on her desk and said, "So you know I'm thinking of you here at work."

Beckett could see the picture, though she was a little away from the chair, and smiled as Eliza came to her to wrap her arms around her waist. It was of the McDouglas family at Disney World, at the England section of Epcot, and watched all five girls hug and kiss their mother. She wasn't surprised when both Skye and Mary became a little tearful and she hugged her second youngest a little tighter to her. She glanced at the others before something caught her eye and she said, "There's an A380 getting ready to take off."

Urging her girls to head over to the window as Clive and Peter were exclaiming at the Air France plane, Skye stood up and went to her friend. " _Thanks, it was a bit too much_ ," she told her quietly in Russian.

" _Not a problem_ ," Beckett replied. " _It's nice to see how much you love them though_."

Nodding Skye then said, " _I do, hard not to really you know_?"

" _I know_ ," Beckett said in a whisper, looking over to Julia though her attention was focused on the runways.

"How'd you enjoy the flight?" Skye then asked.

Smiling, as she knew that the investigator was changing the subject for both their sakes, Beckett said, "About as much as I did when you made me go with you in '36."

"Oh, you remember that do you?" Skye said laughingly.

"How could I not?" Beckett said in mock indignity. She then smiled and said, "At least you didn't make us barnstormers."

"Of course not," Skye said seriously before she and Beckett looked at one another and started to laugh.

Not surprised when the kids looked back at them; as well as their spouses and her father; Beckett went with Skye to the others though she couldn't help still recalling that day she and the investigator had gone into the sky above San Francisco together.

* * *

 _"Are you sure she should do this Rose?" Rick was asking his sister in law._

 _"Of course," Rose replied easily. She then smirked and said, "I got her into respectable pants, you should be thanking me."_

 _"Rosie," Kate groaned as she pushed her sister's hands away while she was adjusting her helmet. "It's well and good, leave off."_

 _"Fine," Rose replied easily. "We'll be back soon," she told her brother in law and Mary who was with them. She smiled and said, "Only a quick flight by the bridge."_

 _"Not too close," Kate said._

 _"No, but we'll get a fantastic view," Rose said before she went with her twin to the biplane she was being allowed to use for their short trip. "I'll take care of everything Katie," she reassured her._

 _"I know, I just worry we'll do any acrobatics," Kate replied, climbing up into the second seat in the plane._

 _"No, I wouldn't have Rick having my hide," Rose said. "Quite disgusting."_

 _"Hurry and fly," Kate said with a laugh before she watched her sister start the engine and get the propeller going._

 _"This doesn't worry you?" Rick asked Mary as they watched their loved ones going down the runway at Crissy Field._

 _"Oh no, but if she had decided to take that plane in loops I would have protested," Mary said. "Vehemently."_

 _"Me too," Rick said before they smiled at each other and looked up at the plane that was banking right towards the bay._

 _"Oh Rosie," Kate breathed as she was looking at the water. "It's beautiful."_

 _"I know, now you see why I fly," Rose said with a smile. "And that bridge looks wonderful." She flew them east parallel to the city until she turned them back around so they could come in for a landing. When they had stopped and could get out she wasn't surprised when Rick hurried to help his wife out. She smiled at Mary when she approached her, touching her arm before she could hear her husband's voice and they turned together to watch Patrick jogging to them before he called out again._

 _"Are you all finished?" the man asked, walking to them._

 _"We are, you have lunch?" Rose asked him, looking at the hamper over his arm._

 _"Yeah, a lot of food so I hope you're all hungry," Patrick replied._

 _"Famished," Rick said. He then asked his wife, "Will you change?"_

 _Nodding her head Kate said to her sister, "Rosie," simply._

 _"I won't get arrested," the woman said wryly as she was following her twin._

 _"Ma would know," Kate pointed out to her. She smiled when her sister grumbled under her breath and they went into a changing room they could use in a building there. Helping one another with their dresses, she said when they'd finished, "I'd like us to go to the beach."_

 _"Outside the club?" Rose asked in surprise as they were leaving._

 _Shaking her head Kate said, "China Beach."_

 _"You want another view of the bridge," Rose said with a smile._

 _"So does Rick," Kate replied before they joined their family and went to their car. She sat with her husband as he drove and looked at their former home by Mountain Lake Park, not surprised her sister was watching it as well while they passed by._

 _"Do you know who lives there now?" Patrick asked, having watched the women._

 _"No, it's been rented a few times since we moved to Alamo Square," Rose said first. "And I don't mind our home there but that was special," she told her husband with a smile. "We were there with my brother of course."_

 _Stopping at a light, Rick looked back at his sister in law and said, "Not then I wasn't."_

 _Touching her husband's arm, Kate said, "It's alright. She's talking about you now of course."_

 _Making a noise under his breath, Rick started to drive again and made his way to the beach, not surprised there were people there as well. But they went to some trees once they'd left the car and sat on the blanket Mary and Rose set down so they could start on their lunch which his wife was unpacking from the hamper._

 _"We'll have to go again Katie," Rose said to her sister after they'd eaten their fried chicken and buttered bread for a bit._

 _"Hmm," she replied. "I'm not sure."_

 _"Oh, why not?" Rose asked with a smile on her face._

 _"You'll have me fly," Kate replied._

 _"No she won't," Rick said with a frown on his face._

 _"Don't worry," Rose told her brother in law. "I'd never have her do that without knowing. But what if I brought Julia with me?"_

 _"Will she fly?" Rick asked, since their oldest had already gone flying with her aunt._

 _"No," Rose replied. "Not unless you two ever give me permission to teach her."_

 _"When she's older," Kate said, though Julia was fourteen. She smiled when her twin nodded, and they continued to eat until they had nothing left but the parchment paper the chicken had been in. After everything was back in the hamper she stood and smiled as her husband was joining her. "We'll take the basket back-" she began._

 _"I think we'll need a ride over to Alamo Square," Patrick said._

 _"Where will you go?" Kate asked._

 _"To the club," Patrick said._

 _"Tomorrow afternoon," Rose explained to her sister._

 _"Are you doing anything special for tea?" Rick asked since it would be Halloween._

 _"Not this time," Mary said. "It'll be matrons mostly, so everything will be proper."_

 _"Of course, you'll come to the home for supper?" Kate asked the three._

 _"Of course," Rose replied, echoing her sister with a smile._

 _Gathering everything, the group went back to the car and drove into the city again to the Alamo Square home where the three got out after saying goodbye to Rick and Kate._

 _"We'll leave after the tea; at five," Rose was telling her twin. "Have a safe sail."_

 _"We will," Kate replied._

 _"Give our love to Ma," Rose said. "Goodbye!"_

 _"Bye," Kate said, waving to her twin outside of the window. When she'd pulled her arm back in she said to her husband, "We'll have to see what Ma and the girls have gotten up to."_

 _Nodding Rick drove them to the ferry building and said to his wife, "And if they're out we'll take a stroll."_

 _"Of course," Kate said though she was sliding along the front seat to press against his side. Leaning her head on his shoulder she murmured, "Though we don't have to."_

 _Glancing at her quickly, Rick said, "You're a Sheba love."_

 _"Hmm, you're a Sheik, Rick," Kate told him. They shared a brief kiss and then turned their attention to the windshield watching the city pass by outside as they made their way home._

* * *

"Alright, we're good here," Beckett said to Julia and Peter who'd been following her.

"What're we learning now?" the latter asked.

"Poetry, I told you," Beckett said with a smile. "Do you not want her here?" she asked since she had Josie in her sling against her chest for their English lesson in the front yard at the McDouglas home.

"Um… what if she has to n-nurse," Peter couldn't help stammering.

"I'll take her inside and you can go with Rick," Beckett said. "But she'll be alright."

"What are we doing for English today Mom?" Julia asked, looking at the text book she was holding.

Not surprised her daughter was trying to turn their attention back to the lesson, Beckett said, "Open up to page fifty-eight."

"I hope this isn't gushy girls stuff," Peter said. He laughed when Julia tugged on his shirt sleeve and said, "What? I don't have to like it."

"You don't, and you two aren't reading the same poems," Beckett replied. "You're first Peter and this is by Alfred, Lord Tennyson."

"I'm reading aloud?" the boy asked.

Shaking her head, Beckett said, "We'll take turns. You can start the first stanza."

Studying the words, Peter nodded and then began to read before his eyes widened as he went through each line.

 _Half a league, half a league  
Half a league onward  
All in the valley of Death  
Rode the six hundred  
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"  
"Charge for the guns!" he said  
Into the valley of Death  
Rode the six hundred_

"Too girly?" Julia asked when her friend had stopped.

"No," Peter said, rolling his eyes. "What's that about? Well… besides fighting."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "We'll talk about it when we're finished. Julia, go ahead and read the next stanza. And Peter, you did a great job reading."

"Thanks," the boy said with a smile.

They finished the poem together, taking turns before Beckett explained the battle during the Crimean War and a little background about the war as well while they took notes. "Okay," she said as she had them set aside their notebooks. "It's your turn now Julia. Both of you turn your books to page sixty-two."

"Now it's gonna be gushy," Peter said with a grin.

"It won't," Beckett said, not surprised at that. "Julia, go ahead and get started."

Nodding, Julia looked at the page before she smiled and then began, glancing up at her mother every so often before Beckett was stopping her and Peter was laughing.

 _Let me not to the marriage of true minds  
Admit impediments. Love is not love  
Which alters when it alteration finds  
Or bends with the remover to remove_

"Julia," Beckett said firmly, though she was smiling at the same time since Peter laughing was making it hard for her to be stern. "Thank you for reading that for me but your dad isn't here and that wasn't the poem I wanted you to read," she finally said.

"Sorry, I liked it," Julia replied.

"'Cause of your mom and dad?" Peter asked her. When she nodded he then said, "I'll be back."

"Peter-" Beckett started to say before she stopped herself as she could tell he wasn't going to stop.

"Mom?" Julia said, getting her attention. When her mother turned to her and she smiled saying, "Is that poem about true love?"

"It's saying that love is only true if it's constant and doesn't change; no matter what happens," Beckett said. "It's always been one of my favorite of Shakespeare's stanzas."

"Oh good," Julia said happily. "I was hoping it was and didn't mean something else."

Beckett laughed softly and then said, "I'm not surprised. But I hope he's not brining your dad, he needs to keep teaching Mari, Clive and the older twins."

"He's not," Julia said, spotting her friend rushing over to them.

"Here," Peter said, handing a folded piece of lined paper to Beckett. "He told me to tell you he would have come outside but he's busy with their math."

Nodding, Beckett unfolded the note, reading _I couldn't agree with the sonnet more. There's a reason I call you the love of my life_ , before she smiled and put the paper into her jeans pocket. "Thank you for bringing that. But we need to get back to work."

"What now?" Julia asked.

"You two are going to write some poetry yourself," Beckett said. "It doesn't have to rhyme if you don't want it to, but I want you to write a poem about what you think bravery is Peter. And Julia? We were going to read the poem _The Tyger_ by William Blake, but you can write about what you think love should be like."

"Are you going to read these?" Peter asked slowly.

Smiling Beckett told them, "I will, but I hate writing poetry myself so this is just an exercise."

The two kids nodded after thinking that over for a moment and they began to write as Beckett walked around the benches they'd been sitting on. Julia looked at her mother from time to time, and Peter up at the sky before they stopped and handed their composition books to Beckett.

"You can read mine out loud," the boy said.

"Mine too," Julia said hurriedly.

"Alright," Beckett said. "Peter, we'll start with yours."

 _Out on the stage_

"Hey! You copied from George's song," Julia said before she and her partner laughed together.

"Easy you two," Beckett said, shaking her head before she went back to the short poem.

 _Spotlights on the floor  
My steps can't stop  
Or hesitate  
I'm on the stage  
For the world  
I am a dancer on the screen_

"Very nice," Beckett said with a smile.

"It's short… the lines," Peter said, feeling his face getting a little hot.

"That's okay, it was your poem and you could make it as long as you wanted," Beckett said. "Do you understand what he's saying about bravery?" she then asked her daughter.

Smiling Julia quoted his line, " _For the world_. And a _dancer on the screen_. We might be on TV so…"

"Good," Beckett said. "Now yours."

"Read it," Julia said firmly.

Beckett reached over to her and cupped her cheek gently before she then turned her attention to Julia's poem, not surprised it was also short as she began to read.

 _Together  
Knowing what will be said  
Being able to laugh about anything  
Loving the same, knowing the difference  
Best friends, partners, husband and wife  
Together_

"Is that right? Difference?" Julia asked worriedly as she nibbled a bit at her lower lip.

"I think you meant differences," Beckett said, clearing her throat. "Knowing the differences?" she suggested to her daughter.

With a nod, Julia said, "It's a little… silly. But I was thinking of you and Dad."

"I could tell," Beckett replied with a smile. "But you both did great with these and you understand not saying things right out to explain your point. Though I know you needed to be a little direct Julia, you still understand it I can tell."

"So… is that it for today?" Peter asked as he and Julia took their books back.

"For English," Beckett said firmly, smiling when the two groaned in exaggeration. "We'll move on to history now."

"Cool, what's next? The Revolutionary War?" Peter asked eagerly.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "We're going to read about Dutch settlement in our state and how it became New York City instead of New Amsterdam." She worked with the kids, reading from the text book they had brought with them from their middle school back home and she ended with some questions they answered out loud. When they finished she had them get up, since Josie was fussing, and had them go to the kitchen where the others were before she went upstairs to change the baby's diaper.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Castle asked when he came in to find his wife snapping closed the bottom of the baby's onesie.

"Really well," Beckett replied, having him take Josie before she went into the bathroom to wash her hands. "We managed to get a good amount of history done." She walked out then, after drying her hands, and went to her husband, bringing him to her so they could kiss tenderly. "Hmm, thank you for the note," she said when they parted.

"You're welcome, it had to be said," Castle replied before he leaned down to kiss her a little more passionately.

Grabbing Julia's hand, Mari pulled her away from the doorway and stifled her laughter behind her hands before she whispered, "I told you."

"Oh, they have to stop s-" Julia started to say before they watched her little sister running past them. "Lizzy," she groaned as she disappeared into the room.

"Don't run," Castle told the girl, picking her up since he wasn't holding Josie anymore.

"What are we gonna do now?" Eliza asked eagerly. "More school?"

"Just P.E.," Beckett said with a smile.

"Swimming?" Julia asked as she and Mari walked over to them.

Castle said, "Not today, we'll do that tomorrow. No, today we're going to do some exercises together and then play badminton."

"Oh cool!" Mari said eagerly. "Does Julia have a uniform?"

"It's at home," Beckett answered. "No, all your parents packed gym clothes and the McDouglas girls have them too. Let's go to your room and change." She was about to tell her husband he needed to let the other kids know when they heard people coming up the stairs and they turned to find it was everyone else in the house. She was surprised to see her father and mother in law with the kids and Mary when her father smiled and explained them being there.

"We'll join in too," Jim said.

"I told them they didn't need to," Mary said in amusement. "But they said we'd need the help."

"Thank you," Beckett said to the two. "Let's change though so we can play now."

After everyone had changed into some kind of workout clothing they gathered in the backyard before Ivy went to her mother and took her hand.

"Where's Mummy?" the little girl asked.

Taking a look at her watch Mary smiled and said, "She's still practicing. But don't worry, she's only got ten more minutes." Looking down at her second youngest she asked, "Do you want her to play with us?"

"Yeah," Ivy said, not surprised her twin standing with them was nodding.

"We'll see if she has the energy for it," Mary replied. "Help me get the rackets and birdies."

Coming out last; as she'd had to nurse Josie; Beckett handed the baby to her mother in law and then said, "Do we have everything for badminton?"

"We do, we can start the exercises," Castle told his wife.

"Okay, time for jumping jacks," Beckett called to the kids.

Groaning with her friends, Julia said, "Do we have to?"

"Yes, it's a good place to start," Mary said. She was smiled when the kids looked at her and told them, "I went through P.E. too."

"So did we," Castle said. "I think you're leading love," he told his wife.

"I know," Beckett said. "Let's do ten of those right now. Eliza, you only need to do five."

"How come?" the little girl asked.

"Because you're smaller," Beckett said. "And we don't want you to get tired already."

"I'll watch her Katie," Jim told his daughter.

"Okay, I'll count for us," Beckett replied before she started to, doing the exercise with the kids. Castle was next to her, watching them along with her, but she wasn't surprised to find him looking at her with their last jumping jack. She gave him a look, watching him quickly glancing away, before she was about to tell the kids they were going to reach down and touch their toes when Clive was asking a question.

"Did you do this when you were learning to become an officer?" the boy said.

"I did, we had to exercise of course," Beckett replied. She was about to speak again when her daughter spoke first.

"Mom, could we just dance? That's a lot better exercise," Julia said.

Glancing at her husband, Beckett wasn't shocked when he just shrugged and she said, "Alright, go ahead." Her eyes widened for a moment when she saw all ten kids just moving around and covered her mouth with her hand as she heard her husband struggling not to laugh next to her. She let them do that for a bit longer before she was about to tell them they should start playing badminton when she stopped as she could hear a car in the distance and they all watched Skye's coming down the driveway.

"It's-" Fleur started to say with a squeal.

"Keep dancing!" Marie told her sister before she could finish that.

Parking just outside the garage, Skye got out of her car and walked over to everyone on the grass of the backyard. "Well… what's the _craic_?" she said to her wife.

"Who knows?" Mary said wryly as she shared a quick kiss with her. She was about to ask her how it was when their girls were reaching them, and she stepped back a little to let the three youngest hug her.

"Easy, easy," Skye was telling all five of her daughters with a laugh as they were trying to hug her at the same time. "I'm glad to see you lot as well, but what were you doing?"

"We were going to do some exercises for P.E. and they wanted to dance," Beckett called.

"Hmm… I see," Skye said, looking down at her daughters. "Do you guys want to keep dancing, or should you move on back to those exercises?"

"We're going to play badminton Mum," Kathleen replied.

"Oh, then should we go to that?" Skye asked.

"Yeah!" Julia called.

"Really? You don't want to dance?" the investigator said with a smile as they walked back to the others.

"Well… I did want to play," Julia said. She then smiled and asked, "Are you tired?"

"Not yet, but I'll need a shower after we're finished here," Skye said, taking the racquet that Marie was handing her. She realized it was very quiet and she paused, looking around at everyone and said, "Oh, why don't we wait for dinner for me to say? School isn't finished yet of course."

Castle shared a look with his wife when the kids groaned; knowing it was being done playfully; and they helped the kids pair up together so they could hit the birdies back and forth. He played with Peter, watching the boy while he was doing that, trying to see if he was homesick at all since he and Beckett were trying to make sure the two boys weren't along with their daughters and Mari. But he seemed to be fine and when they stopped after nearly a half hour; ending with a game played all together; he said, "Great job everyone. Now school's out," not surprised the kids were all reacting the second he finished speaking.

"Don't throw those!" Mary said as the older kids were throwing their racquets up in the air.

"You guys are scaring the dogs," Beckett then told them. "Come on, pick them up and help us put them away."

"Do we need to take a shower?" Julia asked her mother.

"Yeah, we've been running around for a while," Castle answered before his wife did. "So you guys need to take showers and then do your homework."

"They have homework?" Martha asked in surprise, handing Josie over to Beckett.

"I better not," she said quickly. "I'm a little too sweaty," Beckett explained. She leaned over and kissed Josie's temple before saying, "Julia and Peter have reading for history."

"So do Clive and Mari," Castle said.

"Our three need to do a math worksheet," Mary replied as they were all going into the house.

"I have Eliza writing down a word for each letter of the alphabet," Jim said; since his daughter had told him to give that to her.

"What about-" Skye started to say.

"She can ask us," Beckett said quickly. "We should get the kids upstairs though." She wasn't surprised when Skye nodded, and they went after the kids to the rooms, Martha staying downstairs with Josie. She went with Mari and Julia into their room telling them, "Would you two mind taking a shower together?"

"We can still do that?" the latter asked.

"You can if you're still comfortable," Beckett told them.

"That's fine," Mari said, smiling when Julia looked at her. "We waste less water," she added.

"Get your clothes you want to wear the rest of the day," Beckett said. "And head in."

"You don't need to stay Mom, we'll be alright," Julia told her as she and Mari were getting their shirts from the closet.

"I'd prefer to do that," Beckett said simply. She smiled when her daughter wrinkled her nose before she went into the bathroom with Mari. Sitting on the edge of the girls' bed she heard someone walking down the hall and saw it was Martha. After she called to her she asked, "Is Josie alright?"

"She is, I decided I should change as well," Castle's mother said. She was about to continue to her room when she paused and then asked, "Are you and Richard going to take a shower?"

"Most likely," Beckett said.

"I'll watch the children; and I'm sure your father will as well," Martha said.

"Thank you," Beckett told her before she continued down the hall. She heard more footsteps and was about to stand up to see what was going on when her husband walked inside. "The boys?" she asked him.

"They're taking turns, so they'll listen for each other," Castle explained. "Should we do that?" He wasn't surprised when his wife looked at him and then said, "Maybe not." He sat next to her and watched her shifting on the bed slightly, about to ask her what was wrong when the water turned off in the bathroom. At the same time Skye was coming up to the doorway and he watched in surprise as his wife immediately went over to it and the two were speaking together quietly.

" _Thank you_ ," Skye was saying at the end of hers and Beckett's conversation, both speaking Russian.

" _I think you need to thank our parents_ ," Beckett replied with a smile. " _They're finishing first and offered to watch them_."

" _For you two as well_ ," Skye said.

" _Get out of here_ ," Beckett said laughingly as she shook her head.

"So can I ask-" Castle started to say when his wife turned to him. But before he could finish that the door to the bathroom was opening and he asked, "All set?" when both girls walked out.

"Yeah, what about the boys?" Julia asked in slight confusion.

"I'll check on them now," Castle said to Beckett though he was wildly curious as to what she'd spoken to Skye about.

When the girls were ready, Beckett sent them downstairs before she went to Fleur's room to check on Eliza though she was walking out already with the little girl and Mary who quickly got her attention.

"Could you get them downstairs for me?" the woman asked.

"Sure," Beckett said, wrapping her arm around Eliza when she'd run over to her. She watched the woman walking quickly down the hall over to the master bedroom and then turned her attention to the four girls who were with her. "Are you guys ready to do your homework?" she asked them with a smile.

"Yeah, but when can we play?" Ivy asked.

"When we finish dinner," Beckett assured them, ushering them down the stairs where they were joining the other kids who were all there. "Skye," she said, seeing the investigator talking with Marie.

Squeezing her daughter's shoulder, Skye walked over and asked in Russian, " _She's up there_?" At Beckett's nod she said to her daughters, "Listen to Jim and Martha." Once she heard an agreement in response from them all she smiled at her friend and then headed up the stairs. She did her best not to run down the hallway before she slipped inside the master bedroom and locked the door behind her.

"Skye?" Mary called out from the bathroom.

"It's me," the investigator replied. She smiled when her wife peered out the space in the slightly closed door and said, "I'm a little behind."

"Undress in here," Mary said firmly.

"But my clothes…" Skye started to say, looking over at their closet.

"Rose," Mary said sternly.

"Yes," Skye said quickly, walking over to her. She wasn't surprised when her wife hurriedly pulled off her shirt as soon as she was inside and took the chance to start their kiss. She tried to reach underneath Mary's robe but was swiftly stopped by her wife pushing away her arms and she broke off the kiss. "Mary," she said firmly.

"Everything needs to get off," the doctor replied.

Skye only had her bra, workout pants and panties left and once it was done she reached for her wife, managing to grab the tie of her robe and pull it loose. " _Grá_ ," she breathed as she looked at her wife's body bared to her. She then made her pull it off, watching her closely before they were wrapping their arms around one another.

"Skye," Mary breathed in pleasure as her wife was running her hands around the small of her back. "Hmm, I missed you," she said. They kissed tenderly before she took her hand and pulled her with her into the shower stall.

With the water on, Skye was quick to reach for Mary, running her hands over as much of her as she could. She leaned down and kissed at her wife's breasts, hearing her moan before she found herself suddenly against the wall. "M-" she began before her lips were being crushed under her wife's.

Relieved when Skye was responding to her, Mary pressed her body to hers, both beginning to move together shortly after to their moans of pleasure. "You know," she said, panting as they'd been kissing up until that point. "When you start the Rumba-"

Cutting her off, Skye leaned down and kissed her before she was reaching down in between her wife's legs. She wasn't surprised when Mary began to moan, holding onto her a little tighter before she pulled away. "What do you want me to do _grá_?" she asked her though she hadn't stopped rubbing her clit.

"Mmm… I… don't know," Mary moaned heavily in pleasure, thrusting her hips to keep pace with her wife's touch. "Just… do what you're doing…" she breathed.

"I have a better idea," Skye said before she reached up with both her hands and cupped them over her wife's breasts. She stared intently into Mary's eyes as she gently rubbed her palms over the taut nipples under them and then she moved to kiss her, turning them around so her wife was against the wall. She gasped slightly when her wife grasped her ass but didn't stop, instead she leaned down and took her right breast, kissing over it at first.

"Rose!" Mary moaned heavily, her pleasure permeating her tone. "I… please!" she started to say before her wife was rubbing around her whole sex.

Not spending much time there, Skye made sure to work over both mounds before she knelt in front of her wife and used her fingers to spread her folds. She dipped her tongue between them, rubbing against the swollen nub she'd been touching a moment before. When Mary's fingers laced through her hair she tried not to smile too widely before she was lightly nibbling around her clit as she knew drove her wild.

"Skye… you need to…" Mary began to say before she was trailing off and crying out her wife's name again when her tongue slipped inside of her. When she felt Skye's fingers on her clit again, she started to thrust wildly with her for some time until the last of her control was lost and she climaxed roughly.

Working to make sure her wife's pleasure continued, Skye didn't stop with her tongue and fingers until Mary above her had stopped moving. She let herself spend a little time working over her before she was standing up. She gasped when her wife pressed her against the wall again, but she smiled for a moment before they were kissing passionately. Her hands were all over her wife's and so were Mary's on her body, making her tremble slightly in her desire as she hadn't been unaffected by being so intimate with her wife. But when they parted, she was letting out a heavy cry as the doctor began to fondle her breasts. "I… I should have done this with you," she gasped out.

"Shh, you made me come already," Mary said. "It's your turn now."

Skye could only nod briefly before her wife was leaning down and taking her breasts with both her mouth and hands. When her right one drifted down in between her legs she was tense before her clit was being rubbed and she groaned before telling her, "You might have to stop."

"It's alright, we don't have that much time anyways," Mary replied before she kissed at Skye's jaw. "But tonight we'll have more time."

At the thought of them being able to make love for far longer, Skye threw herself into what she was feeling. Not letting herself hold back in the slightest she was reaching her peak shortly after, feeling her wife's fingers from both hands working all over her sex to her utter delight. After she was calm, she was breathing hard and saying, " _Grá_ , come here," pulling her against her body as they began to kiss deeply.

It took the two women a little more time to remember what they were doing, but they soon parted and went together under the water to wash off before they stepped out of the shower. They dried each other off and then went out into the bedroom so they could dress, keeping away from each other as they did so. Mary, watching her wife when they were clothed, explained to Skye why she was smiling once she was looking up at her in confusion.

"I thought you'd be tired once you got back," the doctor commented.

"We weren't practicing for that long," Skye replied, walking around the bed to her. "We did take breaks. But that's not the reason why you were staring at me."

Reaching up, Mary pushed her wife's hair back over her shoulders and held onto the back of her neck before telling her, "I think you're beautiful."

With a smile Skye leaned over and kissed her wife gently on the lips before she pulled away and said, "So are you, we're going to bed early."

"Why?" Mary asked.

"We didn't have enough time for exploring," Skye said simply. She wasn't surprised when her wife started to laugh, and they shared a kiss when she had calmed down. Pulling away from her she said, "We need to start dinner."

"Are you telling me or yourself?" Mary said.

"Mostly myself," Skye replied, taking her hand and pulling her into the bathroom so they could finish and return to everyone waiting downstairs.


	4. I And I In The Sky (Part 2)

"Kate?" Castle was saying before she could walk into the bathroom in the guest house.

"What?" Beckett asked, turning around quickly as she noticed how his voice was strained. She saw the look in his eyes and she remained still before he walked up to her telling him, "We can't-"

"We can but… it'd have to be quick," Castle said, holding his hands out to her as her words had made him pause.

Beckett only took a moment to react, moving to him and wrapping her arms around her husband's neck before he brought her close and they began to kiss. She was relieved when he made it deep, and they were dueling together for some time before they slowly parted. Staring in his nearly black eyes, she took his hand to bring him after her to the bed where she laid down as he watched, waiting for him to join her before he was suddenly pulling her back up.

Castle didn't say a word, pulling on the bottom of his wife's workout shirt before he could discard it to the side of the bed. Though he desperately wanted to, he let her take off her bra herself, watching as her breasts were soon exposed. He was shaken from his stare as she was moving, standing up and making him scramble to get out of the way. After she was standing, he reached for her yoga leggings before she stopped him by holding his wrists. "Kate, you have to let me-" he started to say, unable to help the frustration from seeping into his tone.

With a smile, Beckett leaned over and brushed her lips against her husband's telling him, "Let me." She covered his mouth with her fingertips before he could speak and told him, "For you."

"I'll do the same for you," Castle said quickly as he let her go.

Beckett didn't reply to that, pulling down her leggings and taking her panties with her at the same time. She heard the slight groan escape from her husband's mouth and reached for his right hand, kissing the tips of his fingers rapidly before she pressed it to her mound. She was relieved when he quickly rubbed her clit and she moaned before telling him, "It's been too long."

"It has," Castle said though he was speaking absently. He was staring at her swollen nub, debating within himself if he wanted to use his mouth instead. But his wife was putting a stop to that by pulling his hand away and he stood up as he knew he needed to reciprocate for her.

Beckett glanced at the bed, reaching down and tugging the comforter and sheet out of the way before she waited for him, sitting on the edge where he'd been. She smiled as he immediately started to disrobe once she was looking at him. "I was watching you," she admitted to him as he got down to his boxers. "While we were playing."

"You weren't thinking sexually though," Castle said quickly.

"How do you know," Beckett said, reaching for the waistband of his boxers as he'd stepped closer to her. She pulled it down firmly; hoping she wouldn't hurt him; before she grabbed his erection and slipped her mouth down on it. When he stopped her shortly after she wasn't surprised and allowed him to do so, moving with him so they could get onto the bed fully before his lips captured hers and they were kissing deeply until they parted, and he was murmuring to her.

" _Bhí mé ag iarraidh tú ar feadh laethanta_ ," Castle was telling her, which meant he'd wanted her for days.

Biting her lower lip, Beckett told him, " _Tá mé ag teastáil uait freisin_ ," which meant she'd needed him too. When he kissed her she was pushing on his back, getting him onto her though he moved his hips away from her. "Rick," she breathed as she broke off their kiss to speak.

"I know," Castle said before he settled on her though was keeping away from her body. He was about to take his length himself so he could enter her, but his wife was beating him to that and he was very shortly after sinking into her body. Groaning in joy with her he waited for her to raise her right leg to wrap around his waist while the left held onto his legs. With her ready, he made his first thrust, deciding he couldn't really take his time and going fast. He was doing that as he and Beckett were kissing, trying to touch her the best he could as he could feel her body's movements in response to him. He felt her hand down against their thighs pressed together and he went to her neck, nibbling at it and then her ear lobe before she was crying out to him.

"Rick… let me… let me fuck you," Beckett moaned before she was gasping as her husband suddenly turned them both around so they were on their knees. She held onto him as tightly as she could and began to move using her knees. When Castle grasped her ass, she cried out as she allowed him to move her though she was doing most of the work. After he held her by her waist, she took over though it wasn't for long since he was moving her onto her back again. She wrapped both her legs around him, hoping he wouldn't move them again as she realized it had taken more time than she'd wanted. Luckily he was moving even harder, leaving her to cry out repeatedly in her joy as the friction between them was rough. Her sex was throbbing every time he sank into her and that was intensifying before he was pausing. "Don't-" she started to say before he was kissing her hard.

Relieved when she responded to him, Castle kept that going as he began to move again and he heard her cry in his mouth. But he didn't stop until they needed to breathe and once he did he nuzzled her jaw with his lips before he could feel more pleasure that he couldn't stop. He was going to beg her to climax when she was suddenly doing so, only having a moment to see the pleasure spread across her face before he was joining her as he couldn't fight his body anymore.

The two called each other's names repeatedly until Beckett was stopping first, limp underneath her husband as he took a few more thrusts until he was still above her. She listened to their rough breathing filling the house and reached up to him, caressing his hair gently before she could feel him kissing at her neck where his face was buried. She started to say his name, when he was suddenly moving, raising his head so he could kiss her, and she ran her hands over his shoulders until they were slowly parting, his forehead pressing against hers.

"Please tell me that was good for you," Castle said, still slightly breathlessly.

"My vocal reaction should tell you it was," Beckett replied, caressing the back of his head tenderly. She pressed her lips to his and they kissed a second later after she stopped before he carefully pulled away from her. "We need to go," she said, though regretfully.

"I know," Castle said, moving off the bed and reaching for her before they went together to the shower. "Is it alright if I touch you?" he asked as they both stood under the water.

"It is," Beckett said with a smile up at him. "But don't make me come."

"I won't," Castle said. He paused and then asked, "Why?"

Smirking at him Beckett said, "I want your come in me for now."

Castle was sure he should answer that, but since his wife was running her hands down his chest decided it wasn't that big of a deal. He wrapped his arms around her and they proceeded to kiss though it didn't last very long as she was reaching up and raking her fingers through his hair to scrape along his scalp. "Kate," he breathed out against her lips.

"Hmm?" Beckett asked simply. When she felt her husband shuddering a little bit she reached down until she got to his erection that was still there. "What should we do?" she asked him.

"I'll take care of myself," Castle said before he was snatching his hands back from himself as she had slapped at them. "I n-" he began.

"No you don't need," Beckett told him firmly. "I do. And I want to."

Castle opened his mouth to start speaking but his wife was grabbing at his member and he was gritting his teeth together as hard as he could since she was moving her hand up and down it immediately. "You…" he began saying before he trailed off.

Focusing on her work, Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband wrapped his arm around her, sliding his hand from the small of her back to her ass. "Easy," she told him.

"I know," Castle managed to grunt out to her as she was reaching to him with her other hand. "I won't… last long with… you… doing that," he groaned out to her though he had to force the words out.

"That's the point," Beckett said before she suddenly knelt in front of him. Taking him into her mouth she didn't waste time in moving back and forth on him, repeatedly, before he was tensing up completely. She was ready for him and listened to him calling her name, enjoying hearing it much more clearly that time. When he was finished she had intended to work on him a little more, but he was making her stand.

"I need to calm down," Castle explained to her before he kissed her as hard as he could. When they finally managed to part he said, "You don't want me to-"

"No," Beckett said with a smile. "It would just start you up again."

"I thought of that," Castle told her as they moved back under the water again. "But you didn't want to lose me."

Beckett shook her head and leaned over to him, kissing him lovingly before he wrapped his arms around her and they became more passionate. She made him stop suddenly telling him, "Rick… the kids."

"Yes," Castle said quickly as he realized she was right. They turned their attention to washing up which they helped each other do fully until they were finished and stepping out to dry one another off.

Wrapping her towel around herself when her husband was dry Beckett said, "I need to help Skye."

"She's cooking?" Castle asked in surprise, hurrying to wrap his towel around his waist.

"Yes, but you're right, we should see what Mary says about that," Beckett replied.

"What're we doing tomorrow?" Castle asked while he followed her to the bedroom.

"Just two subjects," Beckett replied. "Like today. I'll take Math and Science."

"English and History for me?" Castle asked.

Beckett nodded as she was pulling on her bra and said, "Eyes away from me love."

Pretending to grumble, Castle pulled on his shirt and then pants, buttoning up the dark blue shirt before he was tucking it in. He glanced at his wife, seeing she was buttoning her denim like blouse before he went into the bathroom, not realizing his running caught her attention.

"Rick?" Beckett asked, going into the room after him.

"What?" Castle asked, surprised at her slightly concerned tone.

"Are you alright?" Beckett replied. When her husband looked confused she said, "You were running."

"Oh," Castle said, realizing she was right. "I needed to extricate myself, you were… you are stunning love."

Going over to him, Beckett fixed the lapel slightly on his shirt before she said, "You are too. But are you alright?"

"Are you?" Castle asked after he'd nodded. When his wife just smiled, he leaned over and they shared a tender kiss before he leaned against the counter to watch her brush her hair. He was going to take her hand when she was finished but she was beating him to it and pulled him after her over to the stairs. At the door he was relieved when she stopped, and they wrapped their arms around each other before they were kissing hungrily for a while. "Okay… the kids," he said. He smiled when she took his hand again and squeezed it before he entwined their fingers while she was smiling back at him. They walked out of the guest house and up to the main house, stepping onto the patio just as the sliding door opened and their two middle daughters nearly flew out.

"Take it easy you guys," Beckett told them firmly though she was holding her arms around them and hugging them. "Did you finish your homework?" she asked them.

"Yeah, Skye and Mary are checking them now," Julia said first. "Oh, I mean their kids' homework."

"And we'll check yours," Beckett replied. "Rick?"

"Yeah," Castle said, nodding his head before he followed her and the girls into the house. "Clive, did you read?"

"I did too," Mari said, going over to him.

Beckett and Castle quizzed the kids they'd taught that day on what they'd needed to read and once they were sure they had learned what they needed to they let them go to play.

"Mommy," Eliza said, going over to her.

"Did your grandpapa check your homework?" Beckett asked the little girl.

"I want you to do it," Eliza replied, handing her the paper she had. "You and Daddy."

"Let's sit on the couch," Castle said, taking her hand and leading her over to the furniture. He had her sit on his lap and when Beckett was next to them he let her read over the words she had written down for each letter of the alphabet.

"I had to ask grandpapa about the word for x," Eliza confessed once she'd finished.

"I think you still did a good job," Castle said.

"You did," Beckett said when the little girl looked at her. "And your hand writing was very nice."

"Thanks," Eliza said shyly.

Beckett hugged her and was about to speak when she heard a pot in the kitchen, making her look to see Mary at the stove while Skye was speaking to her at the island.

" _Grá_ , you don't need to cook," the investigator was saying. "And not by yourself; with so many of us here."

"It won't take me that long," Mary said.

"She won't need to cook by herself," Beckett said, walking over to them.

"I'm not exhausted," Skye said in slight irritation.

"No, but you've done more work than we have," Beckett commented.

"She's right," Mary said quickly. "Please _grá_ , humor me."

"Alright," Skye said with a sigh before she turned and saw Julia was watching her. "Come here," she said with a laugh, gesturing to the girl.

"Sorry but… could you show us what you learned today?" Julia asked with a smile.

"Sure," Skye replied. "And I'm glad you asked because I did want to show you so you could correct me."

"Isn't that Derek's job?" Peter asked, walking over to them.

"Yes, but I want a second opinion," Skye replied. "Okay, so we focused on the ending a bit and we'll finish on the last verse which they were able to move to join the first minute and twenty seconds of the song."

"How does it go Mum?" Marie asked.

Skye glanced at her daughter before she sang, " _Keep on sending your love, In the heat of battle, You've got something that'll save us, Save us now, Save us now, Save us now_ ," dragging out the last line as it was in the song. She smiled when everyone applauded and was about to thank them when the chime for the gate out in front rang. She was about to let them know who was there when Julia was suddenly gasping before she could do that.

"It's Derek!" the girl exclaimed. "You invited him for dinner, didn't you?"

"I did, I won't make this a habit though," Skye replied with a smile. She watched Beckett walk over to her and said, "You can tell?"

"Of course," she replied. "What is it?"

Shaking her head, the investigator said, "You'll find out soon enough," before she went to open the gate at the console by the front door. She opened it in time to see Derek's car driving through the open gate and she waved to him before he pulled up to the porch. "I haven't told them," Skye told him once the dancer was getting out of the car. "So don't let them know."

"I wasn't going to," Derek replied. "You can tell them," he said, speaking quickly as he could see the kids coming up behind her as he was stepping up onto the porch.

Beckett could hear the kids greeting Derek down the hall and she smiled at Mary before saying, "If she does dance I don't think it'll be for that long."

"Maybe not, but she needs rest," the doctor replied, straining some pasta. "I know the show hasn't started yet, but I don't want her to get run down like you hear the stars talking about."

"She'll be alright," Beckett said, though she knew the doctor was thinking of her wife's tendency to focus on things to the detriment of her wellbeing. "Hi Derek," she said as the kids came back, followed closely by the dancer and Skye.

"Hey," he replied. "It smells great."

"It'll be ready soon," Mary said, stirring some tomato sauce in the spaghetti she'd just made. "But great to see you again."

"We were practicing," Eliza said suddenly. "Um, not me, they were," she said shyly when she realized everyone was looking at her.

"I was going to show them the choreography at the end," Skye explained to her partner. "Is that alright?"

"Well, why don't we wait until we're back in the studio for that," Derek said. "I'd just like you to be in that environment when you dance."

"More space?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, and the mirrors help her see what she does right, or might mess up on," Derek said before he looked at his partner a little pointedly.

"Guys?" Mary said. When everyone looked at her except for Beckett she couldn't help laughing and said, "After dinner, which is ready but our table isn't."

Once the kids had set the long dining room table everyone gathered around, and the plates of pasta were passed around. The discussion while they were eating was about Labor Day which was that coming Monday and what they would be doing.

"We're going to stay here," Mary said for herself and her wife since they hadn't spoken about their plans yet though she was speaking to Castle and Beckett in the kitchen while they were cleaning the plates.

"You lot should head out," Skye said.

"Where?" Beckett asked though for some reason she wasn't very surprised her friend had asked that.

"The beach house," Skye said. When she saw the slight surprise on Beckett's face she said, "Just you guys."

"And you?" Castle asked, handing his wife a cup to dry.

"We'll stay here," Skye replied. "And you can use the downstairs apartment; where we stay so you'll all fit." She smiled when Beckett glanced at her and told her, "I figured you were thinking about that."

"We'll think about it," Beckett said. She glanced at her husband and then said with a sigh, "Or we will go."

"Great, I would leave on…" Skye started to say before she suddenly left.

"Are they practicing on Friday now?" Beckett asked.

"Probably, would you mind leaving on Saturday morning?" Mary asked.

"That would work out better," Castle commented. "That way we can get everything for the six kids going with us." He smiled when his wife rolled her eyes but knew she thought the same as him before Skye was walking back inside the kitchen.

"Okay, we are going to practice on Friday and I'd like the kids there," the investigator told them. "But that'll be it until the second for practicing."

"Derek doesn't want us there?" Castle asked.

"No, not for the final touches," Skye answered.

"What about your clothes?" Mary asked.

"Her costume," Beckett said when she saw her husband widen his eyes though she knew he was aware of what the doctor meant.

"I'll be trying it on on Friday," Skye replied easily. "Yes, that fast," she said with a laugh. "Trousers and a shirt?"

Sharing a look with her husband, Beckett said, "Aren't you wearing a pilot's jacket?"

"Yes, mine," Skye said simply. She then sighed and explained, "I didn't want to, but the show asked me to and I called the company… British Airways," she added quickly for Castle and Beckett. "And they said it'd be alright." She shrugged and said, "So I have that."

"You'll look great _grá_ ," Mary said, going to her wife and wrapping her arms around her tightly.

Castle smiled at his wife, finishing the last bowl, and went to her before he took her hand, intending to leave the two women before the kids were coming back along with their parents and Derek.

"Skye," the dancer said as the two women were parting.

"Right," she said quickly, before whispering into her wife's ear for a moment.

"This is so annoying," Peter murmured to Julia.

Shrugging, the girl wasn't surprised when her partner just looked at her and she smiled telling him, "What can you do? Grownups are like that."

"Okay, Derek and I were talking today," Skye said. "And he wants to see you dancing something else."

"Oh… sure," Peter said, looking over at Mari and Clive.

"Should I just say?" Derek said.

"I think so since you'll have to contact all their parents," Skye replied.

"Alright, the show's gotten hold of footage of you two at some of your competitions," Derek began, looking at Castle and Beckett. When they nodded, he looked back at the pair and said, "They're open to the idea of you two dancing on the show in between dances; just once a show though if it's alright with your parents. And they want me to choreograph for you, but I'm wondering if you have any dances already," waiting for their reactions.

"Just the two of us?" Julia asked first.

"I'll see if the four of you can't dance eventually," Derek said. "And I hate saying this but-" he started to say, looking uncomfortable.

"They know they can dance," Clive said. When the dancer nodded he said, "So why-" before Mari put her hand on his arm.

"He'll let them see us dance too," the girl said. "So they'll let us join them." She turned her head to Derek and asked, "We will join them, right? They're a lot better than we are."

"You two aren't that bad," the dancer assured them. "But yes, that's what Skye and I both want to do. So with that, like I said I'd like to see if you two have anything already choreographed that you can show us now?"

"Not the Jive?" Julia asked.

"No, something else," Derek replied.

Nodding, Julia smiled and turned to Peter, murmuring to him for a moment before they spoke to one another until she turned to Derek and said, "We have a Cha-Cha we… just made up."

"Okay, what song?" the dancer asked.

"We didn't really have a song," Peter said, sharing a look with Julia.

"We could try though," the girl said with a smile.

"You could tell he was going to ask that?" Skye asked her.

"Yeah, are you going to perform?" Julia said.

"I can always play it on the-" Skye started to say.

"I think they thought of a song you know," Jim commented as he was watching his granddaughter.

"Yeah," Julia replied. "We sorta…"

"We choreographed it to the song but… we're kinda embarrassed," Peter said, taking up for his partner. "It's…" he began, looking at her.

" _P2_ … _Vatican Blues_?" Julia asked the investigator and her wife.

"Yeah," Skye said. "We do know that," she said. "But we'll sing with the music on stereo."

"You can't play it?" Ivy asked in disappointment.

"I'd rather not," Skye said, glancing at her wife.

"I know, the baby," Mary said as she went over to the TV. "And _grá_? Stereo?"

"I'm a child of the nineties; what do you want?" Skye said jokingly. "Is it alright if you dance here?" she asked the pair.

"Sure," Julia said. She looked at Peter and said, "How should we start?"

"We always just… started the steps," the boy explained. Peter talked with his partner for a while before he asked Derek, "Do you know the song?"

"No, but I don't want you to worry how it looks," the dancer said. "Just start and dance."

"Okay," Julia said, smiling at Peter who soon nodded. She tried not to glance at her family, instead letting her partner take her hand as Mary played the song.

Beckett wasn't surprised when the two didn't do anything as the opening music played, but as soon as Skye was singing they began to move with Peter spinning Julia once, rapidly. She was impressed, as she had no idea when the two had made the dance up and resolved to ask them once the song was over since they were stopping their steps before that.

 _Gazed at the ceiling from below  
A splendid Michelangelo  
Filled my heart with delight  
Last Saturday night_

 _Arrived believing from home  
Climbed every step inside St. Peter's Dome  
Claustrophobic and ex-Catholic  
Last Saturday night_

 _Now how come nobody really noticed  
Puff of white smoke knocked me out  
The truth is hiding, lurking, banking  
Things they do at night_

 _It's quite suspicious to say the least  
Even mentioned it to my local priest  
One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night_

With the instrumental, Castle shared a look with his wife as Peter extended his left leg while he held Julia's hand and she moved her feet so her legs and hips were shaking back and forth. He wasn't very surprised to see the move, since he knew Jennifer Grey had done a similar move in her finale Cha-Cha. But when Peter stood and spun Julia again they stopped he looked with the others at Skye.

"Keep going!" Julia said, not surprised the other kids were saying the same thing.

Shaking her head, and smiling, Skye sang the remainder of the song, her wife providing the back up when it was needed.

 _I wish somebody would tell me  
That it's only a show  
I'll confess, own up, let's face it  
In my concrete tuxedo_

 _It's quite suspicious to say the least  
While mentioning it to my priest  
One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night_

 _One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night  
One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night_

As soon as the music stopped Skye thanked everyone for their applause before she turned her attention to her partner. "Well?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think we're good," Derek said. He then smiled at the kids and asked, "Have you done that for other dances?"

"We did, but we just threw stuff together," Peter said. "Were we lucky for this one?"

"You were," Derek replied. "But again, it let me see what you can do. Now I have an idea for your first dance but it's going to have to wait for the show to tell me when we can do that."

Nodding, Julia said, "It's okay if we don't."

"Oh, you will," Skye said. "But now we have that out of the way…"

"It's our turn," Beckett said in amusement as the investigator was looking at her. "This weekend is a holiday weekend."

"We don't have school on Monday, right?" Mari asked.

"No. And because of that Skye and Mary suggested we should go to the beach house on Saturday and come back here Monday," Beckett told them.

Castle laughed when the kids were immediately exclaiming before he realized Skye and Mary's were too.

" _Is there a way we could all fit there_?" Beckett asked the investigator, having gone to her, speaking in Russian in her ear.

Skye appeared to think for a moment before she said, "Girls," to her daughters. "We're going to stay home but," she was quick to add when the girls groaned. "We've just gone okay?"

" _Grá_?" Mary asked. When her wife looked at her, she smiled and said, "We should go. You'll have to share beds and we'll need some air mattresses, but we can fit."

"What she means to say is the room that was the bedroom downstairs?" Skye asked.

"Your dad's?" Castle asked in remembrance.

"Dad added two bunk beds; after we adopted Ivy and Iris," Skye said. "We'll have enough room though we'll be a bit crowded."

"But it's just for the weekend," Martha said. "And I'd like to see this beach house; the girls have told us about it."

"We'll go," Beckett said with a smile.

"I'll be spending time with my sister and family," Derek said quickly when he saw Julia was looking at him. "But thanks for the thought."

"Okay, we'll leave Saturday morning and-" Mary started to say.

"Bring your guitars Mum, Mom," Kathleen said rapidly.

"We will," Skye said with a heavy sigh though she was soon smiling. "But… I am looking forward to this."

"When did you take your girls?" Jim asked, nodding to the three youngest.

"Two weekends ago," Mary said, looking pointedly at her wife.

Everyone started to laugh at the broad smile on Skye's face before they calmed down and then turned their attention to playing some games together before they needed to get their children to bed.

* * *

"Okay, I'm sure we have this ready," Skye was saying, looking at the paper in front of her. "You two are in the master bedroom of course."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"We always stay in that apartment on the second level," Mary said reassuringly.

"What did you do when you took the girls?" Castle then said.

Shaking her head Skye said, "Remember we stay in the house then. Not about to let the girls stay in the home on their own. And don't interrupt me." She smiled when Castle held up his hands jokingly and then continued saying, "We're down in that apartment. Our girls will obviously fit in the downstairs bedroom. Now the three bedrooms upstairs are slightly trickier."

"My dad and Martha said they'd share with what kids they need to," Beckett reminded her.

"Which is why I'll give the room with the queen-sized bed to Martha and Eliza," Skye replied. "The other bedroom can go to Jim and the boys; we'll take an air mattress. We can't get a hold of a cot or cots now we're all going. And the other bedroom Julia and Mari can share together."

"They might share a twin bed?" Castle said to his wife.

"We'll advise them not to, those beds are skinny," Beckett replied, looking at the two women. "But I'm sure we'll figure that all out when we get there. Oh, Josie?"

"Yeah… is a bassinet alright?" Skye asked.

"It is, but do you have one?" Beckett said.

"And we forgot," Mary said to her wife. "We needed to pick it up from our neighbor. Why have you not needed it until now?"

"We're always holding her," Beckett said in amusement before they watched Skye hurry to the stove to get the kettle off which had begun whistling.

"Good thing," Mary replied quickly as she was going to her wife to help her. "And ask her once we have our tea and are outside," smiling at Beckett and her startled expression.

Getting her tea ready, Beckett followed the two women with her husband behind her and they went out to the rose garden. Once they were sitting she said, "I did have another question."

"Everyone always has a question for me now," Skye said with a smile. "But go ahead and ask."

"What are you going to do if you get to the Rumba?" Beckett said.

Breathing out Skye said, "I've talked with Derek about that and I'm not sure how it'll go. But hopefully there's a song that has more of a connection with me and Mary."

"I'm sure there will be," the doctor said.

"She's got a look on her face," Castle commented as they were all watching the woman.

Laughing, when she saw her wife was studying her, Mary then said, "I told them to let me pick the song that time."

"Just that one?" Skye asked.

"With you dancing that way with a man?" Mary said back immediately.

Laughing with everyone Skye then said, "I don't think you need to worry _grá_. There's no chance I'd be all that interested in more than a dance with Derek."

"You think she'd change her sexuality?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"It's not that," Skye said before her wife could say anything. "She's not looking forward to people thinking that Derek and I are a pair."

"They seem to think that with a lot of his partners," Castle commented.

Nodding her head, Skye then said to Beckett, "That brings us to your other question."

"If you weren't sisters then I would be worried," Castle said as Mary looked at Beckett with him.

Giving her husband a look, she said, "Are you worried at all about people reacting to your sexuality?"

"There've already been posts on social media about her," Mary said first, looking angry as she took her wife's free hand with her own.

"I don't really consider it," Skye said. "I have more on my mind with the dances than their opinions on something I can't change. And of course, I'm not about to change just because people I don't know take offense to me; they don't know either."

"Your safety?" Castle said though he didn't really want to bring that up.

"There'll be guards that'll be there for the shows," Skye said first. "Not just for me but everyone's family and friends. So you'll all be safe. Oh, that reminds me. Lenora's back and she'll come this week to meet Josie."

"Great, but Marie and Kath have repeated she's a great babysitter," Beckett said with a smile.

"Of course, but you should meet her," Skye replied. "And that'll be next week." She sipped at the last of her tea and told them, "To be honest I'd intended you guys to go to the beach house on your own; you and everyone else in your group."

"I know, but we're here to be with you in the end," Beckett said.

"Plus, our kids would want to be around your kids," Castle added. "And Mari, Peter and Clive."

"I got what you meant," Skye said with a nod. She then said, "We had our chance alone there though; it's why we'd thought of that. And we'll go, don't worry."

"What're your plans for tomorrow though?" Castle asked the investigator.

"I think we should start with breakfast in Paris," Skye replied.

"Is it a good idea to switch between languages like that?" Mary said to her wife.

Shaking her head Skye said, "It's why we immerse them in the language. Working on verbs and rules can make it harder for children to pick it up."

"Is that how you learned?" Beckett asked her.

"Essentially," Skye replied. "That and I'm more adept at languages," she added. "But that's me. So I think I'd like to say goodnight, get a bit of rest in anticipation of tomorrow and teaching the kids."

"And swimming," Mary reminded her.

"P.E. again?" Skye asked. When the other three nodded she said, "I suppose it's easier to just have them all do that. We'll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast."

"The-" Castle started to say; since he and Beckett were still holding their mugs. But the two women took them and he said, "We're going to take dinner you know."

"That's fine, but we'll be eating out for dinners," Skye replied.

"We figured," Beckett said. " _The Orange Inn_ that first night?"

"For lunch," Skye said, shaking her head. "Since we're going so early. We'll head to _The Cliff_ for dinner."

"Can they handle a party as large as ours will be?" Castle asked. "Or did you call already?"

"I did, and yes they can," Mary said. She smiled when the couple looked at her in surprise and she told them, "She's not the only one with connections."

"She used my name," Skye said wryly. "But I don't mind in this case. We'll be outside of course and against the edge so we can see the view. Night."

"Thank you, both of you," Beckett said first. "Goodnight."

Castle said the same to the women before he was walking after his wife to the guest house telling them, "We'll help out with breakfast."

"Good to know," Skye said before she and her wife went into the house. She got the mugs in her hands on the table before she locked the sliding door, going after Mary to the kitchen where they rinsed out the cups. Walking up the stairs she was tempted to check on their children when her hand was being tugged gently before they went into their room. "I'm not in need of all that much rest _grá_ ," she told her wife honestly.

Deftly locking the door while Skye watched, Mary smiled at her and said, "Neither am I," before they fell into one another, kissing deeply while they made their way over to their bed.

* * *

"We're traveling again," Castle said to his wife as he locked the door to the guest house closed behind him.

"I know," Beckett said with a smile. "And I don't mind."

"Yeah… it's been a while since we've been there," Castle said a little absently, thinking that over. "So we'll be crowded."

"Except for the married couples?" Beckett asked him.

"Yes," Castle replied. When she pushed him slightly he laughed and then told her, "There's a reason for that."

Nodding, as they knew from their last visit that their room in the beach house was sound proofed, Beckett said, "And I'm glad for that as well but let's wait and see how tired we are for that."

"I know," Castle replied with a nod. He then looked at her as she turned to him at the top of the stairs in their room and he said, "Do you want to take a bath?"

Smiling, Beckett shook her head and then reached for her husband, taking his hands and pulling him closer to her so she could wrap her arms around his neck. They immediately began to kiss, feeling his arms wrapping about her and his hands resting on the small of her back. After they had parted she said with a smile, "We'll take one tomorrow. No, I'd like to sit for a little."

"Sure," Castle said quickly as the idea immediately appealed to him. He followed her to the window seat, letting her sit down first before he was quick to join her. Looking at her he reached over, brushing some of her hair behind her ear before he leaned over and gently kissed her. "Was that alright?" he asked her when he pulled away soon after.

"Yes," Beckett said before she bit at her lower lip for a moment. She slid closer to him and then leaned into him, kissing him deeply before he was suddenly pulling away from her. She wasn't surprised when he pulled on her until she was sitting on his lap and she went willingly, wrapping her arms around him again before they were kissing once more.

Running his hands up and down her back, Castle drew her as close to his body as he could before they were parting carefully. Pressing his forehead against hers he murmured, "I love you."

"I love you too," Beckett replied. She then smiled and said, "I didn't want to race to the bed."

"Sure," Castle said quickly. He laughed when his wife pulled back to look at him in surprise and said, "Sorry, I wanted to make sure you knew I agreed with you."

"I know," Beckett said, kissing his temple. "But there's something I want to ask you."

"Sure," Castle replied.

"Do you mind so many of us at the beach house?" Beckett asked.

"Do you?" Castle countered with.

"No," Beckett replied with a smile, knowing she had her answer with that. She brushed her lips against his and told him, "I know you wouldn't be… but it's a lot of people."

"Do you want to be abstinent?" Castle asked, hoping he could keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I've been thinking about that. I don't think I can really resist though."

"There's a tub in the bathroom we have," Castle said. "And a shower."

Beckett laughed softly and said, "You just to make love to me in water."

"It's more if I can make you comfortable," Castle said seriously. He was a little startled when she frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not very comfortable at the moment," Beckett told him.

Castle opened his mouth, about to ask her if she wanted to sit on the bed when he paused. Looking at her closely he then said, "To tell you the truth, I'm not either."

"Pervert," Beckett told him teasingly.

"You love me," Castle told her, moving to pick her up as he stood.

" _Táim ag iarraidh ort_ ," Beckett murmured, telling him that she craved him.

Breathing hard, Castle laid his wife in the middle of the bed telling her, " _Ba mhaith liom tú_ ," which meant he wanted her.

Beckett immediately reached up to Castle, pulling him down to her so they could kiss, becoming passionate quickly. Shortly after they began to undress, doing so hurriedly as they wanted to explore everything they could do together with the time they had the rest of their night alone.


	5. Traveling Deep Beneath The Waves

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Gone Troppo_ by George Harrison, from his album of the same name, and _Good Times_ by Sam Cooke.

A/N #2: It was really nice getting the feedback I did for the last chapter, so I'll go straight into my thank yous for that! MsNYC (It was great you thought the first half was a great start for the chapter. I'm not surprised you really enjoyed the flashback since I do know how much you like those, lol. And I'm so glad that you think Beckett and Skye as twins is the best thing, and you're welcome for that. Nice to see that you see everyone learning something is cool. Also, I'm not surprised you're glad about DWTS too. I was happy reading that you thought the second part was great. And really pleased you thought Castle and Beckett's alone time was written tastefully. Also it's a relief that you love how Castle makes sure Beckett is comfortable with what they do; I figure him doing that would make him great for her. I'm not surprised that you're glad that Derek and Skye get along since that's important of course. And I'm not surprised either that you're happy Julia and Peter will get to dance on the show more than once, or that you're hoping Mari and Clive will get to do more, you'll see how that goes as the show starts. I'm glad that you can understand Mary worrying people would think Skye and Derek would be thought of as having something going on, though happy that you think she has nothing to worry about. And you're right, Skye is definitely all Mary's. And really nice to see that you thought it was great writing as usual!),

TORONTOSUN (Really nice to see that you thought it was great writing all around for the chapter!) and

Mb (It was really nice to see you thought the chapter was a fantastic update. I was glad that you loved them using the flight simulator in the first half. And great you were glad that the kids that wanted to see what a flight simulator did could, to be honest I've never been in one so I was glad you enjoyed that. I'm not surprised you would be in awe of Skye's view from her office, there is a Boeing building across the freeway from LAX so those offices on the side of it must have amazing views like that, lol. And so, so happy that you thought the poems that Beckett had for Julia and Peter's English class was great. And yeah, I would have loved being taught outside so I figure that since they have such a nice front yard why not. I'm not surprised you mentioned them making PE fun, always need to of course! I wasn't surprised either that you were saying it was a good thing that Jim and Martha were helping Skye and Mary as well as Skye and Mary in them getting their quality sexy time together as you put it, lol. So, so pleased that you thought Skye and Mary's love scene was tastefully done since of course I want that to be in the end! You're welcome for the first half! It was nice reading you thought the second half of the chapter was another great updated. I was really glad that you thought Castle and Beckett, even when they need to be fast will still be loving as well as hot and sexy; I think that's how they'd always be. And I'm not surprised you mentioned the producers wanting to have Julia and Peter dancing after seeing footage from their competitions. Or that you thought it was sweet that Derek will have Mari and Clive dance too. I had to laugh when you mentioned the beach house is going to be full to the seams though you do make a great point about that. And I'm glad you thought it'll be so much fun. But yeah, a beach party for just a couple days in the house won't be so bad and with the beach more time will be sent there, lol. You're very welcome for sharing! I was happy to see you enjoyed the flashback, I loved writing it, lol. And a very Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter are lyrics from the song _Any Road_ by George Harrison, from his album _Brainwashed_.

Traveling Deep Beneath The Waves

"This is the house?" Clive asked as he looked at the abode they were slowing down in front of.

"It is," Beckett said in amusement. "But don't let the outside fool you."

"It's bigger," Julia told him.

"I hope so," Clive said jokingly. "Or else we won't fit."

"We will," Beckett said reassuringly before she parked in the garage. It was the fifth of September and they were just arriving at the beach house. Since there were seventeen of them, they'd taken four cars down to Laguna Beach and she looked behind her before she saw the car her husband had driven pulling up in the small driveway. Though she wanted to see where Skye was going to park her car, she went to the backseat and took out Josie saying, "Where are they?" since her husband was walking up to her.

"They're there," Peter said first; having gone with Castle, Martha, Mari and Eliza.

"Okay, at least we know we're all here," Castle said jokingly.

Beckett shook her head before she went to the driveway and looked out to see the last two cars going by to the neighbor to the south of the house. She shared a confused expression with her husband, walking down to the other house.

"How was the drive?" Skye asked as she was first out of the closer car.

"Good, why are you here?" Castle said first.

Laughing Mary said, "We have the neighbor's permission, Liam knows them."

"Oh… that helps," Castle said.

"Can you park in the garage?" Beckett asked.

Shaking her head Skye said, "We're just glad that we were able to get the parking spot. It's a pain here. Now that we're here let's hurry so we don't lose this first day."

Going to the cars where their things were, the group unloaded them and hurried to get through the gate which Marie could open.

"Oh cool," Peter said eagerly as they walked to the front door. "You can see the ocean. Wait," he said with a frown as he realized he couldn't see the beach.

"Wait and see," Julia told him with a wide smile though she was doing so at Mari since her best friend was looking at the water in obvious awe.

Going in Skye said, "Welcome to our vacation home and we hope you'll enjoy."

Laughing Beckett said, "I think they will."

"Okay," Mary said. "We have the stairs here, the family room there. Please mind those steps down to it. The kitchen is there of course and there's the balcony."

"Can we go look outside?" Clive asked.

"Yeah, I'm afraid we're floating," Mari quipped.

"After we get everything settled upstairs," Castle said. "And don't worry, we want to show you the outside ourselves so we'll get to that."

Getting the luggage, the group went up the stairs and to the other three bedrooms while Castle pushed his and Beckett's suitcase into their room swiftly. They followed the kids through the bedrooms where they would be staying, not surprised they admired the décor but seemed to be more interested in the beach. But Castle couldn't help going over to his mother; once they'd gotten to the room she and Eliza would share; about to ask her what she thought of it when she was replying to him already.

"It's wonderful so far," Martha said. "But I'm hoping to see the beach as well."

Laughing slightly Castle said, "You will. But I wonder if Julia knew we were going to come back here."

"What do you mean?" Beckett asked her husband as they were following the kids into the hallway so they could see the downstairs then.

"Here," Castle said, taking Josie from her. He kissed the baby on the cheek and said, "They didn't show any pictures of… you'll see."

"I know," Beckett said with a smile as she knew what he was talking about.

"Okay," Castle said easily as they were going to what was going to be the McDouglas girls' room. "Hey, is this still your dad's room?" he called to Skye and Mary.

The former turned and said with a smile, "No, he's taken the one that Julia and Mari have."

"Why doesn't he take the master bedroom?" Jim said.

"He doesn't like it being so big," Mary said. She shrugged as Beckett's father looked confused and she said, "I don't know why, it's just his way."

"Okay," Skye then said. "We have all our suitcases set so we can see the rest of the house. And so you know there's not all that much left."

" _Grá_?" Mary asked.

"Your suitcases," Beckett said in amusement as the investigator was looking at her wife questioningly.

"Oh, true," Skye said.

"Yeah, where are you going to stay?" Peter asked in confusion.

"Come on," Skye said simply, walking out of the room and over to the kitchen. She pointed out; to those that hadn't been there before; where the glasses, plates and other items were before they walked around the table and she opened the doors leading to the balcony. "Welcome to Laguna Beach," she said, allowing the kids to go first since she knew they were all wondering at Mari, Peter and Clive's reactions as they looked out on the beach below them.

"Whoa, you're on the edge of a cliff!" Clive exclaimed.

"We are," Skye said. "Santa Monica is as well," she added. "But with you all seeing this I'll ask that you be very careful with that and hold onto the railing when you're going down the stairs."

"Can we go down now?" Mari asked, looking over to their right and spotting the staircase.

"Sure, our room is down there anyway," Mary said first. She and Skye led the way to the next level of the stairs where she told them, "It's a small apartment, a living room and bedroom and bathroom. We'll take this one if my dad's here since we like being closer to the water."

"How cool," Peter said.

"Yeah, can you hear the ocean when you're in there?" Clive asked.

"Yep," Kathleen said with a smile.

"Yeah, even with the doors closed," Iris said eagerly.

"Can we go to the beach?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Not just yet," Beckett said first as she was watching Josie and saw the baby was starting to fuss. "We need to unpack, and we should get food and drinks for the weekend," she said, looking at Skye.

"Very true, and it'll be nice to walk by where we'll grab lunch," the investigator said, looking on with the others as Castle and Beckett left with the baby. "Alright then," she told the others as they looked back at her. "Go on outside here but stay there on the balcony. If'n you please," she said, adding the end to her serious tone before she went with her wife into the bedroom so they could start unpacking their things.

"You don't need to take anything from my suitcase," Beckett was telling her husband in the master bedroom.

"What do you have?" Castle asked, looking over at her immediately.

With a slight smile on her face Beckett said, "Nothing. But you don't need to unpack, I wanted you to take her with the others."

"And leave you here on your own?" Castle said simply, putting his empty suitcase into the closet.

"Yes," Beckett replied easily. When he glanced at her she didn't say anything, merely looking at him until he shrugged. She switched Josie to her other breast and then said, "You also need to change her."

"Her bathing suit?" Castle said, standing next to the armchair she was on.

Nodding Beckett said, "And a sundress."

"You need to help me though," Castle pointed out.

"I was planning on it," Beckett replied in amusement. She looked down at the baby, waiting for her to finish before she said, "We'll be able to start her on baby food soon."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"I am," Beckett said. "She's sitting up in her high chair now, we just need to make sure she can move the food once it's in her mouth."

"Hopefully she'll be able to do that as fast as her sister did," Castle said, taking the towel on her shoulder and placing it on his. He got the baby from her once Josie had pulled away from her breast and started to burp her while his wife stood. He was startled when she tugged on his arm gently and he followed her out to the steps down to the hallway and the room the baby was sharing with Martha and Eliza. He started to speak when his wife put the bag with the baby's clothes on the bed before Josie was shifting against his shoulder and he had to focus his attention on her.

"I'll be fine Rick," Beckett told her husband as she began to unpack.

"I know but-" Castle said as he walked over to her. When she squeezed his arm he said, "I wanted to help."

"Believe me, you are," Beckett assured him, kissing the back of Josie's head before squeezing her husband's hand. She quickly unpacked what little the baby had for their weekend and said, "Take her with the others."

"I will," Castle assured her, knowing she was serious. He went out to the hallway, in time to see that the kids were coming upstairs. "Is everyone changing?" he asked.

"We already have bathing suits Dad," Julia said first. "We're just seeing if we need to unpack."

"You can help us, it won't take too long…" Beckett said, seeing her father last in the group.

"I can either take Josie or help the boys with their clothes," Jim told his daughter.

Castle, seeing his wife glancing back at him, went to his father in law to hand the baby over to him before he took Clive and Peter to their room. He helped them unpack, wondering if his wife was helping the girls while she still needed to do the same. "Okay, head downstairs," he told the two. "And stay with Jim and my mom." Watching them go down the hallway outside the room he turned as his wife came out of his mother's room saying, "Everyone's ready?"

"They are," Beckett said quickly before they watched the girls heading to the stairs. "Go."

"But-" Castle began.

"I'm not going to take that long," Beckett said simply. "And our parents need the help."

Castle was about to speak when he paused and then recalled Skye and Mary were likely in their room on the second level. "I'll see you with them," he said simply before he left.

Watching him go down, Beckett went to the master bedroom, closing the door behind her. While she didn't have much in her carryon suitcase she'd brought two items she hadn't wanted her husband to see yet. She took care of those first and then put the rest of her clothes away, finishing in only fifteen minutes. A knock on the door drew her from the bathroom where she'd placed her makeup bag and she called, "Rick?"

"It's me," another voice said on the other end.

Calling them in, Beckett said, "I'm glad you knocked."

"It's not my house," Skye said in amusement as she walked into the room. "But are you set?"

"Have you been waiting for me?" Beckett asked as she nodded her head.

"No, we just got in," Skye said as she waited for her friend to walk around the bed to her. "Your husband seems to have been told he can't come in?"

" _He's punishing me_ ," Beckett said wryly in Irish.

" _More punishing himself… or both of you_ ," Skye said with a slight smirk. " _But we have everything ready_."

" _The_ paddleboards?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, _all set_ ," Skye replied. " _We know how to work fast_ ," she said in amusement while they went down the stairs.

" _They do too_ ," Beckett said as the first floor was empty.

" _That was_ Mary," Skye said. " _The girls; our girls; want to go_."

"When do you stop coming down here?" Beckett asked, switching back to English.

"About the end of the month," Skye replied before they went outside to the flight of stairs down. "Thank you lot for waiting here for us at the least," she commented jokingly to the others.

"We weren't going down," Mary said wryly. "But we should go."

"We are," Skye said, picking up one of the two beach umbrellas they had. She started down first and unlocked the gate with the key she had in her swimming trunks pocket. After she was down on the concrete step she said, "Step down this way," to Martha and Jim. "It's easier to go onto the sand though it's unstable."

"How far are we going?" Jim asked, still holding Josie and being careful until he was down fully on the sand.

"Just to here," Mary said, looking at the rocks in front of them. She set down the bags she held, and she and her wife started to get everything set up with Castle and Beckett's help before they grabbed their kids from where they were wading and had them take off their covers so they could get some sunscreen on them.

"Now can we go in?" Clive asked.

"You can," Beckett told him and Peter as she'd had her husband help them first. "But don't go that far out."

"She's right," Skye commented as the boys opened their mouths to protest at the same time. "There's a current that can pick up out there, our girls know not to head that far."

"We'll call to you if you're going too far," Castle told them. When the two nodded and hurried into the water with all the other kids; except for Josie; he said, "What would you two like to know?"

"Their families," Mary said first.

"You know about Peter's mother," Beckett commented.

"And Clive?" Skye said.

"His parents weren't married," Castle said. "They were only dating and once Clive was about…"

"I think ten months," Beckett said, nodding as he'd looked over at her. "She left them and left custody of Clive with him."

"Where is she?" Skye asked.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "She'll send a birthday card in the mail and the postmark says Chicago but no address."

"They have no siblings," Mary said.

"No, I think that's why Peter's enjoyed spending time at our house," Martha said. "Or that's why we all think it," she added looking at the others.

Nodding Castle said, "He does. And I think Clive might too."

"How's his father?" Skye suddenly asked after they had been putting on sunscreen themselves and Josie as well.

"Temperament?" Beckett asked him. When the investigator nodded she said, "It's fine, he's a bit protective of Clive but I think it's because there's always the fear of his mother coming back and trying to take him away."

"That would make sense," Mary said as she was looking at her. "You could have looked at Skye too."

"Ah, not really _grá_ ," the investigator said with a smile. "I focus more on planes and pilots."

Shrugging Mary said, "We only have three boards," to bring their attention back to their kids.

"We'll take turns," Beckett assured them. "And we'll take the kids in front."

"Roshambo?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head, Beckett said, "We'll figure things out," before they went to the water.

"Mommy!" Eliza said eagerly when she saw them. "Mari says the cliff is scary."

"Well… the house being there at the top," the girl said in slight embarrassment.

"It's all right, I think it's a little scary like that too, but you don't need to worry," Castle said to her reassuringly.

"Just hold onto the railings," Marie said.

"Oh sweetling," Skye said in the heaviest tone of disappointment she could muster. When her oldest stuck her tongue out at her she said, "Why you little…"

"Wait!" Mary said suddenly. "Sorry, it's not serious," she said as all the kids were looking at her. "We forgot the market Skye."

"Whoops," the investigator said, walking back to them with Marie in front of her. "Go on sweetling."

"Mum," the little girl groaned though she was hugging her mother tightly before she ran to join the others.

"Well… you don't all need to go," Skye said. "I know what we need."

"Lunches and dinners?" Castle asked.

"The four of us could go," Mary said slowly. "But only if your parents are alright with watching them."

"The older kids will help them," Castle said as his wife walked up to their parents. "And we have the beach to use as punishment."

"Not getting to go out tomorrow?" Mary guessed, since her wife was heading into the water to gather all the children.

"Or for a while today," Castle said. "Stay with our parents." He looked at Beckett who was walking up to them and asked, "They're okay with it?"

"They are, but they want the kids to only go up to Marie and Kathleen's knees," she told the two.

"They're not going to be happy they didn't say Mari… or Julia," Mary said.

"No, but we won't be gone for too long," Skye told them. "Okay, so we're going to be only down the street. And we won't be getting anything sweet."

"What?" Mari said as the McDouglas girls were gasping.

"We might get ice cream, or something from the bakery?" Kathleen asked.

"Hold on," Castle said. "What is it?" he asked Jim as he reached them.

"It's past eleven," Beckett's father said. He couldn't help laughing slightly when the parents were looking at their watches and said, "It'll take us some time to pack up."

"He's right," Beckett said with a nod. "We should just get ready and go."

"We can have the kids go up on their own and use that outdoor shower," Skye said. "Kids," she then called.

Since they were told they were going somewhere for lunch and then shopping for food, the ten children dried off and went up the stairs before the McDouglas girls showed them the shower on the other side of the house that was too thin to walk through. They rinsed off before drying off and waited for the adults, heading inside with Martha as she was there first.

When everyone was dried, dressed and ready at the front door they left, walking to the main street and then north to reach _The Orange Inn_ where they would be having lunch. The kids, telling the adults what they wanted, went to some tables that Jim and the oldest kids pushed together so they could sit together. When they'd finished ordering Castle, Beckett, Skye and Mary went to sit with their families when Eliza grabbed her mother's hand, pulling her to the high chair in between Martha and Jim to exclaim over the baby.

"She's still sitting Mommy!" the little girl said.

"I see," Beckett said in amusement. "And she probably will be for a while."

"Here's your shakes," Castle said, passing them out to their daughters and their friends. "Take a sip now and then save it for lunch."

"What'd you get?" Julia asked her dad that though she was directing it to both her parents since they had gotten the same smoothie.

"The Orange Inn one," Castle said, not surprised the kids started reading it.

"It's okay," Kathleen said.

"Yeah, not sweet," Fleur said.

"Easy with your smoothies girls," Skye said to her daughters.

Talking together, the kids were soon impatient about eating as it felt like it was taking a while. But finally their numbers were being called and Peter jumped up from his chair saying, "I can help!"

"Thank you," Castle said, trying not to laugh at his exuberance. He went with him and his wife to the counter and they got the three trays they had their food on before he passed out what dish went to who. "Kate," he said. "Your sandwich seems to have sprouted."

"Dad," Julia groaned, as her mother's turkey sandwich had sprouts in it.

"Sorry," Castle said, seeing that Skye and her wife were turned away from them. "I'll keep the jokes to a minimum so we can eat."

"Does _everything_ have avocado here?" Clive asked after they'd been eating for a while.

"Welcome to California," Skye said with a smile. "But we do use them a lot. How's your guacamole?" she asked him since he'd gotten a cheese quesadilla.

"Good," Clive said, his cheeks starting to flush.

"Keep eating, the ocean's still outside," Ivy said to him.

Everyone began laughing before they turned their attention to their food again, finishing though the kids had to finish their shakes before they could get up.

"This is a really nice restaurant," Mari was saying to Julia as they waited by the front door.

"I know," she replied. "We didn't get to come here before, but Mom and Dad told us they came here. I hope we don't have to be at that market for that long." She wasn't surprised when Mari nodded in agreement and then turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder, seeing it was her mother.

"Can you hold her?" Beckett asked. When her daughter nodded she handed her the baby, smiling as Josie immediately reached out to Mari though it was more her waving her arm. She was quick to fix the carrier onto the stroller and was about to get the baby to put her in when she paused.

"Do you want her back Mom?" Julia asked, turning away from playfully nuzzling her sister's nose with her own and making the baby laugh.

"I think you can carry her to the market," Beckett said, pushing the stroller outside.

"Really, but…" Julia started to say before she saw the sign for the market across the street. "What about carrying her through the store?"

"She might fall asleep," Castle said.

"Nap time?" Eliza asked from on top of his shoulders.

"Just about," Castle said while the group of them were hurrying across the street. On the other side he followed his wife and Skye to the entrance where he got Eliza to set her down. "What's the plan for meals?"

"We don't need to worry about dinner," Skye said first.

"Our reservations are for six," Mary added. "So we just have breakfasts and dinner tomorrow."

"What about lunch tomorrow?" Fleur asked. "We 'ave to eat then too!"

"Don't worry _mon petite_ ," Skye replied. "If you lot don't mind, we'll eat at the Inn again." She smiled at Beckett when the kids agreed in some form and said, "I knew already."

"I was aware," Beckett said. "So, breakfasts?"

"Cereal!" Iris said eagerly.

"Eggs," Mary said firmly.

"And pancakes," Castle said. "I'll take care of those," he added, smiling as his daughters were gasping in eagerness. He walked with them into the market further before he thought of something and went over to Skye, murmuring something to her so the others wouldn't hear.

"Why is that a secret?" the investigator asked jokingly.

"No reason," Castle replied.

"What did he ask Mummy?" Ivy said.

"If there was a blender at the house," Skye said. "And there is; we made smoothies last time which is what I hope you're asking to make."

"Why are you looking at me?" Martha said in surprise when saw her son turn to her. Before he could respond to that she was frowning and told him, "Richard, with all these children here?"

"We have wine," Mary said, having heard Beckett ask Skye about that.

"With dinner," Martha said firmly. "I'll try those smoothies."

"How much does your grandma drink?" Clive asked Julia as they started to walk again.

"Not that much but she does like it," the girl said. "But at least she wants the smoothies," Julia added quickly as they were walking again.

"I was thinking we should have that for their snacks," Mary was saying to her wife, Castle and Beckett.

"They need something like vegetables," Castle commented.

"Good idea, we'll pick those up as well," Skye said absently as she was looking around the aisle they were on. "I'm thinking of grilling tomorrow night. Unless you're good at that Rick?"

"I'm passable," Castle replied. "Burgers?"

"Yes, so we have everything," Skye said.

"We should split up," Beckett said, not surprised when her friend looked at her. "I knew you'd suggest that," she explained. "And we'll get everything for breakfast."

"Right, we'll handle the burgers but the toppings we'll get together since they're with the smoothie fruits," Mary said before they were calling to their kids to gather them so they could go.

"We're really having burgers?" Eliza asked, holding her grandfather's hand and skipping next to him.

"Walk normally sweetie," Beckett said to her. "And we are."

"I wish we could have hot dogs too," Peter whispered.

"They're getting them," Castle said, spotting the two at the other end of the aisle that ran along the back of the market since the meat was there. "We'll have both," he added as he put down the cartons of eggs he'd gotten so they'd have enough for all of them for two mornings. He thought of something and got his phone from his pocket so he could text when his wife was calling to him as they walked again.

"What is it?" Beckett asked.

"I was going to tell her we should have sliders," Castle said, sending the message to the investigator. He looked with his wife over to the other end of the market and saw Skye was waving before they walked together after their family to get what they needed for the pancakes.

"Now can we get the fruit?" Julia asked hopefully.

"We can," Castle said as he looked into the basket they had to make sure everything they needed was there. "But do we need to pick the fruit out?"

"I'll grab the veggies for snacks," Beckett said.

"Kate," Clive said, hurrying over to her.

"Don't worry, we'll get different kinds," Beckett assured him. "And ranch dip."

"Cool," Clive said. He smiled briefly at her when she placed her hand on his back, shaking his head when she asked him what was wrong.

Studying the boy, Beckett didn't try to push him about that, only smiled slightly at him as they had reached the produce section. She went around to the vegetables, not surprised the two boys followed her with Mari and Julia as well. "I'm surprised," she said when she had finished. "You guys didn't say anything."

"We like the stuff you picked," Mari said first.

"Not everything," Peter was quick to say.

"But some stuff," Clive added.

"Okay, go with the other kids," Beckett told them with a laugh. "We'll get the fruit."

"I like watermelon," Clive said quickly.

"Me too," Peter added.

"We'll get one for the barbeque we're going to have tomorrow," Castle assured them. "Go." He then turned to his wife and said, "It'll be ripe," as she was looking at the watermelon that he had chosen.

"It is," Beckett replied simply as she'd knocked against the rind to test it. She then turned her attention to Skye and Mary who were walking to them and asked, "Are you choosing?"

"For the smoothies," the investigator said first. "Mary can pick out the fruits for breakfast."

"Oh," Castle said after a moment as he realized the two women had turned to him. "Berries, mixed, one kind. It's your choice."

"I'll get different kinds," Mary said before she left them.

"And for snacks…" Skye said.

"I got the vegetables," Beckett said simply. "And you want to grab those anyway." She smiled when the investigator merely smiled before she walked away to the fruits and she looked over at Josie as the baby was fussing. "She was asleep," she said with a sigh.

"She's hungry?" Castle asked her.

"No, she's just unsettled," Beckett replied, taking the baby out of her carrier. She held her against her shoulder, kissing her temple as Castle stepped up to her.

"Get back to sleep," he told the baby, kissing the back of her head. "Should we head back?"

"I'll take her," Jim said. He smiled when his daughter looked at him in surprise before he said, "I don't mind."

"I'll go with him," Martha added. "And I can stay with Josie of course."

"But… you mean sit on the balcony?" Castle asked. When his mother merely smiled, he then told his wife, "She was never a fan of the sand part of the beach."

"I had a feeling," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "And that's fine," she directed to their parents. "But if you want to come down to the beach Martha-"

"It'll be once Josie's awake," Castle's mother said firmly.

"Alright," Beckett said. She and her husband said goodbye to the two before they turned to one another. "I'll check on her."

"You don't need to," Castle said. He wasn't surprised in the slightest when she looked at him in surprise he said, "I'm just thinking of you walking up the stairs repeatedly."

Beckett was about to speak when she stopped herself and then sighed saying, "It's not that I don't trust your mother…"

"I knew that," Castle reassured her. "But Mother wouldn't like you going up and down either."

"Or you," Beckett said, starting to speak absently at the end. "How's your knee?"

"It's fine," Castle assured her. He then looked with her over to Skye and Mary and said, "They'll ask."

"Of course they will, three of us aren't here," Beckett said in amusement.

"They went back?" Mary asked first once they were grouped together again.

"They did," Beckett replied. "Josie needs to sleep." She wasn't surprised when the two women nodded and then went to pay before she followed them as Castle was going with the kids to the bakery. When they finished they left and she ended up walking with Skye before she heard the woman's phone, watching her looking at the text she received as she waited to hear who it was from.

"An incident," Skye said. "A near collision at Burbank."

"You're needed?" Beckett asked her.

"No," Skye said simply. "They're just letting me know in case they need advice. But it's Investigator Devine, you met her before we were…"

"I remember," Beckett said, recalling the woman at LAX when they'd investigated the murder of Skye's friend.

"So she won't need my help," the investigator said simply.

"How are you?" Beckett asked her.

"Good, not thinking of things this weekend," Skye replied.

"You still have time to practice," Beckett pointed out to her.

"Oh, I know," Skye said simply. "To tell you the truth I'm thinking of my costume more."

"It's comforting?" Beckett asked slowly.

Laughing, as they walked down the street to get to the one the beach house was on, Skye said, "To a degree. My trousers usually don't have those fake diamonds or whatever they are on the side."

"Of course," Beckett agreed, smiling as Skye walked ahead to put the code in for the gate. She couldn't help remembering the day before, when she and Mary had gone to the offices together where the costume designers had the investigator's first one for her Jive.

* * *

 _"Is there any reason why I'm here?" Beckett asked as they got out of her car._

 _"She asked you to come," Mary replied. "I guess it's the sister thing."_

 _"Probably," Beckett said, following her inside._

 _Leaning against the wall of where she was waiting, Skye looked to her right and stood up straight when she saw her wife and friend. "Hey," she told the two. "Thanks for coming on your own."_

 _"Should you have done that though?" Mary asked her wife after they shared a quick kiss on the lips. "The girls all know what you're wearing, and the other kids too."_

 _Laughing for a moment Skye said, "I know. But I'd be more comfortable with you both here. Plus, you're off to home afterwards so you might as well be here."_

 _"Hello," Derek said when the three women walked to where he was standing. "Your clothes," he said, handing them to her. "And your changing room is in here."_

 _"I'll see you in the room," Skye told him before she went with her wife and friend over to the room he'd indicated. When they were inside, she said to Beckett, "I don't know what you'll do now."_

 _"The screen?" she replied easily._

 _"Right, stay there," Skye said, taking her wife's hand and pulling her after her to it._

 _"Don't forget I'm here," Beckett said, hurrying after Mary so she could take the coat that she'd brought for her wife._

 _"We won't," Skye called before they were disappearing behind the screen. She immediately kissed her wife hard but didn't linger for very long before she murmured into her ear in Italian, "_ I missed you _."_

 _"_ I did too, but let me see _," Mary told her._

 _Glancing at her, Skye started to remove her clothes and then pulled on the blouse and pants. She shook her head at her wife as she was holding the last thing and quickly put those on as well before she stepped out saying, "This isn't the complete costume of course, but it'll be on while I'm dancing."_

 _"Suspenders?" Beckett asked in surprise. When Skye nodded, she stood and handed her her pilot's jacket, watching Mary help her put it on. She wasn't surprised when the doctor wrapped her arms tightly around the investigator and she slipped out the door to leave them for a moment. She smiled at Derek, expecting him to be waiting outside already, and she was about to tell him why she was on her own when he was speaking first._

 _"Skye warned me this might happen," the dancer said. When Beckett looked at him in confusion he explained, "Her wife would enjoy the costume."_

 _Glancing back at the door behind her Beckett said, "Something about that jacket." She then realized that the dancer had on his costume and told him, "You look like a pilot."_

 _"I haven't put on my hat yet," Derek said, raising his arm and placing the cap on his head._

 _"Even more," Beckett said. She turned back to the door and said, "I think they might be a while."_

 _"We might as well go to the room," Derek replied, gesturing to her when she looked back at him. He took off his hat once the door was closed behind them and said, "So you and your husband know how to dance."_

 _"Has Julia been talking to you?" Beckett said, sitting on one of the chairs near the door._

 _"No, Skye mentioned it," Derek said._

 _"You wouldn't have us go on TV, will you?" Beckett asked._

 _"Not unless Skye begs you," Derek said. He laughed at the startled expression on her face but then said, "She said she would. She wants to share it with you I think in a way. I know she wants her wife to share it as well."_

 _"You better believe I do," Skye said, walking inside. "What?" she said when the two in the room just looked at her._

 _"You took a while," Derek said jokingly. "Your hat?"_

 _Turning to take it from Mary, Skye settled it on her head and said, "Don't get this mixed up with yours."_

 _"I won't," Derek replied. "So you'll take this off after the intro is on and we'll stand in front of the steps."_

 _Skye threw her hat to Beckett and then stood with Derek in front of the mirror saying, "And unbutton the jacket?"_

 _"Yeah," Derek replied. "And then when the music starts take off the jacket and toss it to the chairs. Sorry," he said, saying the last to Mary and Beckett as they were throwing the jackets to them. "And then we start."_

 _Beckett watched as the two were dancing the opening steps, impressed with how different they looked in the costumes. She was going to tell them that when they stopped, and Mary was suddenly throwing herself at her wife._

 _"You're going to look amazing!" the doctor was saying before kissing her cheek. "Sorry," she said to them. "It was really well done."_

 _"Thank you," Derek said with a slight laugh. "But the most important thing is how do you feel dancing in the costume?"_

 _"Good," Skye said, looking down at herself. "I forgot to tell you," she directed to Beckett. "The suspenders we were going to test out."_

 _"I like them," Beckett replied. "They make you look like Paul."_

 _Skye laughed and said, "I suppose they would."_

 _"Does he wear them now?" Derek asked._

 _"No," Skye replied. "Also, I don't think anyone's going to make the connection. Anything else?" she asked her partner._

 _"No, you can change but we still need to practice," Derek replied._

 _"Dress rehearsal?" Skye said._

 _"Next week," Derek assured her. "I'll go change, you can talk if you'd like but we need to get going."_

 _"I'll be ready," Skye assured him. After they were alone in the room she turned to her wife and friend and said, "I'm not sure what we'll talk about but I'm glad you both came."  
"I'm still confused why I'm here," Beckett said as she stood up._

 _"Just so you could voice your opinion," Skye said. "And I wasn't about to ask your husband."_

 _Laughing Beckett said, "Fair enough."_

 _As they started to walk over to the door to leave Skye asked her wife, "The girls?"_

 _"They're good, they wanted to come with me of course," Mary said. "See their mum."_

 _Skye smiled and said, "What're you doing for P.E.?" while they were walking out into the hall._

 _"I think walking around the neighborhood with the dogs," Beckett said._

 _"Luckily it's not so hot today," Mary commented._

 _"I'll wait here," Beckett said as the two women paused in front of the door to the changing room. She smiled when they rushed inside and leaned against the wall across from it, getting her phone so she could text her husband and let him know they'd be returning to the home soon._

* * *

"Cut carefully," Castle said to Peter.

"I know," the boy replied. "Man," he then directed to Clive who was next to him. "My mom…"

"You two are feeling homesick, aren't you?" Castle asked them. When the two nodded; instead of speaking; he said, "I don't blame you. I was the same way when I went away to boarding school when I was a kid."

"Did-" Clive began.

"Pay attention to your cutting," Castle advised him quickly.

"Oh… sorry," Clive said before turning his attention back to his knife. "I was going to say, you stayed away from home?"

"I did. Luckily it was just for sixth grade and middle school, but I still didn't like it," Castle replied.

"Are you homesick now?" Peter asked.

"A bit but my family is here so it distracts me," Castle replied. "Okay, I think we're ready for the veggies. I'll call… oh you're here," he said, seeing Skye was walking in from the balcony.

"I had a feeling you were ready for me," the investigator said with a smile. "Take those down and I'll bring the smoothies."

Castle was about to tell her that he would stay with her to help her when Mary came in through the doors. "Okay, I'll take them down. Wait, the-" he started to say when he saw the plate of vegetables they'd cut up.

"We'll bring that too, go," Mary said firmly.

"Sure," Castle said, ushering the boys out.

Clive glanced back at the two women, and his eyes went wide when he saw they were kissing, arms wrapped around each other. "They-" he began.

"Shh, let them," Castle replied. "They've had to spend a lot of time apart."

"I think him and Kate are like that," Peter quipped when they went down the first staircase.

"Hey," Castle said jokingly.

"Sorry, I've seen you doing that before," Peter said. He then stopped at the first landing and said in a murmur, "It was just a joke."

"Don't worry, I know it was," Castle reassured him. He put his hands on both boy's shoulders and made them look at him before he said, "You're thinking of your parents."

"Yeah, my dad doesn't have anyone to do that with," Clive said. "To love?"

"That," Castle said, squeezing Peter's shoulder. "But you shouldn't worry too much about them. You're going to talk to them tonight aren't you." When the boys looked at each other he said, "I know, it's not enough but they promised to come as soon as they could."

"Yeah," Clive said first. "I hope that they come soon."

"I'm sure they will," Castle said. "But for now, you guys want to keep swimming?"

"Yeah," the two said at the same time. They turned to go down the next flight of stairs before Peter said as they went past the second landing, "Are you sure we can't go on the paddle boards?"

"Very," Castle said. "Like Kate said, we don't have vests so you're lucky we're taking you out in front of us."

"We could borrow Eliza's vest," Peter suggested.

Hearing laughter behind her, Beckett turned and saw that her husband was coming down the last steps to the beach with the boys in front of her. "Careful," she said to them as they ran past her into the water. "And the snack?" she asked her husband once he approached her.

Castle grabbed for his wife as soon as he was close enough to her, pulling her close so he could kiss her. He could feel her surprise but she very quickly responded to him and he felt her arms circling his neck. They parted shortly after and he said, " _They were doing the same_ ," in Irish.

" _You got jealous_?" Beckett replied.

" _Yes_ ," Castle said simply. He then smiled and hugged her tightly before he let her go; reluctantly; and asked, "How's Josie?"

"Good, I wanted to take her into the water now you're back," Beckett said with a smile before they walked together to where their baby was with their parents. "Is she awake?" she asked her father since he was holding her.

"She is, are you taking her?" Jim asked.

Beckett nodded and then took the baby from him, kissing her temple as Josie cooed and rested her hand against her cheek. "We're going now sweetie," she told her before she and Castle walked together to the breaking waves.

"Are we sitting?" he asked his wife once they were close.

"Of course," Beckett said though she was looking at Josie as she spoke. When they were at the point where the waves would wash around them fully she sat down, setting the baby on her lap while Castle joined them.

"Alright Josie," he told the baby. "Don't get scared if you get splashed. We need you to love the water just like your sisters."

"Oh no pressure on her," Beckett said exaggeratedly. She smiled when he made a face at her, but the next wave was breaking around them and they laughed together as they were getting splashed by the water. Checking the baby, she was relieved when she saw the smile on Josie's face, making her lean down and kiss her temple.

"Only twelve more days," Castle commented, letting Josie take his index finger with her hand.

"You're counting down to that?" Beckett asked, knowing he meant when she was turning five months.

"Of course, it's a birthday," Castle said.

Beckett rolled her eyes, while she smiled, and she then heard Skye's voice behind them making her say, "I think it's time for a snack."

"What about her?" Castle asked as he stood and watched her to make sure she would be okay doing the same holding the baby.

"She won't need me for a while," Beckett assured him. She handed Josie to him and then went into the water, calling all the kids that were there so they could go onto the sand and have their snack.

"What's in this?" Julia asked as she took one of the cups that Mary was handing out.

"Watermelon, just watermelon," the investigator answered. "And ice."

"Cool," Julia said, smiling at her.

"Good one," Skye said.

"And the veggies?" Peter asked.

"Here," the investigator said, lowering the plate that was in her hands and letting him take a tomato. "And no double dipping," she told the boy as he got some ranch on it.

"I won't," Peter replied, wrinkling his nose. He popped it into his mouth and ate the cherry tomato before he went over to the edge of the blankets that were set under the umbrellas. He looked at Julia who walked over to him with Mari and he said, "The watermelon drink is good."

"It is," Mari said first. "It tastes like California."

"What tastes like New York?" Julia asked her, glancing at Peter.

"Cider?" Mari said after thinking for a moment, shrugging her shoulders before they started to laugh.

"I'm going to get some carrots," Peter said.

"I wonder what we're going to do for dinner," Julia said after she and Mari were alone.

"I know," the girl said. She smiled and said, "This place is really nice."

"You like home better, huh?" Julia asked. She wasn't surprised when her friend nodded and said, "The cliff is cool, but I like getting to run straight to the beach."

Nodding in agreement Mari said, "But I can't wait for the show."

"Me too," Julia said before they walked together over to Martha who was holding the plate of vegetables.

After the kids had finished their drinks and snacks they were coaxed into playing badminton on the sand by the adults. They played until the sun was starting to get lower in the west and they could go swimming again.

"What's that over there?" Peter eventually asked.

"Catalina Island," Marie answered before the adults could say anything.

"Have you been there?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, it's a pretty island," Kathleen said. She then smiled and said, "Our little sisters haven't been there yet."

"We might have to wait to go next year," Mary said, walking up to where they were standing in the water up to their knees.

"Why-" Marie suddenly said before she cut herself off. "The weather?"

"Yes," Mary replied.

"Oh, do we have to get out of the water?" Peter said with a groan.

"We need to get ready," Mary said with a smile as the kids were all groaning.

"What about swimming?" Fleur asked.

"Tomorrow, come on everyone," Mary told them firmly.

Though it took a little time, the kids went to the adults who had towels and started to dry off before they sat, looking down at the water.

"This was really fun," Julia said. "I'm glad we're doing this tomorrow."

"Yeah," Ivy said. "I can't wait to know where we're gonna eat."

"It's down the beach," Skye said first. "Well… we'll need to walk down the street, but we'll have a very nice view."

"Are we dressing up?" Clive asked cautiously.

"A little," Castle said. "Head up the stairs and go to the shower."

"Are we taking showers?" Julia said.

"Yes," Beckett said. "Hurry but stay out on the balcony to dry off and wait for us." When the kids were gone, she looked at the others and said with a smile, "Now we try to make our reservations."

"We'll make it," Castle said reassuringly.

Glancing at him, Beckett smiled when her husband raised and lowered his eyebrows a few times before they turned their attention to helping the others cleaning up the beach so they could head up and get ready themselves.


	6. Traveling Deep Beneath The Waves (Pt 2)

"Here's our table," Skye said as they reached the tables that were pushed together, next to the acrylic that looked out on the ocean. "Good view?"

"Wow!" Mari gasped.

"Where do we sit?" Iris asked excitedly.

"Hold on," Skye said as they then got everyone to a seat. When they were finished, she said, "I almost thought about having you lot bring your dogs," to Castle and Beckett. "But I don't know if they'd handle six huge dogs."

"They'd eat everything in the kitchen," Castle said before they turned their attention to the menus and he glanced at the kids who were across from them against the acrylic so they could turn and look at the water when they wanted. He wasn't surprised to see the confused expressions on their faces eventually and he gently nudged his wife's arm so she would speak to them first.

"You can get a sandwich or a hot dog," Beckett said. "But ask us first."

"Or us," Mary commented. "Or was that implied?"

"That was implied," Beckett said in amusement. She turned her attention back to the menu herself and said when she was finished, "A burger for you?" to her husband.

"This'll surprise you, but no," Castle replied, setting down his menu. "I'm tempted by the Macadamia Chicken. Mexican?" he asked her.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Italian," before they had to turn their attention to ordering after the waiters had brought their drinks. "You guys can turn your chairs to the side now," she said to the kids who were sitting tense in front of her and the other adults.

"Really?" Julia asked in surprise.

"Yes," Skye took up as Beckett had looked at her. "But when the food comes we all turn around."

"Our appetizer?" Marie asked.

"Yes, we're not eating it by ourselves," Mary said.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Castle asked.

Beckett, smiling, shook her head and squeezed her husband's hand before she turned her attention to Skye as she was asking them about Alexis. "She's good," she answered first. "She and Louis are enjoying their jobs."

"I was going to ask about him next," the investigator said with a smile.

"They have Monday off?" Mary asked.

"They do," Martha answered. "They're at the beach house right now."

"Good idea," Skye said. "The last weekend you've got for the beach isn't it?"

"Not necessarily," Beckett said with a smile. "But for them it's easier."

"Mom," Julia said, turning to them. "Are we gonna talk to her today?"

"We are, we're letting them have tomorrow and Monday off," Castle answered instead. He then smiled and said, "How's the view?"

"Good," Julia said, turning back to the ocean. She then thought of something and turned back to the adults before they were all looking at Josie as the baby started to cry.

"I'll take her," Castle said to his wife. He got up quickly to take the baby from her carrier between his mother and father in law and went back to his seat, taking the bottle that Beckett had ready for him.

"Are we going to do anything different tomorrow?" Mari asked once the baby had stopped crying.

"No, just swimming," Skye replied. "We're leaving after breakfast on Monday remember."

"Couldn't we stay longer Mum?" Kathleen asked.

"I'm afraid not," Skye replied. "There'll be a lot of traffic you all know, and you have school Tuesday."

"Hmm, they seem to be enjoying it," Martha said when the kids didn't protest.

"It's fun," Mari said first.

"Hopefully you guys won't mind you'll have to go back after the show's over," Castle said.

"We'll get used to it," Julia said, sharing a look with Peter.

"You will," Beckett assured them. She took Josie's bottle as their appetizer was being served and she watched her husband asking, "Do you want me to feed you?"

"I can wait," Castle said, watching her dip a piece of pita bread in humus. When she held it up to his lips he tried giving her a look, but it didn't last long as he opened his mouth. "Thank you," he said after he'd eaten the bread.

Beckett merely smiled at him, as she had gotten a piece for herself, and leaned back in her chair. She watched the kids with him, leaning her head on his shoulder and talking with the others while they waited for their meal to be brought to them.

* * *

"Here," Beckett said, handing Mari her tablet.

"Hi Mom!" the little girl said eagerly, waving to the screen.

"We'll be in the living room," Beckett told her, not surprised when Mari merely nodded. She left the girl alone in hers and Julia's room, closing the door behind her before she passed the boys who were talking to their parents in the other two rooms.

"Mom, 'lexis is ready," Julia said when she spotted her mother coming down the stairs.

"I'm here," Beckett said, walking quickly down the steps to the living room.

"Hey everyone," Alexis said with a smile when she saw her mother joining the others. "How is it in sunny California?" she asked, unable to help laughing as the girls' heads turned to the right at the same time.

"Still sunny," Julia said.

"But the sun is going down," Eliza added.

"How is it back home?" Beckett said.

"Good," Alexis replied. "We haven't had any parties."

"Why would you think I would ask about that?" Castle said as he knew his daughter was talking about him.

"I wonder why," Martha said wryly.

"How's Josa?" Alexis then said.

"She's good," Castle said since he was holding the baby on his lap.

"Daddy she's asleep," Eliza told him.

Trying to look at the baby, Castle soon saw the little girl was right and he nodded saying, "Too much for her today."

"What did you do?" Alexis asked.

"Went down to the beach," Julia said first. "And went swimming."

Alexis smiled as her little sisters talked about their day once they'd reached the beach house and up until they'd returned home. She was surprised to hear they'd gotten dessert and was about to ask why they'd done that when her grandfather was explaining.

"Skye and Mary wanted us to try the macarons at a bakery near the restaurant," Jim said. "So we went there instead."

"They have really cool flavors," Julia said eagerly.

"She's right," Beckett said. "But they took pictures and we'll tell you about them once we're back home with you."

"I hope they're good," Alexis said to her sisters, smiling when the two nodded eagerly.

"Louis' talking to his family?" Castle asked.

"He is," Alexis said. "We stayed here at the house, swimming on the beach. And we're about to watch a movie really soon and then go to bed."

"I don't know what we'll do yet," Beckett said with a smile as the girls were looking at her and Castle. "We'll likely play games." She then turned her attention back to her oldest and asked, "How was work yesterday?"

"Good, I spoke to a child on my own for a bit while Dr. Raleigh was talking to their parent. I think I was able to make a bit of a breakthrough with them," Alexis said.

"Really?" Castle asked.

"I'll find out in a few weeks," Alexis replied.

"We should let you go," Beckett said, touching her husband's arm.

"That's right, everyone's going to be coming back and you guys have that movie," Castle said, realizing why his wife had said that. "Say goodnight you guys."

"I'll let you know when I can talk next week," Alexis told her family. "Maybe Tuesday. Oh, how's Skye doing?"

"She has her costume and she's getting prepared," Beckett said, smiling as nearly everyone had turned to her to answer. "You'll see her on the fourteenth."

"Alright, goodnight everyone," Alexis said as she could hear Louis calling for her.

Once they'd said goodbye to her and had told her they loved her, Castle stood up to take the tablet off the TV when his wife went with him as he'd given Josie to her. "Oh… put her to bed?" he asked.

Nodding Beckett said, "She'll need to be nursed in a few hours though."

"Are we gonna be in bed then Mommy?" Eliza asked as they stood up to say goodnight to the baby.

"I'm not sure, but I'll take her to the room," Beckett replied. She watched with her husband as everyone said goodnight to Josie and she told them, "We'll be right back, and we'll get our macarons for tonight after," before she and Castle left for the room Martha was sharing with their two youngest.

"Why am I not surprised they cheered?" Castle said to his wife. He wasn't startled when she just smiled and shook her head, and they walked into the room before he kissed Josie's forehead telling her, "I love you sweetheart, get as much sleep as you can."

Beckett, watching him with a smile as he gently hugged the baby, turned her attention to saying goodnight to her too. "I love you Josie," she murmured, gently kissing the top of her forehead. "Sweet dreams until you need me." She went to the bassinet, setting the baby inside and tucking her in lightly. She waited for Castle to make sure the camera was on the end of the bassinet and after she made sure the monitor was on she took his hand as he grabbed her tablet and she had the other end of the monitor. Stepping out into the hall she saw Clive and Peter were talking to each other and she asked, "All set?" as Castle closed the door behind him.

"Yeah, the baby's asleep?" the latter asked.

"She is," Beckett said, smiling at him keep his voice low. "Go ahead to the living room, we're going to have our macarons." She heard another door opening and she looked over to find it was Mari. "Now we can go," she said before she went to the little girl. "How's your family?"

"Good," Mari said, rubbing her cheek a little. She then smiled slightly and said, "I was crying."

"I don't blame you," Beckett said, rubbing her shoulder as they walked. "But they'll try to get out here soon."

"I hope my dad can," Mari said firmly.

"So do I," Beckett said, nodding her head. "Now though we're going to have one of the macarons we got if you'd like to too."

"Yeah," Mari said, nodding eagerly as she went down the steps.

Watching the little girl in the entry to make sure she was okay, Beckett smiled as Julia and Mari started to talk before she heard the front door unlocking behind her. "Hey," she said with a smile. "How was your walk?"

"Good," Skye replied. "How's everyone after talking to home?"

"The kids are a bit down," Beckett said, knowing her friend would understand she meant Julia's friends. "And Alexis is doing well."  
"Fantastic to know about the latter," Skye replied as she watched her wife and daughters go down to the living room. "We'll have to split up into groups."

"I realized," Beckett said with a nod. "But…"

"A song?" Skye asked wryly. When her friend just nodded, she sighed and said, "I suppose I couldn't have my macaron first?"  
"And a cuppa?" Castle asked, walking over to them.

"It's Earl Grey so I don't really need the tea," Skye said in amusement. "I'll get them to the kitchen first."

"I still think you should have gotten the rose one," Castle told his wife when they were alone in the entry.

With a smirk Beckett said, "I didn't want my breath to smell like that."

" _An bhfuil tú tuirseach_?" Castle said, asking if she was tired.

Looking at him in amusement Beckett said simply, " _Ní ar do shon_ ," which meant the phrase not for you. She went down the steps and then up to the kitchen where the kids were starting to gather to get their dessert.

"Okay, Eliza you'll want your peanut butter and jelly," Mary was saying, handing the macarons out on napkins. "Iris, Fleur you have the same. Ivy and Marie your red velvets. And all four of you from New York," she said teasingly. "Cookies and cream."

"Tell me how that one tastes," Julia said to Kathleen as she was getting her blueberry lavender one.

"I will," the little girl said with a smile.

"Martha your green tea," Skye said, starting to pass out to the adults then. "I hope this won't be too strong," she said to Jim who'd picked out a coffee macaron.

"I'll be fine," Beckett's father said with a smile.

"I'll take my chai one tonight," Beckett said to Skye.

"Rick?" the investigator asked.

"The passion fruit," Castle said. He watched Skye take out the two Earl Grey flavored ones before they went over to the chairs and couches in the family room. "Are we having music first?" he asked once they were settled and Skye and Mary had placed their napkins with their desserts on the coffee table in front of them.

"Yes, what do you want us to play," Skye replied. "Something from George?"

"Oh…" Julia said in mock annoyance when the others looked at her. She then smiled and hurried over to the two women, murmuring the song she'd thought of to them. "Can you play it?" she asked.

"Of course," Skye said first.

"She's right, she loves the lyrics on it," Mary said. She checked her acoustic guitar, watching her wife doing the same before she waited for her to play the opening notes until Skye began to sing and she provided backup on the two-line chorus.

 _There he, sitting in the moonlight  
Not found, livin' no city  
He smile, mucho in a sunshine  
High life, counting de fruit bat_

 _Troppo, gone troppo, troppo  
It's time you know I gone troppo_

 _Plant me, in de Helicona  
No thank, meeting de peoples  
Wake me, eata the papaya  
Much hot, not much on the body_

 _Troppo, gone troppo, troppo  
It's time you know I gone troppo_

 _Warm sea, see right to the bottom  
No like, shoveling snowfall  
Good time, drinking on me bottle  
The high wide Moreton Bay Fig_

 _Troppo, gone troppo, troppo  
It's time you know I gone troppo_

At the instrumental, Beckett glanced at Clive, since Peter had been around the investigator playing a little more than him. She smiled when she saw the way he was watching the two women playing the guitar though she wondered what the other kids; who hadn't heard the song; thought of the lyrics before the two were singing again.

 _Quite like, you ain't seen a sunset  
Could be, living in Rain hill  
Sun hot, you don't got a backache  
Brown skin and very a peeling_

 _Troppo, gone troppo, troppo  
It's time you know I gone troppo_

After the two had stopped playing they acknowledged the applause they were getting before they were all eating their macarons. And as soon as she had finished, Julia took a sip of the milk she'd been given before she was about to speak when Clive was talking first near her to all their surprise.

"Can you play anything?" the boy asked.

"Not anything," Skye said. "But we know a lot of songs. Did you have a request?"

"Not really," Clive said in slight embarrassment.

"Alright, I-" Skye began before the sound of crying from the monitor interrupted her. "I suppose we're on pause."

"I'll be back," Beckett said, getting up and hurrying to the stairs.

"Go," Martha said to her son as she was watching him following his wife with his eyes.

"Yeah," Castle said quickly, hurrying over to the stairs after her. He knocked gently on the door once he'd reached the room and slipped inside before saying, "I couldn't resist."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said, smiling up at him. "I expected you to come up here sooner."

Castle merely smiled, since he'd only been a few seconds behind her, and sat next to her saying, "She's okay?"

"Mmm-hmm," Beckett said with a smile, looking down at the baby. "She should sleep after this."

Nodding, Castle wrapped his arm around his wife and pressed his lips to the side of her head saying quietly, "Are you tired?"

"Don't ask me that all night," Beckett said swiftly. "I'm not," she said when he pulled away slightly to look at her. She then smiled again and told him, " _I have plans… a plan I mean_ ," speaking in Irish.

"Oh," Castle said. " _Good to hear_ ," he finally said, trying not to let her know that a lot of ideas were running through his mind.

"Pervert," Beckett said wryly before she turned her attention back to Josie. When she had finished nursing she burped the baby herself, only giving her to Castle so she could fix her sundress. She let him get her to sleep and kissed the top of Josie's head before watching him do the same and set the baby into her bassinet again. They left together and stepping out they could hear one of the guitars being played before she reached for her husband's hand and they headed back to the living room to see what was going on in their absence.

"Hey, is Josie set?" Mary asked, spotting the couple first.

"She is," Beckett answered. "What're you playing?"

"Just random notes," Skye said. "I had a request."

"Not me," Julia said quickly, not surprised her mother looked at her. "Lizzy did."

"Yeah," Eliza said, hurrying to her father and climbing onto his lap as soon as he was sitting.

" _Good Times_ ," Mary stated.

"Really?" Castle said in surprise as he looked at the little girl questioningly.

While Eliza was giggling Jim told them, "She came to me for a suggestion."

"You can play that?" Beckett asked Skye who was playing a few notes on her guitar.

"I can, I can sing it too," the investigator said. Skye smiled when her friend rolled her eyes and then said, "And I will now but give me a moment," before she got up. She went to the kitchen, getting a cup of water and another for her wife.

"No gargling?" Castle couldn't help asking.

"Why would I do that?" Skye asked wryly.

"Seems to be a singer thing," Castle said, shrugging.

"Stick to writing," Skye said jokingly. When he bowed his head to her, she shook her head with a smile before she spoke to her wife in Japanese for a moment. "Okay, sorry we needed to go over something for a moment," she directed to everyone else. "We're ready now." And with that she and Mary began to play and she was quick to begin singing the vocalizing that Sam Cooke had done at the start until she had reached the lyrics with Mary joining her for backup.

 _Yeah, come on and let the good times roll  
We're gonna stay here till we soothe our souls  
If it take all night long  
One more time, come on and let the good times roll  
We're gonna stay here till we soothe our souls  
If it take all night long_

 _Gotta tell you, evenin' sun is sinkin' low  
The clock on the wall say it's time to go  
I got my plans, I don't know about you  
I'll tell you exactly what I'm gonna do_

 _Get in the groove and let the good times roll  
I'm gonna stay here till I soothe my soul  
If it take all night long  
Yeah, everybody let the good times roll  
We're gonna stay here till we soothe our souls  
If it take all night long_

 _Yeah, it might be one o'clock and it might three  
Time don't mean that much to me  
I've ain't felt this good since I don't know when  
And I might not feel this good again_

 _So come on and let the good times roll  
We're gonna stay here till we soothe our souls  
If it take all night long  
And all night (all night) and all night (all night)  
And all night (all night) and all night long (all night)  
Somebody said it might take all night long  
And all night (all night) and all night (all night), so  
Come on and let the good times roll  
We're gonna stay here till we soothe our souls  
If it take all night long_

"Alright," Skye said in mock annoyance after the others had stopped applauding. She laughed when her wife pinched her side and said, "Let's get to the games," before they got up and joined their family and friends so they start playing for the rest of the night.

* * *

Looking out at the night, Beckett wrapped her arms around herself before she turned back towards the bedroom at the sound of the shower stopping in the bathroom. She leaned back against the glass behind her and waited for her husband to come out, trying not to become impatient. They had spent some time with the kids, playing different board or card games before they were put into bed and the adults could go to their rooms. She rubbed her upper arms after she turned towards the door as it opened and she straightened, watching Castle walking out.

"Hey," he said, pausing for a moment outside the doorway when he saw her. "Have you been standing there the whole time?"

"Not the whole time," Beckett said simply, going over to stand by him while he was putting his clothes away. When he turned to her she said, "I think you can tell by now."

"It wasn't a plan?" Castle asked with a smile as he stepped up to her. At her nod he wrapped his arms around her and held her close saying, "I'm tempted to ask if you'll be up to this."

"I know," Beckett said. "But you're aware already I wouldn't be wearing this if I wasn't."

"Which is why I said I'm tempted," Castle said, leaning down and kissing at the top of her head as she laughed softly. "You didn't have to do anything for me," he then said as he held her by her shoulders to look at her.

"But I want to," Beckett reassured him.

"That's all I wanted to hear," Castle said seriously before he was kissing her. He started out tenderly before they deepened it at the same time and then proceeded to fight one another with their tongues until they had to breathe. He was tempted to tell her she could take her time in showing him whatever she had when she pressed a little closer against him, cutting him off.

"What about you?" Beckett asked him.

"Me?" Castle replied. "I'm…" he started to say before he looked down at himself. "I'm not wearing a shirt…" he said slowly.

Laughing softly, Beckett pressed a few kisses to his jaw before she said, "That's good enough for me." She gasped when her husband reached down her back to cup her ass and she said, "You want to start?"

"No," Castle said slowly. "Sorry, I was going to tell you that we didn't need to rush."

"I'm surprised," Beckett said. She got the desired reaction from him as he was quick to look down at her and she told him, "Maybe not. But Rick…"

"What?" Castle asked as he knew she'd thought of something. He let her go as she started to move away from him and then watched her take his hand. With that indication he followed her over to the bed and he sat down as she stayed standing. He wasn't surprised when she immediately sat on his lap and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her close before he kissed her. After they had been doing that for some time he pulled away from their kiss when she moved suddenly, and he looked down to see her hand reaching for her robe.

Beckett wasn't surprised that her husband was watching her closely before he helped her in spreading apart her robe. She cupped his cheek as he reached down to her thigh, running his hand up and down to the hem of her negligée she'd brought. Her breathing began to deepen as he slipped underneath the silk and she stopped him gently saying, "A little too much."

"Oh…" Castle said in surprise as he didn't think it had been. He had to let her go as she stood up and he looked on while she pulled off her robe. "Are you taking this off?" he said, pulling her to him so he could kiss at her abdomen and wouldn't get close to her breasts.

"Not yet," Beckett said with a smile. "But you need to do two things."

Standing up Castle said, "And I'll ask you for one." He wasn't surprised when his wife looked at him in confusion and he leaned over to her, murmuring in Irish near her ear before he pulled away to look at her.

Beckett wanted to roll her eyes but she found; the more she thought of it; that it wasn't such a bad idea. Once her husband was sitting down she pulled the bottom of the light blue silk up until he could see her sex and she gasped when he grabbed for her and then pulled her onto the bed with him. "You said-" she began as she lay on her back in the middle and he moved to get on top of her.

"It was the start," Castle said with a smirk. He then kissed her, pressing his hips down against hers and feeling her groan against his lips. He did his best not to move too much but the temptation was too great, and he thrust against her gently a few times. When she broke off their kiss he said, "I want you love. You're so fucking gorgeous."

"Help me," Beckett said, pushing his shoulders gently. She let him remove the last of his clothes before she moved to the edge of the bed to sit on her knees so he could pull her negligée up and off her body. As soon as it was on the nightstand she reached for him and lay back as he was quick to follow her. She wrapped her arms around him before they were kissing, and she tried to put her legs around him as well when he stopped her.

"I had something else in mind," Castle replied before he moved down her body. He could feel his wife's slight tensing, but she relaxed as his lips trailed over her stomach and then his tongue began to work over her skin. When he reached her sex he carefully kissed at her clit before he began using his tongue. Her cries of joy in reaction to him reached him quickly and he threw himself into pleasuring her as much as he possibly could before he moved down lower to her entrance.

"Rick," Beckett moaned as her legs moved to drape over his shoulders before she could stop herself. She was feeling too much pleasure in the way his tongue slipped into her sex and began to move, trying to tell him though she couldn't really speak as everything was building up in her. She made one last attempt to talk but instead was crying out as she broke fully, arching her back while her orgasm racked every inch of her body. She was a little lost, her focus fully on her pleasure, and she could only take each wave of it as it struck her until it finally slowed and eventually stopped. "Love," she breathed out when her husband moved away from her and then up to wrap his arms around her.

"You don't-" Castle began before his wife was cutting him off by wrapping her hand around his erection. "Kate I was going to…" he started before he groaned heavily in pleasure.

Moving then, Beckett pushed herself up and made him lay on his back before she was leaning down and starting to pepper his chest with kisses. After she had done that for a while she raised her head to look down at him and said, "Should I?"

"I would say no," Castle said after hesitating. "But I can tell you want to."

"I think you'll be alright after," Beckett said.

"I knew that already," Castle said, trying not to let his frustration show in his tone. "But you…"

"This does help," Beckett replied. When her husband breathed out hard she couldn't help smiling and leaned over, kissing him tenderly. She didn't let that last for very long, moving down his body until she was at his stomach. She took his erection in her hand and moved to take him in her mouth quickly since she knew he was straining after working on her. Moving her mouth up and down on him she listened to his pleasure as he reacted vocally before she brought up her right hand to work with her mouth. She moved away carefully and then said, "I won't linger for very long."

"No," Castle said, not sure how he'd managed to speak but glad he could. He watched her move down again until she was taking him with her mouth and he found himself clutching at the bed underneath him while he was breaking. He tried not to feel embarrassed at how he'd climaxed so fast, luckily feeling his release distracted him enough. But as soon as he had calmed down he reached for her, pulling Beckett up to him so they could kiss.

After they'd parted, she smiled and said, "I think we're alright now… if you want to start too."

"Not yet," Castle said. He could feel her pleasure as she pushed against him and he kissed her again before they slowly parted. Brushing her hair behind her ear he turned her onto her back before he said, "I think we should try and work ourselves up again."

Beckett wanted to point out they didn't really need it but pushed that aside quickly before she took him on her. "We should, but how far do you expect that to go?"

"As far as it can," Castle replied before they were kissing one another passionately. After they had parted he moved them around so she was laying on her stomach, waiting for her to protest. When she looked back at him he said, "Nothing?"

Beckett couldn't help laughing before she said, "Not really. But is there anything more you're planning on doing?"

"Just this," Castle said before he leaned over and began kissing at her back, hearing her suck in a breath of air quickly. He didn't stop, moving his way down before he reached the small of her back, pulling away and gently blowing along her skin to watch it react. "I adore you," he told her seriously.

"I feel the same about you," Beckett said, looking at him as he was pushing himself up to lay next to her. They kissed gently before they parted, and she said, "I know what you want to do." She wasn't surprised when her husband froze for a moment before she gave him a quick kiss, smiling at him. She was about to tell him he had her permission before he moved his hand in anticipation of that and murmured into her ear at the same time.

"I didn't want to slap you," Castle said, resting his hand on her ass. "Just touch."

"Which you never stop doing," Beckett commented. She wasn't surprised when her husband playfully bit at her shoulder before his hand moved up to the small of her back and she said, "I wasn't complaining about it."

"I know," Castle replied with a smile before he leaned over and kissed at her shoulder. He pressed his nose against her skin and said, "Would you mind turning back around?"

"No," Beckett said easily before she moved to lay on her back in the middle of the bed. She was quick to wrap her arms around her husband when he lowered himself to her and she whispered, "You'll fuck me now, right?"

"I want to," Castle told her.

Biting at her lower lip for a moment, Beckett gasped and then moaned when his hand started to rub her clit in between them. "Ooh! Rick you don't need to do that! I'm already…" she started to say before he was reaching for her hand. She was quick to take his length in her hand, helping him to her before he was entering her slowly. She gasped out his name at his speed until his hips were pressing against her and she said with a moan, "Don't… don't take too long."

"I won't," Castle assured her before he started to thrust. He went slowly at first, watching his wife closely so he could see her reaction. When she wrapped her legs around him fully he started to angle his thrusts, loving the way she cried out. He then sped up a little before he leaned down, kissing her as deeply as he could until she was responding to him hungrily. They were dueling heavily, and he couldn't help himself, slowing down before he stopped completely.

"Are you going to keep doing that?" Beckett asked, her tone heavily unsatisfied. She tilted her head back as her husband kissed at her neck, caressing the back of his head before she went to his neck. "Rick," she told him, ready to tell him to start again when he did so. She was crying out his name, doing her best to move with him as much as possible until he was stopping again, making her say his name in complete frustration.

"Don't worry, I just don't want to end this before we can do anything," Castle told her, nuzzling her lips with his own. He then took them, and they were kissing hungrily for some time before they slowly parted. "Don't hate me for this," he told her before he was pulling out of her carefully.

Beckett wanted to swear at the how empty she felt with him gone but her husband was starting to kiss around her body and she was slightly mollified by the sensation. The pleasure was developing into warmth and it spread through her entire form, making her writhe a little and moan her husband's name. She opened her eyes as he laid on her slightly and said, "Are you finished."

"Yes," Castle said, moving himself so he could enter her again. He didn't waste much time in thrusting and felt his wife's leg slip underneath his ass and hold him there so he was able to press further into her. He moved to kiss her hard, loving that she was kissing him back and they were thrusting together though he could feel her struggling before he moved to raise himself above her. "Tell me…" he started to say before clenching his teeth together hard in response to what he was feeling between them both. He forced himself to speak and told her, "Tell me how you want me to fuck you."

Beckett bit at her swollen lower lip for a moment before she managed to recover just as her husband had stopped. She didn't protest that time and said, "You know how to do it already."

"I know, but I want you to direct me," Castle said.

Smiling briefly, Beckett soon raised her head and kissed him so they could do that for a while before they parted slowly and said, "Fuck me slowly right now." She knew, as her husband nodded, that his heart was pounding as hard as her own and she waited for him to begin again eagerly.

Thrusting slowly, Castle felt his wife rising off the bed a bit eventually and he said, "Don't… forget to tell… me to… how you want me to… move."

"Go… faster," Beckett said before she was crying out his name as he was doing so. She found she couldn't speak, so she squeezed his shoulders and was relieved when he slowed down. When he stopped, she was about to speak when he was kissing her, trying not to become too impatient while she responded to him hungrily.

"Do that love… I forgot you can't speak," Castle told his wife before they were kissing once more, and he proceeded to thrust again, hard. He groaned as she pulled away from him to cry out herself, their hips slapping almost noisily though the bed under her was joining in. "Kate," he breathed heavily to her.

"Keep fucking me," Beckett cried out in her joy. She was clutching at him as tightly as she could with both her arms and legs, squeezing her eyes shut. The friction was rough between them and she could feel her husband straining against her and the muscles of his back working underneath her hands. "Rick… oh… please," she moaned as he was kissing around her neck and collarbone feverishly.

"You're… so fucking beautiful love," Castle groaned to her. "I adore… let me adore you."

"You are… don't stop," Beckett whispered to him before they were kissing deeply. She could feel him reaching down her thigh with his right hand and she tilted her head back, squeezing her eyes shut tightly before she realized she couldn't fight with herself anymore. "I'm… Rick I'm going to come," she gasped out to him.

"I am too," Castle was able to say. "Come for me love, it's… not going to be the last time."

Feeling the way he was brushing against her, striking her clit, Beckett threw her head back and snapped completely, calling her husband's name repeatedly until he was joining her. The rush of ecstasy that provided nearly made her climax again though she ended up distracting herself by running her nails over his scalp and back. She wasn't sure how long they were like that, but she realized when she was still and she was breathing roughly while he was making a few last thrusts. "That took too much out of you," she said with a smile on her face as he was pressing his face into her neck.

Grunting, Castle took a moment before he pulled away and said, "Please tell me it does the same to you."

Laughing softly, Beckett brushed her lips to his and assured him, "It did, it always does. You do a great job."

Castle couldn't stop himself from kissing her deeply and after they were parting he said, "So do you."

"That's a very nice compliment," Beckett replied. She was going to say more when he pulled away from her and she paused before he was laying on his back. Moving to press against his side she then said, "Though honestly how much can I do?"

"More than enough," Castle said quickly. He leaned over and kissed her gently before they parted, and he said, "We took our time though."

"We did," Beckett said with a smile, knowing that was a question. She pressed her lips to the middle of his chest, hearing him grunt in response, and she said as she propped her head up onto her hand, "I love you, you know."

"I do," Castle said swiftly. "I love you too." He reached up to her and ran his hand over the back of her head, letting his fingers go through her hair before he said, "I meant what I said."

"You know I'd like to do the same," Beckett told him.

"You have," Castle said. "But-" he began before she was suddenly kissing him. He was startled for a moment and then moved to wrap his arms around her to bring her on top of him. Feeling her breasts against his bare chest he groaned, starting to slide his hand up her side before he suddenly realized what he was doing. He swore heavily as he tried to move away from her and said, "Sorry."

"No, don't worry," Beckett said. "I know it's hard sometimes."

"Wait-" Castle said before she was covering his mouth with her hand.

"I didn't mean it like that," Beckett told him firmly. When he nodded his head, she moved her hand and said, "I didn't need to state that in an innuendo. Your cock is hard most of the time."

Shuddering hard Castle said, "I'm guessing you're fine with us continuing?"

"I may be persuaded," Beckett commented. When her husband was sliding his hand over to the small of her back she said, "You're not going to?"

"Not just yet," Castle said, grabbing her by her arms and flipping her around onto her back to her startled cry. As soon as she was set, he let her wrap her arms around his neck and they were kissing frantically for a while. He couldn't stop himself and they were involved in multiple kisses before he forced himself to and he said,

"You're addictive my love," as he nuzzled her jaw and part of her neck.

"Hmm, so are you," Beckett said, running her hands through his hair. She then lowered them to his shoulders and began to go over his back until she was at his ass.

"Ah," Castle grunted as she squeezed him. "You know I'm ready right?"

"I'm aware," Beckett said. "I'm not allowed to?"

"Oh no, you are," Castle assured her. "But-" he began before he was cut off when his wife squeezed his ass again. "Will-" he tried to say when his wife was slapping him. He jerked against her and they groaned together before he breathed out, "Vixen."

"I'd like-" Beckett began before her husband was moving and making her turn onto her stomach. She looked back at him as he started to kiss over her entire back, making her bite her lower lip before he reached her ass. She expected him to start but was startled when he didn't do anything, and she glanced back at him to find he was staring at her reverently. "Rick-" she began, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"Sorry it's… stunning," Castle replied. Before his wife could say anything, he leaned down and started to kiss at her, feeling her moving underneath him as he did so. He then slapped her a little hard, delighting in her cry of pleasure and he moved to kiss her again before hitting her a second time.

"Are you finished?" Beckett asked, finding herself breathing a little hard in response to what he'd been doing.

"Yeah," Castle said though he was speaking reluctantly. He laid on his back; knowing already she wanted him to do that; and he took her in his arms as she came to him. They kissed deeply before they slowed down, and he caressed her hair again saying, "Why didn't we do this before?"

"I don't know," Beckett said in amusement. She kissed him lightly and told him, "But I'm not minding it."

"No," Castle replied seriously. He smiled when she laughed, and he drew her down to him, kissing her again, before he turned her onto her back. He ran his hand down her abdomen before he proceeded to caress at it as she made slight noises under her breath. "Good?" he asked her. When she said, "Mmm-hmm," he kissed her but made it quick before he moved down further to her clit. "Wow," he couldn't help saying as he fingered it. "Still so hard."

Beckett smiled and said, "There's a reason for that." She then reached down and grabbed his hand, kissing him as she lowered her head down to his. They were kissing for a while before she got an idea and let him go, moving her hand so she could curl it around his erection. "Still so hard," she said, deliberately echoing him as he moved back to look at her.

"You're a goddess love," Castle replied seriously as he moved her hand off him and they proceeded to kiss. He felt her moaning into his mouth and he moved a little so he could lay on her slightly as he knew she enjoyed. Dueling with her tongue, he did his best to make sure he was going to do what she liked when he pulled back to look at her. Seeing her eyes were half lidded in her pleasure, her lips slightly swollen, he couldn't stop himself and crushed his lips against her. He felt her leg wrap around him and he adjusted himself enough so his hips were resting directly on hers and he moved back to murmur to her, "Do you want me my love?"

"I need you Rick," Beckett said breathily. "Fuck me lover," she commanded him.

Castle needed little else to spur him to move and he and Beckett were soon coupled, thrusting against one another. As they made love roughly they were beginning what would be several instances of doing their best to make sure they could feel as much of their passion for each other they could while their night continued.


	7. Something You Can Give With Ease

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: I did my best writing an episode of _Dancing With the Stars_ though I took more from when I first started watching the show and not too much how it is now. And what I didn't know I took artistic license with. And I just hope writing the actual dancing worked out, lol, since I don't know exact step names but I try to describe them the best I can!

A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Save Us_ by Paul McCartney; from his album _New_ ; and _Last Night_ by The Traveling Wilburys; from their album _Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1_. And speaking of the songs, I made a playlist of the songs I'll be using for the season… I wasn't sure I wanted to reveal the entire playlist, but I have a second one for this story so decided to go ahead. So if anyone wants to check that out go here: ww w.y out ube play list?l ist=PL J1WqrL t5mE0d Js-W6-V ODDL 7vC HfP XEu  
Hopefully that works once the spaces are removed and if not just send me a message and I'll send it that way.

A/N #3: There's another femslash love scene between Skye and Mary, if anyone doesn't want to read it go past when it's just them to the line break that ends the scene.

A/N #4: I was happy to get the feedback I did for the last chapter, so I'll go right to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (I've already sent you a message but just wanted to say again thanks for the Christmas wishes!),

Emma (I'm really happy you're enjoying the story so far and that you thought the chapter was great. It was great to read that you believe I capture the kids' excitement at both being away from home and missing being home as well as their parents. And I'm pleased you love how I write Castle and Beckett as parents and them loving one another too. A later Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family as well!) and

Mb (Great to read you thought the chapter was another wonderful update. I'm glad you love the beach house and how they were all excited being there. Nice that you could picture Skye and Derek in the uniforms for the first dance since I want it to be as visual as possible. And I got what you meant about some people in uniform being empowering and romantic too. You're welcome for sharing! I was glad reading you thought the second half was a sweet update and not surprised you thought it was hot and steamy for Castle and Beckett. If you're on the coast then I'm not surprised you have similar views too, lol, but glad I could convey the view from the restaurant and make it sound amazing. I'm not surprised that you thought it was good to see the kids happy to talk and see their parents as well as for the Castle family to talk and see Alexis too. So happy you could feel how much in love Castle and Beckett are with them being hot and steamy. You're welcome for the second half too! And a Happy New Year to you and your family as well and I hope that it'll be a good one for you all!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading all of them and am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #5: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Save Us_ , mentioned in the A/N above.

Something You Can Give With Ease

Stepping into the ballroom, Julia looked around, her eyes wide, before she jumped when the youngest McDouglas girls squealed before they ran to the dance floor.

"Hold on, hold on," Skye said, rushing off the floor before she wrapped her arms around her three girls. "I'm happy to see you too, but you'll have to have your dress shoes tonight to come up on stage."

"We can dance here too?" Julia asked.

"You can," Skye said with a smile at her. "But later. I'm-"

Beckett looked away from the investigator as Mary had thrown her arms around her wife, knowing she was going to kiss her.

" _Grá_ ," Skye said with a laugh as her wife kissed her cheek. "I'm all sweaty."

"I don't think it matters," Beckett said, smiling as she glanced over at the two.

"I got that," Skye told her wryly. "But Mary, I'm famished."

"Sorry," the doctor said. "I couldn't help myself. But we should get our lunch."

"Something light," Skye said.

"Are you nervous?" Julia asked, going over by her.

"Of course, blocking with the cameras how could I not be?" Skye replied, gesturing behind her to the dance floor.

"How did that go Mum?" Marie asked.

"Not bad, hopefully I won't be thinking of the cameras tonight," Skye replied.

"You won't," Castle said.

"Says the man who's been around cameras far more times than I have been," Skye pointed out. She laughed when he nodded and shook her head before they were outside. Near their cars she said, "Where are we going? And why did you all come?"

"Julia wanted us to join," Beckett said. "The other kids are finishing homework."

"Really?" Skye said, looking at Julia.

"I had reading, Peter stayed with Clive since he had homework," the girl said.

"Okay, but we need something for everyone," Skye said as they walked outside to their cars. She froze in her tracks and asked her wife, "You made something didn't you?"

"Her pizza!" Iris couldn't help saying.

"Thank you," Skye said, squeezing her wife's hand.

"You'll be able to eat," Beckett said, going over to her as the investigator was digging in her bag she had.

"I have to, can't collapse on the floor," Skye said. "Once on the show was enough." She studied her and asked, "You're taking my car?"

"I am," Beckett said with a slight smile on her face while she took the keys. "You should relax." She wasn't surprised when the investigator wrinkled her nose before they were climbing into the cars so they could return to the McDouglas house. It was the fourteenth and the show was premiering that night, all of them having agreed to look out for the investigator so she would be relaxed before filming began. And while she drove with Skye next to her, she wasn't surprised she was sitting back on the passenger seat with her eyes closed. She was about to ask, since she knew the investigator would still talk to her, how the final rehearsal had gone when her friend spoke first.

"It went well," Skye said. She smiled and opened her eyes saying, "Though I tend to focus a bit too much on the steps, I have to remember to act too. Is Martha busy now?"

Laughing slightly; as she knew that was a joke; Beckett said, "Didn't you talk to her already?"

"I did," Skye admitted. She then said, "I'm trying to remember I'm doing this for the girls. And Mary too."

"And you're enjoying it," Beckett added.

"I am," Skye replied. She breathed out and said, "But I'd like to focus on everything at home now."

"We will," Beckett said. She was getting off the freeway then and at the red light she looked at her friend before seeing her staring at her. "Yes, that's your wife's plan."

"Ah Mary…" Skye said, leaning back.

"Why are you in the car with me?" Beckett then asked jokingly.

"We can't fool around in the car," Skye said in mock indignation. She laughed with her friend before she said, "She would want to."

"Is she-" Beckett said, glancing at her since she was driving again.

"No, but she likes touching," Skye explained. "I have to slap her hands a lot. But it's only when we're alone and we have five kids I'll remind you."

"Do you need us to go for a walk with the kids for P.E.?" Beckett asked seriously.

"Ye-e-s," Skye drew out. "After lunch. I hate to tell you that but…"

"You'd do the same for Rick and I wouldn't you?" Beckett asked, turning onto the investigator's street. Since she could she glanced at her friend and saw she was wrinkling her nose. "Well?" she pressed, though she was smiling at the same time.

"Hmm, I suppose," Skye said, making her voice as unwilling as possible though they were laughing together shortly after. Once they'd stopped they were at the garage and she hurried out, going to where her wife was leaving the second car while four of their daughters were exiting around them. She murmured to her in Japanese for a moment before she watched with a smile as her wife rushed over to the other car.

"Thank you," Mary was saying to Beckett as she took her wife's bag that the writer was taking from the backseat.

"It's not a problem. We didn't really have them do P.E. anyway," she told her. Beckett couldn't help smiling when the doctor paused and said, "A walk around the neighborhood." She watched Mary head back to her family; after nodding to her; she looked at her husband who'd walked up to them while she'd been talking.

" _Do I want to ask_?" Castle said, speaking in Irish.

"No," Beckett said simply. "They won't be joining us for that walk," she said before she smiled at Julia. "Hungry?" she asked.

"Yeah, what're you talking about?" the little girl said, studying the two.

"We need to do P.E." Castle said. "Your mom wants us to go for a walk."

"Photography?" Julia asked.

Shaking her head; as the last time they'd gone on a walk she had them use their cameras as all the kids had wanted her and Jim to teach them the best way to use the cameras; Beckett said, "We're taking the dogs."

"Good," Julia said before they turned to the house as Eliza was coming out to them and crying out to their parents.

"Lunch is ready!" the little girl said, hugging her father first. She cried out and then began to laugh as he picked her up, and she kissed his cheek saying, "Is Skye ready?"

"I believe I am," the investigator herself said as she was walking up to them. "But extremely hungry," she added before they went into the house where everyone else was waiting in the kitchen.

After they were sitting around the dining room table, the kids began asking Skye about her time at the studio and the show that night. She gave only a brief description, urging them to return to their meal before she spoke with her wife in Japanese for a moment.

Beckett watched Skye then, wondering if she would eat before she noticed that her pizza slices were disappearing. When they had finished, she went to the two women and spoke quietly with them for a moment before she went back to her husband telling him, "We have dish duty."

"I had a feeling," Castle replied easily before he helped her in taking the dishes over to the sink. They cleaned up while the kids were with Martha and Jim and he glanced outside the window above the sink, seeing Liam was walking up onto the patio. "Twins and Fleur," he called behind them. He couldn't help laughing when Beckett glanced at him and he said, "Your grandfather's here."

Looking out the window, Beckett smiled as the five girls were gathering around the man, talking to him before they made their way inside. "Hello," she said to the investigator's dad.

"Where's Skye?" Liam asked after he'd greeted both her and Castle.

"She and Mary are upstairs," Castle said.

"Ah," Liam replied, nodding his head. "How's she doing?"

"Nervous, but she's trying not to let that show for the girls' sakes," Beckett answered.

"I expected that," Liam replied.

"We're going to go on a walk," Castle then said. "For the kids and with the dogs."

"I'll stay behind," Liam said. "I'd slow you down anyway."

Nodding, Beckett dried her hands as they had finished, and she said, "Don't surprise them too badly."

With a brief laugh Liam said, "I'll do my best," saluting her.

Her husband helping her gather the kids and the dogs, Beckett walked with him as he was pushing Josie in her stroller once they had left the house and were going to the sidewalk. She looked ahead of them at the grandparents; Liam convinced by his granddaughters to join them; and she squeezed her husband's arm for a moment saying, "Are we ready?"

"The snacks are," Castle said. "All we have is to go to the show."

"Great," Beckett said.

"You're worried about her," Castle asked, taking her hand.

"Of course I am," Beckett said firmly. "You aren't?"

"I am, but we seem to forget she has a very cool head on her shoulders," Castle commented. He glanced at his wife and when he saw she was staring at him he said, "You know what I mean."

"Yes, let's just hope she doesn't think about her steps too much," Beckett said, not surprised when her husband nodded in agreement and she laughed, squeezing his hand before they turned the corner and continued down to the next street.

* * *

"Here," Castle told Josie as he handed her the stuffed giraffe that was on the blanket by them. It was the middle of the afternoon and he was with the baby on his own in the family room, the kids outside with all the other adults while they were waiting until they needed to leave for the show. He'd gotten Josie from her crib once she'd woken up from her nap and had taken her to the French doors in the living room to spend time with the baby since he and Beckett had been so busy settling into their teaching.

"I know," he said to the baby as she vocalized an ah sound. "You'll be able to start crawling in no time." Castle kissed her forehead, smiling when she laughed, before he said, "Do you want your mom to join us?" When she cooed, he kissed her again and said, "I'll text her."

"No need," Beckett called out as she left the hallway between the family room and living room. "I thought you two might want some company," she added.

"We do," Castle said, waiting for her to get on the blanket. He let her take Josie, watching her kissing the baby's temple before he said, "I was just going to see if she wanted to play with her blocks."

Watching him go over to the set, Beckett felt Josie grabbing her hand briefly and she turned back to her, seeing the baby was looking at her. "How has she been sitting up?" she asked her husband.

"She needs my support, but she's getting better at holding herself up for longer periods," Castle replied, trying to hand her a green foam block.

Watching with her husband, Beckett couldn't help laughing as the baby brought it to her mouth and she said, "We'll have to watch her now."

"I know," Castle said, since they'd been waiting for their youngest to start doing that with objects. "But we were expecting this. She's developing well."

Nodding Beckett said, "I'm relieved." She then turned to the baby, to try and get her to hold a different block in her hand when she felt her husband's hand on her shoulder.

"She's okay," Castle said reassuringly since he knew she was thinking of her being born early. "Sophie too in fact."

Beckett smiled at that and said, "Which Lily's happy about. But we should turn our attention back to her."

"Right," Castle said, turning to the baby and gently taking the block out of her hand. He was about to give her another one when the baby was suddenly whimpering, and he looked at her before Beckett scooped her up. "Are we done?" he asked in slight disappointment.

"No," Beckett replied, nuzzling Josie's nose with her own. "But we should stop with the blocks."

With a brief nod, Castle hurried to put the set away before he said, "What now? Go back with everyone else?"

"No," Beckett said firmly. "I'd rather you played with her."

"I was just now," Castle said in slight confusion.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "You haven't played mad dog with her." She laughed softly when her husband looked at her in surprise and she explained, "The girls were asking me if you would while you were here with her."

"I should," Castle said, thoughtfully as he studied the baby. "I'll have to tell them I can't really play like I have with them…" he trailed off, taking so long to speak again that he wasn't surprised when his wife and Josie made him jump.

"Sorry," Beckett said with a slight smile since the baby had vocalized at the same time she'd begun her question. "I was asking what exactly can you do with her for that game?"

"I think I should just be a weaker mad dog," Castle said.

"I was going to suggest that," Beckett said with a nod of agreement. She smiled when her husband kissed her temple and she handed the baby to him before she watched him in surprise while he waved his hand as he shook his head.

"Hold her in front of you," Castle said. When she was, he then got on his hands and knees saying quickly to his wife calling his name, "I have my brace."

Though she wanted to protest; as she knew he wasn't in that comfortable a position even on the blanket; Beckett held off, watching him crawling up to the baby and nuzzling her nose with his own. When he didn't growl or make any real kind of noise she was relieved, not sure Josie would have enjoyed that, and she smiled saying, "I think it's more just playing dog."

"Yeah," Castle said, moving to sit up and taking the baby with him as he did that. He held her up above him, smiling when she laughed briefly, and then brought her down, kissing Josie's cheek as she cooed. "This was a good idea," he said to his wife.

"It was," Beckett replied. "We need to keep doing this, maybe teach her colors at least."

"Vegetables and fruits too with that," Castle said. "And numbers."

Beckett nodded with a smile on her face and she then leaned over to their baby, pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. When she sat back up, she was startled to find a frown on her husband's face and she said, "What is it?"

"Just her?" Castle asked.

Rolling her eyes, though she couldn't fight the smile that appeared, Beckett cupped his cheek and leaned over to share a kiss with him. She made that one brief as well but as she pulled away slightly, she paused and then leaned into him at the same time he was doing towards her. Their lips met and they began to kiss more passionately, knowing he was being careful to keep away from her so they wouldn't end up crushing Josie in between them. When they stopped, she said in Irish, " _We need to_ …"

"Yeah, _we'll talk after the show_ ," Castle told her with a slight smile. He then looked down at Josie, who was leaning against him, and he turned her to face him before he said, "Should we head back to everyone else?"

"We should," Beckett began. Before she could continue though she heard laughter coming from the family room and she smiled saying, "I think they're about to join us."

"Good thing," Castle said, waiting for her to stand up before he handed Josie to her. He got up himself and took the chance to share a kiss with his wife before they made their way to where everyone else was gathering in the family room to continue playing the time they had left.

* * *

"Someone should pinch me."

Hearing the cry from her friend, Beckett looked over at the other side of the room saying, "Skye?"

"She pinched me!" Skye said in mock annoyance.

"You asked me to," Mary said simply.

"Should I leave you guys alone?" Beckett called when it got quiet.

"No, I'm getting dressed," Skye said before she stepped around the screen she was behind in what would be her dressing room at the _Dancing With the Stars_ studio. "And I am dressed."

"How do you feel?" Beckett asked, standing up.

"Like I was in a glitter explosion," Skye said, shaking her head, wearing a blazer with silver sequins on it. She sighed and said, "One night only. I can hope."

Hugging her wife from behind Mary kissed at the back of her head and said, "You look dazzling _grá_."

"Good choice," Skye said with a laugh, turning to her. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, sit down," Mary told her wife.

"You don't need to stay," Skye then told Beckett. "I'm not kicking you out; just letting you know you can go back to Rick if you'd like."

"That's alright," Beckett said with a slight smile. "I'm fine here."

"He might not be," Mary said, brushing the investigator's hair. When she saw the questioning way Beckett was looking at her she smiled and explained, "The way he was looking at you."

"He's always like that," Beckett said simply.

"Sure, but there's a reason," Skye said.

"We're going to talk about us now?" Beckett asked wryly.

"No," Skye said quickly. "I think what Mary's trying to say is that he seems to enjoy you in your dress."

"He likes this one," Beckett said simply. When the two women smiled at her, not teasingly, she sat back down in the chair to watch the investigator's hair go into a bun at the back of her neck. But her mind was on her husband, recalling their conversation after she had stepped out of the bathroom in their room, ready for the show.

* * *

 _"You know," Castle said after he'd studied his wife for a moment. "There's something I wanted to ask."_

 _"Go ahead," Beckett said, putting on her pearl earrings._

 _"Do you have a dress for every episode we're going to?" Castle said, moving towards her._

 _Smiling at him in the mirror she was standing in front of, Beckett shook her head and told him, "I don't, but I'm not wearing this one every time." She then turned to him and asked, "Josie?"_

 _"She's fine," Castle said, wrapping his arms around her so he could span his hands across her back, feeling the lace of her blue lace gown. Pulling her close he told her, "You look amazing," seriously._

 _Beckett, since she was wearing her heels already, didn't need to lean up to brush her lips to her husband's. After they'd parted, she was about to speak when they heard the baby vocalizing before she started to whimper. She kissed her husband rapidly and they went to make sure she would be okay. "At least Lenora's a good babysitter."_

 _"We shouldn't have doubted their girls," Castle commented. He couldn't help laughing when his wife shot him a quick look but didn't say anything as he followed her and the baby down the stairs so they could make their way over to the main house._

 _"Hello," the young woman who'd be watching the baby said as Castle and Beckett walked into the house._

 _"Hello again Lenora," Castle said first. "Thank you so much for staying."_

 _"It's not a problem," she replied._

 _"We need to go," Skye said, having walked inside with her family._

 _"Are we saying goodnight to Josa?" Eliza asked her mother after she and Julia had hurried to their parents._

 _"Yeah, she'll be asleep by the time we're home," Castle told them, holding the carrier for his wife so she could take the baby out._

 _After Josie had been kissed by her grandparents, her sisters did the same and she was finally given to her parents._

 _"Sweet dreams Josie," Castle said to the baby, holding her first. He kissed her temple and said, "We'll play with you again like we did earlier. I love you."_

 _Taking her when her husband had hugged her, Beckett pressed her lips to Josie's forehead and she said, "I love you too sweetie, we'll look in to see you. And like your daddy said we'll try to play with you tomorrow."  
"Outside," Julia and Eliza said at the same time._

 _When the girls merely smiled at her as she looked at them Beckett said, "Maybe." She said goodnight to the baby; who was smiling at her; and she handed her to Lenora, making sure she wouldn't start crying. She smiled when the baby turned her head and she squeezed her shoulder before telling the babysitter, "Someone told you where everything is?"_

 _"Your daughters did," Lenora replied with a nod. "And I have all the numbers I need in my phone. Have fun tonight."_

 _"We will," Castle said, going to his wife and taking her hand._

 _Leaving with everyone else, Beckett glanced back to the house to see the babysitter standing in the doorway with Josie on her hip. She breathed out once and said, "She likes her."_

 _"I know, good thing since they'll spend Monday nights together for a while," Castle commented as he led her over to their car._

 _"Don't be so sure," Skye called from the car she and Mary would be in with their daughters._

 _"You'll break a leg," Castle said in mock annoyance._

 _Laughing with the others, Beckett made sure Julia and Eliza were alright in the back before she got onto the passenger seat to make their way over to Hollywood._

* * *

Hearing the door he was near opening, Castle straightened up and said, "Hey, they're all set in there?"

"They wanted a few minutes," Beckett said. "Have they started playing music?"

Shaking his head Castle said, "It's close though, Eliza ran back here and told me."

"By herself?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"Someone from the crew walked her back here to me," Castle replied with a smile. "But Mary?"

"I didn't want to dance without my wife," the doctor herself said as she and Skye were coming out of the room then.

"Your girls-" Castle started to say.

"I told her," the investigator replied.

Beckett went to her friend and hugged her tightly telling her, "Break a leg."

"Thanks, go on and dance," Skye said, smiling at Castle when he squeezed her shoulder. She watched the couple leave them and she turned to her wife before they were embracing. Kissing deeply for a few, brief, moments she then pulled away and said, "I'll want a dance in our room tonight."

" _Beddo no ue matawa ofu_?" Mary asked in Japanese, which meant on the bed or off.

" _Matawa_ ," Skye said before she was laughing as her wife pinched her side since it meant the words either or. She brushed her lips against hers and said, " _I'll be thinking of you_."

" _I know, I'll want you still_ ," Mary said.

Skye smiled at how earnest she was and she then hugged her close before they kissed again. She had to pull away when she heard her partner calling to her and she squeezed her hand before rushing down the hall.

Mary sighed as she watched her wife hurry, shaking herself as she could hear the music outside in the ballroom. She went down swiftly to it and soon spotted where Castle and Beckett were; because of the former's height; seeing her daughters near them.

"How's Skye?" Julia said when the song they were all dancing to ended.

"Good, she's preparing herself," Mary answered as she sat down on her chair which was next to the judge's table.

"I could tell," Beckett said with a nod as the doctor had looked at her. Another song began and she went to the dance floor with her husband again, dancing with him until the music ended and they were being told to take their seats. "Here we go," she said as she spotted the judges walking across to their table.

Julia smiled at her parents; who were to her right while she was sitting next to Mary on her left; before she studied the three. She was a little shocked seeing them in person, but she soon heard music and looked at the large screen behind the band to watch the opening to the show.

"Mummy!" Fleur whispered eagerly as Liam's plane was flying through the sky.

Hearing Skye asking for 'permission' to land at season 31, Beckett laughed under her breath before the plane 'landed' outside the studio and Skye jumped out to the music beginning and the dance troupe were dancing on the floor in front of them. The stars and pros were then introduced by Tom as they walked from the stage to the dance floor. As they were doing that she stood up and applauded with everyone else before Tom and Erin were standing in front of them and the intro ended behind them. She squeezed her daughter's hand as she was jumping a little in her excitement, glad they'd finally come to the moment the season was beginning as the co-hosts began to speak.

"Welcome to _Dancing With the Stars_ , season 31," Tom said first. "And our first night of competition."

"Our thirteen couples are here to showcase the Jive and Viennese Waltz tonight for judge's scores and your votes," Erin then took up.

After telling the audience at home how to vote for their favorites Tom then said, "First tonight is our singer and pilot, Rose McDouglas with our returning pro Derek Hough."

Beckett smiled as Skye and Derek were smiling at the camera that had stopped in front of them and then turned to the screen as the introduction began.

"My name is Rose McDouglas, but I go by Skye. So no more Rose if you please," the investigator was saying while her family and friends were applauding at the same time and some in the audience were laughing. "I'm an NTSB investigator who's also lead singer of the band The Rambling O'Dells and a licensed pilot. You may have seen the band and I in the two music videos we did with Paul McCartney-"

Julia smiled at Mary as a clip of the music video of the song _This One_ with the whole band and Paul in it was being shown, and then looked back to see Skye looking serious on the screen. She bit her lower lip as she knew there was more to what the investigator was known for and she waited to hear what she would say.

"I'm also known for helping to land British Airways Flight 139 without hydraulics at JFK," Skye continued. "I've always loved dances and the way you can express the music you're listening to through movement. I know a couple dances already but I'm looking forward to learning a lot more with my partner."

Beckett squeezed Julia's hand at her obvious excitement at Derek's introduction and she watched as it then went to Skye and the pro meeting. She was startled when it showed the investigator at her plane as Derek was walking up to it. She looked at Mary when she and their girls were all with Skye and she smiled at the girls on the screen greeting the pro.

"All these girls are your daughters?" Derek asked jokingly.

"They are," Skye said. "They're going to join us a few times, they want to watch me dance."

"Great, that gets you ready for the audience," Derek said.

The scene changed, and the pair were in the dance studio where Derek was saying, "We have the Jive first off. To the song _Save Us_ by your friend."

"I'm chuffed Paul gave permission for us to use it," Skye said after she'd clapped at that.

"Chuffed?" Derek asked.

"Happy," Skye said. "I've watched the show though; this dance is harder for taller people." It switched to the investigator dancing with her partner as Derek was showing her the steps and her voice was going over that saying, "I always thought this dance would be fun but I'm finding out that it takes a lot of effort to keep up. Especially with Derek."

"Okay, good," the pro was saying to Skye as they went through some steps. "But I don't know if you want to listen so directly to the song."

"I'm a musician," Skye said with a smile, looking in the mirror at her partner. "I take my cues from chords and words."

"Skye is really good at taking her directions from the words," Derek spoke over the two dancing. "And we tried using those lyrics she can sing herself though it didn't work the entire time."

Castle glanced at Mary with his wife, seeing the doctor was shaking her head as Skye was getting breathless on the screen before Derek was stopping her. He glanced over at the dance floor where the investigator herself and her partner were standing on the other side of the airport chairs, talking together and dressed in their pilot jackets by then before the intro ended on Derek talking about having confidence that Skye would be able to do the song justice as she was hoping for.

Julia cheered with her friends the announcer was saying, "Dancing the Jive, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough," before it went quiet and the sounds of an airport were played as Skye and Derek walked towards each other in their costumes. She smiled as she knew the investigator's jacket and cap weren't a costume before they were taking off their caps to toss them on the chairs behind them. She tried not to bounce in her excitement before the music was beginning and the pair took off their coats as the chairs parted and they started to dance together while Paul began to sing.

 _I can try to give you everything you ever wanted  
_ _You're not hard to please_

As the kids from New York had suggested to them, Skye and Derek paused and clapped with the music before they came back together and began to kick and flick along with their other steps until the chorus began.

 _And the only thing I'm asking in return is something  
You can give with ease_

Holding onto each other, Skye and Derek started to spin as the first line of the chorus began before they were doing one kick and flick facing one another until Derek spun her and they kicked and flicked until the last line of the chorus. There Derek spun her again, but they dragged it out to go with Paul's singing until the rest of the line where they were doing their kicks and flicks rapidly side by side while holding hands before they moved down the dance floor at the instrumental there.

 _Keep on sending your love  
In the heat of battle  
You've got something that'll save us  
Save us now_

When they'd reached their spot, Derek and Skye were holding onto one another and spinning together again before she was going behind her partner for the two first lines of the next chorus to mimic his heartbeat with her hand.

 _Got a feeling there's a jungle rhythm beating in me  
When I'm close to you  
I don't really want to ask for many favors  
But there's something you can do_

Derek then grabbed Skye and helped her slide across the floor in front of him while she was doing the splits. "Great job!" he called to her at the applause from the audience at her move. "Get them going!" he said before they let go of each other after she'd come up with his help by kicking her left leg out and spinning back to him for a couple quick steps before they were parting and clapping as they walked in an arc on opposite ends, trying to get the audience to follow which they were soon doing for the vocals and then the first line of the chorus.

 _Keep on sending your love_

Going back to her partner, Skye was doing her best to keep her energy up and her posture correct as they didn't have much longer to go. With the rest of the chorus they were doing their kicks and flicks until they reached the very end of the song that had been moved there for their shorter dance.

 _In the heat of battle  
You've got something that'll save us  
Save us now_

Beckett was smiling as her friend and Derek were spinning at the last two lines, kicking and flicking at the end of the first. When it came to the end of the second line, they were ending the song with Derek dipping Skye and pausing there.

 _Save us now  
Save us now_

Standing with her friends and family the instant the music stopped, Julia applauded with them and was crying out as her mother next to her was whistling. She couldn't stop smiling as Skye and Derek hugged each other tightly before they went over to Tom who was standing by the judges' table.

"Looks like you made it," the co-host said to the investigator.

"Yeah," Skye said with a breathy laugh as she'd been panting heavily.

"Alright, let's hear from you first Bruno," Tom said to the judge on the right.

"You are very dedicated," the man said. "And what a fantastic start to our night. I could tell you were nervous, but you don't need to worry you held things steady as your plane. You had wonderful footwork and you kept that up all through the dance, I hope you'll stay through next week because I see a lot of potential in your future."

Skye laughed in joy at his comments and nodded to him saying, " _Grazie_ ," before Tom was directing things to Carrie Ann.

"Bruno's right, you could do well if you dance like you did tonight," the female judge said. She had to wait for the applause from the audience to die down and said, "But you need to watch your shoulders. Especially towards the end, they were starting to want to slouch I could tell. But if you love the music that much you might go far."

Laughing again, Skye nodded, knowing Carrie Ann was right about her shoulders before she smiled at Derek and they turned to Len who was speaking next.

"I'll agree with Carrie Ann, you need to watch out for your posture," the British judge said. "But you can see you were having fun while doing that and if you stick with it, you'll have the chance to impress us all. Great job."

Julia applauded with the rest of the audience as the pair were directed to the Sky Box and she watched them go, waiting eagerly to see their scores while their group was waving at the investigator since she was doing the same to them.

Going up the long flight of stairs, Skye was the first to step into the box before she let out a short cry and launched herself at the man standing next to Erin saying, "Phin!" before the co-host was talking about the co-pilot to explain who he was to the audience.

"What did you think of their dance?" Erin was saying after she'd introduced the man.

"It was great, and I appreciate the costumes," Phin said.

Skye looked over at her partner and then started to laugh saying, "It's your jacket."

"Yeah, and hat," Phin said, shaking his head as Derek made a gesture to return them to him.

"You were first tonight Skye," Erin then said after the three had stopped laughing. "How is it now that everything is said and done?"

"A relief, that is… one fast paced song," Skye replied with a quick laugh. "But it was so much fun to get to finally show it to my family and friends who're here tonight."

"I think," Derek said as Erin turned to him. "That she did well, especially for not being used to dancing this fast or this long already."

"Alright, let's get your scores," Erin said.

Beckett looked at the judges as the show's intense music played, hoping that Skye would get at least the three sevens she'd been hoping for the first time. She heard the announcer beginning to speak and turned her attention to it as the man said, "Carrie Ann Inaba."

"Seven," the woman said, holding up a paddle with that number on it.

Skye breathed out, hugging her partner and well satisfied with that number, before she and Derek looked to see what Len would give them.

"Seven," the British judge said after his name was announced.

"Eight," Bruno said after his name, the audience applauding loudly in response.

Crying out, Skye hugged Derek tightly before she said, " _Grazie_ Bruno, _ti vogliamo bene_."

Mary laughed at the same time the judge did while her wife was blowing a kiss to the camera and she said to the others, "She said thank you and we love you."

Beckett smiled, not surprised her friend had said that, and she listened to Erin telling viewers how to vote and the next pair was announced before the commercial break. She watched as Mary stood up and then felt her husband touching her shoulder, making him look at her.

"Go ahead with her," Castle urged her.

About to tell him she didn't need to, Beckett paused and then nodded before she took Julia as she stood up and she hurried out to the aisle after the doctor. "Mary, wait," she called before the woman stopped.

"I need to hurry, actually you guys do too," she told the pair when they reached her.

"They have people to sit in the seats," Beckett said. "And we're only going to see her for a minute."

Nodding, Mary turned back and walked rapidly backstage where she soon spotted her wife and Derek talking. "Julia-" she started to say before the girl was taking off towards the pair.

"You did great!" Julia said eagerly, hugging them both. "You definitely needed an eight!" She then paused when she realized what she'd said and told them, "I didn't mean for that to rhyme."

"No, but thank you for agreeing with the score," Skye said first.

"I hope you don't mind we used the split too," Derek then told her.

Shaking her head, as she and Peter had done a similar move in their dance for the same song, Julia said, "It's not the same, and I don't own the splits." She smiled when the investigator squeezed her hand and she quickly got out of the way of her mother who was soon embracing Skye.

When she pulled away Beckett held Skye by the shoulders and said, "That was great."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Wonderful to hear coming from you, but," Skye then said slowly. "You need to head back to your seats okay?"

"I know, I just wanted to make sure you knew we enjoyed watching that," Beckett said, moving to get Julia and take her hand.

"Thanks, you're coming to the studio after?" Skye asked quickly.

"Of course," Beckett said.

"Have fun watching everyone who needs to go next," Skye said before they left. She nodded to her partner who said he was going to the Sky Box, and once he was gone she suddenly found herself back against the wall, exhaling her breath as she hit it behind her. " _Grá_ ," she said with a slight laugh. "I take it you liked it?"

" _I did_ ," Mary said, speaking in Japanese. She brushed her lips to hers and then said, " _You move amazingly_."

" _You got turned on, didn't you_?" Skye said, switching to Irish. When she saw the way her wife's cheeks began to turn red, she leaned over slightly and kissed her tenderly. She deepened it a bit before slowly pulling away murmuring to her, " _I'm glad you did. Later we need to… talk about that more_."

" _We will_ ," Mary said, brushing her lips to hers. She let go of her wife and was about to tell her she was going to go sit when she paused.

"I know," Skye said in amusement. "You need to wait for the next commercial; come on." Taking her by the hand she led her over to the dressing rooms and her own, determined to spend the minutes they had left there until she needed to return to her fellow stars for the rest of the show in the Sky Box.

* * *

"Oof, easy you lot," Skye said jokingly to her daughters as they were launching themselves at her. "I still have to practice a bit."

"Are you happy Mum?" Kathleen asked.

"Of course, another week at least of dancing," Skye told them, hugging each girl individually.

"We loved your dance," Ivy said as her mother hugged her last.

"We did," Mari said.

"I'm glad you four did," Skye said, smiling at the kids when the two boys agreed with Mari quickly. She then turned to Castle, taking his quick hug saying, " _Good enough_?" in Irish.

" _If she likes it_ ," he replied, nodding to Julia. " _Then I think so_."

Skye laughed softly and then said, "Okay, we just got the envelope and CD. We're about to find out this second what we'll be dancing and to next week."

"I have the honors?" Derek asked her as she turned to him.

"They gave it directly to you," Skye said in mock annoyance.

With a quick laugh Derek opened the unsealed flap of the envelope and said, "We are dancing the… Salsa. To the song _Last Night_ by The Traveling Wilburys?"

Letting out a whoop of excitement Skye then suddenly sang, " _She was there at the bar, she heard my guitar. She was long and tall, she was the queen of them all_."

"What?" Mary said in surprise when everyone but her wife looked at her. She then realized why she'd done that before she said, "Don't look at me, she's taller than I am!" She was startled when Derek and some of the kids turned their attention to Beckett before Castle was quickly speaking while he began to frown.

"Hey, not her," he said.

"He's right, I wouldn't be singing that about my sister," Skye quipped before she smiled at Beckett. When she saw the way her friend was looking at her she quickly said in Russian, " _They stopped filming_."

" _Why_?" Beckett asked.

" _I motioned to them_ ," Skye said simply. She glanced at Derek and went over to him, murmuring for a moment before he looked at her in obvious doubt. " _Verit_ -" she started to say in Russian before she paused and then began again. "Believe it or not but… it's what we know," she said as she'd told him a bit about the past life they'd recalled.

"Okay," Derek said. To change the subject he asked, "Did that word you said mean believe?"

"It did, we both know Russian," Skye said. "So what about the dance?"

"I need to hear the full song first," Derek said. "Julia?"

"What?" the girl asked in surprise as they were sitting on the stairs. When he gestured to her, she hurried over to the two and said, "You want me to play the song?"

"Yes," Derek said. "And then listen to it closely, I'd love you guys to see what you think of with this music."

"Sure," Julia said slowly. She smiled when Derek looked at her questioningly and she explained, "I know the song, but I'll do that right now." She went to the stereo with the CD and then placed it into the player before she pressed play. She wasn't listening to the song exactly, as she knew it well, more looking at Derek to see what he would think of.

"Okay," the pro said slowly once it had finished. "That's not exactly a straightforward Salsa song."

"It could be," Julia said rapidly as he turned to look at her. "I guess just go with the rhythm."

"I was thinking that too," Derek said with a nod. "Peter… the three of you," he said to them. "Come over here and watch the steps I try out."

"I don't think you need us to help you," Clive said slightly uncomfortably though he was going with the other two over to the three standing by the mirror.

Beckett did her best not to smile; since the cameras were rolling again; as it wasn't hard to see the four kids watching Skye and Derek closely. But after a while she realized something was wrong with the investigator and guessed she was messing up her steps.

"Hold on," Derek said. "You're having an issue with your hips."

"I know," Skye said with a frustrated groan as she ran her hands over her hair. "Could we focus on that for the rest of our time here."

"Sure," Derek said. He then said goodnight with her to the film crew who were finished with their filming. "We'll have to talk about this again next time we meet. But I figured out a story for you."

"Oh, we're doing that this time?" Skye said with a smile.

"It applies here," Derek said. "We both notice a woman at a bar… or a dance."

"Better be a bar," Mary said. "And since it's my wife it needs to be me you're both noticing."

"Are you sure _grá_?" Skye asked, though she was smiling at the fact their daughters were gasping.

"Yes, I'm not going to be dancing of course," Mary said, looking at Derek.

"No, just lean against the bar and we'll dance in front of you," the pro said.

"I'm not about to look like a bloke am I?" Skye asked.

"Of course not, everyone knows you're married," Derek said firmly.

"Hey, I just looked, people are already wondering if you two are interested in each other on social media," Castle said.

"I should have made a bet," Skye said jokingly to her wife.

"They're fast," Mary said wryly.

"Okay, Mary? I need to touch your wife's hips," Derek said then. "Please don't hurt me."

"I won't," the doctor said laughingly.

Julia, watching the pro trying to move the investigator's hips as they needed to, winced when Skye finally walked away in complete anger. "Could I help her?" she asked Derek quickly.

"If you think you can," the dancer told her.

"Do you know how to move like that?" Skye said as Julia walked over to her.

"Yeah, I had to learn," the girl said firmly. "But it's not too hard. Lemme show you how Mari and I started." And with that Julia had the investigator rock her hips side to side before she showed her how to slow it down so she could make a circling motion. "No, hold on," she said when she saw the way Skye was making her movements too fast. "Try counting."

"Go ahead," the investigator said with a smile as she saw the hesitation on the girl's face. "If you need to move my hips then that's alright."

Julia glanced at her parents and when they nodded she turned her attention back to Skye, grabbing them. "Okay, do the rolling in one… two… three…"

"Here," Derek said as he could see the method was helping. "I'll walk you through the basic steps okay?"

"Sure," Skye said.

Beckett leaned against her husband slightly as they looked on while Skye was moving in the steps, going back and forth while Derek was helping her with her hips. She was glad for her friend's sake that she was starting to get the hang of it, hoping that in the short amount of time left until the next episode she'd have it down enough for them to continue with choreographing their dance.


	8. Something You Can Give With Ease (Pt 2)

"Hey, dinner's ready," Castle said as he went over to the living room.

"I'm so hungry!" Iris said, hurrying over to the sliding door.

"I think we all are," Castle told her.

"Will we get to play?" the little girl asked hopefully.

"I don't think so, it's late so maybe just a round of UNO or another card game," Castle replied. "Us parents will talk together after to see what we can do." He watched all the kids; except for Josie; walk past him inside the house. They were back at the McDouglas house and it was nearly eight, so they were having a light dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. They were also going to watch the episode of the show; since it would be airing shortly; on TV. Skye would be upstairs while they were watching it, showering and preparing for bed and not seeing herself on the show. He smiled; as Skye had explained it to them that way; but then turned his attention to the kitchen so he could get his food as well.

"I'm glad they came in," Beckett said to her husband as he took the last sandwich and mug of soup.

"Me too, I wasn't up to running around with them," Castle said. "They want to play," he told her after taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I figured," Beckett replied. She smiled and said, "They can, but card games will be better. But not UNO, _Cinquillo_."

"I'm sure they'll want to play it," Castle said. "Different groups?"

"It's the easiest thing to do," Beckett said. She stayed with her husband at the island, since they were spread across the kitchen and family room, until they finished and she smiled when Skye went upstairs after telling them to have fun with the show. She sat on the couch with Castle and took Eliza on her lap saying, "How are you sweetie?"

Yawning widely Eliza said, "I'm good Mommy." She sighed and then said tiredly, "I wanna see the dances again."

"We will right now," Castle said, smiling as he watched his wife kissed their second youngest's temple.

Watching the show, Beckett wasn't surprised when Eliza remained where she was though the other kids were cheering Skye as they watched her intro and dance. When the commercial started, she said, "Do you want to play cards?"

Shaking her head, Eliza said, "Can I stay with you Mommy?"

"Of course," Beckett said, nodding to her husband when he glanced at her. She watched him go to the other kids to start playing cards with them. She was expecting Eliza to fall asleep but was startled when the little girl turned on her lap so she could look at her. "What's wrong sweetie?"

Shaking her head, the little girl asked, "Are you gonna vote now?"

"We have already," Castle said, walking back to them. When he saw the questioning look on his wife's face he said, "They want to play on their own."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said with a slight laugh before she heard Skye walking up behind them. She suddenly recalled Josie, as she'd asked her friend to look in on her, when the investigator was talking before she could.

"She's fine, I went in to her right now," Skye replied. "How's it going?"

"Good, you looked great on the TV," Beckett said before they started to laugh together.

"Thanks," Skye said.

"We voted for you too," Castle added.

"Oh, thank you for that," Skye said before she looked at her watch.

"It's not time for bed Mummy!" Fleur protested.

"I know, I have to check though," Skye replied, going over to an open armchair to sit. She took Ivy on her lap and wrapped her arms around her as the little girl was leaning against her, smiling at Beckett as Eliza on her lap was fighting off sleep.

When they got a commercial after Eddie and Emma had gotten their scores, Julia was going to speak to her friends when they heard her little sister suddenly protesting. "Did she fall asleep?" she asked her grandmother as Castle was taking the little girl from Beckett.

"She did, she'll have to go to bed," Martha replied.

"But I wanna see the show," Eliza was telling her parents tearfully.

"You got to see it filmed," Beckett told her firmly as she and Castle left the family room to head upstairs.

"Aren't you guys going to keep playing?" Liam asked his granddaughters as Julia rushed to her sister at her father's call to say goodnight.

"I don't think so," Kathleen said slowly. "It's hard to play and then stop."

"Okay, then what will you do now?" Liam said, looking at his daughter.

"Dad, if you want to go home you can," Skye said, smiling at him.

"They're going to bed soon anyway," Mary added.

"Alright, I've seen the show and voted," he said as his granddaughters hurried to him. Liam hugged them all before he said to Martha and Jim, "Let your son and daughter know I said goodnight."

"We will," Jim assured the man before Liam was leaving with his family to go to his car outside.

"I was going to tell her the seven-year olds will be going to bed soon," Castle said upstairs when he and his wife left Fleur's room, Eliza fast asleep on the bed there.

"I don't think she'd care," Beckett said wryly. "Come on, we have the rest of the show," she told him as she took his hand.

"You're letting them stay up until ten?" Castle asked in surprise.

"What they have left," Beckett corrected him with a smile before they went down the stairs to rejoin everyone in the family room.

"Hey, she's set?" Mary asked as she and Skye were standing. "Girls," she said a little sternly to the three girls who had groaned in protest at that.

"We'll be back for the rest of the show," the investigator said as the girls were hugging their big sisters goodnight.

"Mom?" Julia asked, going to her. "Oh, and Dad," she said, looking at him too.

"What is it?" Castle asked.

"Skye said they'll want to film her having trouble with her hips next time," Julia said. "But Derek told her after we left that they're gonna want me to… teach her again."

"Okay," Beckett said since her husband had looked to her to answer.

"Really?" Jim asked his daughter.

"They might like Julia, the audience," Beckett said, wrapping her arm around her daughter as she started to blush heavily. "And I know Derek or Skye will say that she's a dancer, so she and the others might have a real chance to dance on the show."

"Thanks," Julia said, having turned to her mother and wrapping her arms tightly around her neck.

"You're welcome sweetie," Beckett told her. "I wanted you to have a chance." She shared a quick kiss with her and was a bit startled; when Julia stepped away; to find Mari and the boys behind her as the girl was hugging her tightly.

"Thanks," Mari said shyly.

"You're welcome," Beckett said, smiling at the boys as they'd said the same. "It's why you're here of course."

"The show's back on," Martha said to the kids.

While they went to sit back with Marie and Kathleen, Beckett glanced behind the couch to see if Skye and Mary were coming back yet. She felt a hand on her shoulder and then looked at her father, smiling as he was walking by. "Are you going to have some coffee?" she asked him.

"Tea," Jim said, shaking his head. "But should I wait for them to come back?"

"We're here," Mary said first, her wife walking a little more slowly behind her. "And I'll take over that," she added.

Jim was about to speak when Skye touched his arm briefly and he said, "It's no use?"

"No," the investigator replied with a smile. "Best to sit down. I'm going to help her though."

Beckett got off the couch at that and she walked after her friend over to the kitchen.

"Julia told you about us needing to re-film?" Skye said as soon as they were on the other side of the island, next to her wife.

"She did, but we're fine with that," Beckett said. She was startled when Skye put her hand on her arm and she leaned over so she could murmur into her ear.

"Tyson?" the investigator asked.

Going over to her ear, Beckett said in Irish, " _We're not investigating a case in NYC_."

" _True_ ," Skye said, not to her ear but still talking in Irish. " _But you're not afraid someone would say something about her mother_?"

" _I don't think this far out people would know_ ," Beckett said, looking over at the kids and focusing on her daughter for a moment. " _And she knows not to talk to strangers, who might end up telling her_."

Nodding Skye said, " _If there's a chance she's with us we'll keep an eye on her_."

" _Thank you, but I haven't been really worried about that_ ," Beckett said. She watched as Mary was putting the herbs into the tea and then asked her friend, "How're you doing?"

"Good," Skye said with a slight laugh. "I'm not sore… yet. But we'll see what happens when I practice again tomorrow."

"You know you didn't really need to take most of Thursday off," Beckett told her friend.

"I told you, it's the best day for the fair," Skye said. "The weather is a bit cooler for that day and Friday and it's our chance."

"Alright, alright," Beckett said. "Did Rick-"

Shaking her head Skye said in amusement, "He didn't. You don't really celebrate her birthdays by month anyways. It just turned out to be the same day." She took the kettle that was ready with tea and said, "Are you going to take her?"

"No, we'll do what you suggested," Beckett assured her. "Have Martha bring her later in the afternoon."

"Well, at least she won't mind that," Mary commented. "I'll take these to the coffee table," she then said, indicating the items for the tea she'd put on a tray.

"Five months," Skye said with a smile.

"I know, it goes too fast," Beckett said, putting the mugs she was filling onto a tray.

"It does," Skye said, thinking of Marie and Kathleen. "But," she said. "Hopefully you'll be relieved that she's still only five months."

Laughing Beckett said with a nod, "You make a good point," before they made their way to the family room and began to pass out the tea as the show was continuing on the TV.

* * *

"Mari?" Julia whispered.

"What?" the girl asked, looking at her friend.

"Why are you still awake?" Julia asked her.

"No I wasn't," Mari said. She sighed when her friend squeezed her side gently and said, "I can't fall asleep."

"But you need to," Julia replied. "We have classes."

"I know!" Mari said, not surprised when her friend jumped next to her. "Sorry," she said quickly. "But I can't get settled down."

"Hey," a voice said at the door, making both girls gasp. "Sorry," Peter said.

"You can't sleep either?" Julia said, sitting up with Mari.

"No," Clive added, behind them.

"Oh…" Julia said slowly. "You guys are homesick, aren't you?"

"I think so," Mari then said as the boys walked into the room. "I miss my parents a lot… and my sister."

"You don't miss home?" Peter asked his partner as he and Clive got up onto the bed.

"I can't really say that," Julia said. "I'm here with my family except for my big sister."

"But you miss it," Clive pointed out.

"Well… yeah," Julia said. "But it's just my house and my big sister I miss so it's not as bad as you guys. Easy Macca," she told the dog as he raised his head and nudged her hand.

"Do you mind us talking about this?" Mari asked her, placing her hand on her shoulder.

Shaking her head Julia said, "No, it makes you feel better I can tell." She watched her friends looking at each other in the light of the lamp on the nightstand that she had turned on.

"Kids," a voice said suddenly, making all four kids gasp.

"Grandpapa, we-" Julia began.

"Shh, it's alright," Jim said as he walked inside the room. "I heard you talking while I walked down the hall and I don't blame the three of you for being homesick. But your parents really want you to get some rest. Especially after the excitement tonight."

"And because we have school tomorrow?" Julia asked.

"That too," Jim said, nodding. "I'll take you back to your room," he told the boys. He went to Julia and hugged her saying firmly to her and Mari, "Get some sleep."

"We will," Julia promised before she laid down as he was watching. She and Mari waved at the boys before they left once her grandfather turned off the light. As soon as they were gone, she turned to her friend and said, "It'll go fast now."

"What?" Mari asked in confusion.

"Our time here," Julia replied. She smiled and then said, "Now that the show's started and we have a new dance every week."

"You did really good at the Salsa," Mari said.

"Moving my hips," Julia corrected her with a smile. She then said, "You do well doing that too." She moved to lay on her back and said, "I loved getting to do that."

"It makes you feel like you're a teacher?" Mari asked, pushing herself up so she could look down at her friend.

Nodding Julia said, "I want to do that more than anything. "But I'll still write."

"Good, you should," Mari said. "Since you're so good at that."

"Thanks," Julia said, tugging on Mari's arm so she would lay on her side. As soon as she was, she hugged her tightly and told her, "You're a really good friend."

"So are you," Mari said firmly. "And I'm glad you don't mind us talking about missing home."

"I'd be the same if my family were back in the Hamptons," Julia replied with a shrug. She was going to say more but she suddenly paused, looking with Mari over to the doorway as they heard something creak.

After a while of silence Mari whispered to her, "Is someone coming?"

"No, I think that was just the floor," Julia replied. "We better get some sleep."

"Talking helps me fall asleep," Mari commented.

"You can tell that to my parents when we're tired tomorrow," Julia said. She and Mari started to laugh, and they dove together under the covers to try and keep that quiet. When they had calmed down, they came back out and she said, "But I am feeling sleepy."

Yawning widely, she felt Julia hug her and Mari looked at her before hugging her back. Pulling back to look at her she told her friend, "Me too, night?"

"Yeah, we better," Julia said before she and her friend were laughing together again. They let go of each other completely before laying on their backs and she looked up at the ceiling before she soon closed her eyes, dreaming of dancing with someone and loving every moment of it.

* * *

"Oh, finally," Mary said when her wife stepped into the bedroom.

"What?" Skye asked in surprise before she was gasping as her wife took her hand and pulled her to the bed. As Mary pulled her further to the full-length mirror she said, "Mary-" before she was cut off by her wife starting to pull on her pajama top. "Stop," she said, turning to her. "What are you doing?" she said as she was holding her by her wrists.

"What do you think?" Mary said simply. "These need to come off."

"But…" Skye began before she trailed off as her wife pulled off her top. "Mary," she said with a sigh.

"Help me," the woman said simply.

Though she wanted to question her about her plans once she was naked, Skye took off her pajama pants and was about to reach for her panties when her wife stood directly behind her. "Okay, I really need to ask what exactly you want _grá_ ," she said though her voice shook slightly with her wife's hand on her mound though the fabric was blocking their skin from meeting.

"Just this," Mary said, moving her hand to Skye's hips. She said, "Move _grá_."

Breathing a little harder already, Skye tried to do so as she'd been learning earlier that night before she could hear her wife clicking her tongue. "What? I think I improved," she said in protest.

"No, no, I think it's better I show you how," Mary was saying.

"You-" Skye began before she cut herself off abruptly feeling her wife pressing flush against her back and pressing her back with both hands on her stomach. "Mary," she breathed out shakily.

"Move with me _grá_ ," the doctor whispered to her before she began to roll her hips. She could just see the mirror and her breathing became shallower as she ogled her wife's body as it was moving. "You're doing so well," she murmured, kissing the back of her shoulder after she had finished.

"I… I'm not going to be able to do this tomorrow without… thinking of you," Skye told her as they were moving but not as easily as before since she was finding it more difficult to keep to their rhythm.

"I know but I wanted to feel," Mary said.

"I'm not doing this with… tomorrow," Skye gasped out as her wife reached up and then slipped her right hand underneath her panties. "No, wait," she said quickly, moving her hand away so she could turn around to face her. She then gathered Mary in her arms and kissed her as hard as she could, not surprised when she responded immediately. As their tongues met inside her mouth she was reaching for the back of her wife's dress before she began to attempt to unbutton it. But because she was so involved with their kisses it took a little effort to get the first two buttons.

"What's wrong?" Mary said when Skye pulled away from her with a groan of frustration. As her wife looked at her with wide eyes she said, "I guess it's my turn," as she turned around. She smiled when her wife grabbed for her and gasped when a moment later the buttons were coming apart hard. "You're going to tear them," she whispered in her arousal at the sensation of her doing that.

"Then you can give me my punishment," Skye said, though there wasn't really any truth to that since they only played with words instead of actually punishing each other. She finally got the last button open and slid her hands underneath the dress to spread it, pushing it over her shoulders though she had to allow her wife to take care of the rest. She hurried around her and immediately cupped her breasts, smiling when Mary moaned her name. She hesitated for a moment as the smile fell off her face, staring at her wife, and she then pulled her over to the bed. She fell back first with the doctor on top of her before they began to kiss, doing that for some time until her wife moved her lips to her ear lobe and began to murmur gently into it to her arousal.

"Rose, you forgot to undress," Mary told her as she reached for the waistband of the pale lilac fabric on her. She looked down while she slipped her fingers underneath the elastic, just brushing against her skin as her wife was moaning at her touch. "H-" she started to say before she was cut off by Skye pulling down her panties. She debated for a moment if she should respond to that but pushed it aside, moving so she could take off the scarlet fabric on her. "Your turn," she said with a smile, reaching for hers.

Skye raised her hips quickly for her wife and sat up while she was leaning over slightly, running her hand down Mary's side. When she straightened up, she smiled at her wife and they began to kiss one another deeply while they were wrapping their arms tightly about each other. When they stopped after their second, she said, "You got excited again watching me didn't you?" Seeing her nodding, she sighed and asked, "Why?"

Leaning over, Mary's response was to kiss her before she moved her hair away from her neck and she then kissed at it a few times. She pulled back and said, "I'll give you your reward now."

"Reward?" Skye asked, startled.

Smiling, Mary nuzzled the side of her neck with her lips and told her, "You did so well."

"That's… nice of you," Skye started to say, pausing for a moment as her wife had cupped her right breast firmly. "But… I don't… need that… just you," she tried telling her as she had begun rubbing her thumb around her nipple.

"Good, I'm going to fuck you," Mary said firmly. She was about to move when Skye wrapped her arms around her neck and she told her, "You don't want me to?"

"Together," the investigator said firmly to her wife before she crushed her lips to hers. They kissed for some time; as they couldn't stop; before she made sure they didn't go together again, and Skye told her, "I… do you want me to get it?"

"Stay there, you need to rest," Mary said, moving to get off the bed quickly. She smiled over her shoulder as her wife groaned and lay on her back in the middle of the bed. She went into their closet and where they kept their items they used for their intimacy and she was grabbing what they wanted quickly, as she suddenly decided her wife's idea was better than hers. When she went out to the bedroom she saw Skye was sitting up and holding something in her hand, making her freeze before her wife was speaking.

"To help us?" Skye asked, holding up the bottle.

Shaking her head Mary said, "We don't need anything added tonight." She climbed up onto the bed and then handed the toy to her wife before she was leaning down, sucking on her wife's left breast as soon as she could reach it. She could hear the way Skye was crying out, holding onto her with one hand, before she did the same to her other breast and she then pulled away, smiling at her.

" _Grá_ ," the investigator breathed out heavily, trying to grab her to pull her against her body. But Mary gently pushed away her hands as she couldn't help the near whimper of disappointment that left her mouth. "You're so mean," Skye said, as a way of distracting her wife as she reached in between her legs.

"And you're too fast," Mary said, pushing her hands away again. She couldn't help smiling at the obvious frustration on her wife's face before she reached in between her legs.

"I'm ready," Skye told her hurriedly as she pushed herself up on her knees to help her at the same time.

"I know," Mary said simply before she touched her hip so she would lower herself. Once Skye was ready, they moved together to drape their legs over each other so they could press close. She was the one to slide one side of the toy within her wife's sex before she let Skye help her in getting the other end within her. She pressed as close as she could against her and they began to kiss, touching each other's breasts with both hands at the same time until they were parting for air.

"I prefer this," Skye told her wife seriously, running her hands down her wife's sides. "But are we going to restrain ourselves?"

"No," Mary said, caressing her wife's body eagerly. "I want to feel you, pleasure you _grá_."

"Good," Skye said simply before she then began to move her hips. Her wife followed suit and they leaned towards each other at the same time, kissing fervently while they continued to touch one another. Eventually she pulled away with a slight gasp, feeling Mary's fingers on her clit and she rushed to touch her there as well. " _Grá_ you…" she gasped.

"The more time we have…" Mary told her firmly.

"I know," Skye said in a moan as the idea of her wife wanting them to make love again was even more arousing. She kissed her again, and though she'd been using her other hand for support she reached for Mary's breasts with one hand. She fondled them as she knew she preferred before she brought up her other hand so she could do that to both at the same time.

"Ah… _grá_ … don't… don't stop…" Mary moaned as she was leaning against her wife's hand slightly. "But here," she then said, shaking herself for a moment and reaching for her wife's hand. Once she was rubbing her clit again, she turned her attention back to Skye's and said, "We're going to come together _grá_."

"We will," the investigator said in agreement. She and Mary spent some time rubbing at each other and kissing, touching when they were apart so they could see how much they pleasured the other. Doing that, Skye said, "Mary you're…."

"I know… so are you," the doctor replied, breathing harder. Mary leaned over a little and they were kissing again before she stopped it abruptly and cried out her wife's name heavily until they were holding onto each other with one arm but still rubbing at each other's swollen nub.

When she stopped first, Skye was smiling before she said, "Hmm, you're so good _grá_."

"So are you," Mary replied before she was pulling away so the toy would slip from her first. After she'd withdrawn it carefully from her wife she took it to clean it and put it away, hoping Skye wasn't about to fall asleep. "Rose?" she said as she went over to the doorway to the bedroom when she was finished.

"What?" Skye said, sitting up from where she'd laid down on the bed.

"No, just seeing you weren't asleep," Mary told her, hurrying so she could get onto the mattress with her. She kissed her, draping the upper part of her body on top of her, and let their breasts touch until her wife was laying her head back fully.

" _Grá_ you're…" Skye started as she breathed out heavily in her pleasure. She then smiled at her and said while she caressed her hair, "I want you; so much; but I need you to answer something for me."

"Alright," Mary said, letting her fingers play with her wife's hair the best she could. At the same time, she was moving against her so their nipples could brush against each other.

"Wait," Skye said, putting her hands on her back to stop her though she didn't really want her to.

"You tempt me so much," Mary told her, leaning down enough so she could take her lips. She kept that short before she moved, lying next to her wife and pressing tightly to her, wrapping her arm around her.

"Tell me why you were so aroused," Skye told her shortly.

"The way your body moved? The splits you did?" Mary asked. She breathed out and said, " _Grá_ , it was… I wanted to watch you all by ourselves."

"I'm not going to do that," Skye replied. "But there is something I can do for you all by myself…" And with that she made her wife lay on her back and they started to kiss again until she was moving down and pleasuring her. Her joy at what her wife had said about her making her work hard which in turn led to Mary crying out and trembling as they started the rest of their night together.

* * *

Tilting her head back, Beckett sighed as she felt the way her husband was nibbling at her neck until he reached her collarbone. "Rick…" she whispered to him before she took his lips. They kissed for a moment until she paused when she realized she could feel his hand sliding up her thigh. She smiled at him and said, "I'll wear this dress again."

"You will?" Castle asked, startled.

Nodding, as she was still smiling, Beckett told him, "If she makes it to the finale; the last night."

"Good choice," Castle said with a nod. He then slid his hand a little further up her leg but stopped to rub up and down saying, "How-"

Kissing her husband hard, Beckett didn't let him continue and didn't stop kissing him until they needed to breathe. She smiled at him as he opened his eyes to stare at her once they needed to breathe and she whispered, "I crave you Rick."

Trying his best to not start hyperventilating, Castle said, "I fucking want you," moving as soon as he stopped speaking, picking his wife up and taking her to the bed. But before he could get her onto it, she was stopping him and he set her down as he knew she wanted, relieved she explained what was on her mind as soon as her feet were on the floor.

"I did want to get undressed," Beckett said. When her husband nodded, she turned around quickly and waited for him to unzip her dress. She got it off herself, letting him take it to what she thought would be the low dresser. But when he draped it over the armchair in the corner she bit slightly at the inside of her mouth. Waiting for him, slightly impatiently, to come to her she reached for his dress shirt, pulling it out of his trousers.

"Kate you're-" Castle started to say while he was watching her. But she cut him off as she was unbuttoning the shirt a little furiously and he looked on, wondering if she would end up taking off a button. But she was pulling it off; buttons intact; so he helped her and together they were letting the rest of his clothes drop to the floor around them. The second he was naked he was taking her into his arms before they were kissing passionately, clinging to one another.

When they had parted; after several kisses; Beckett put her hands firmly on her husband's shoulders and pushed down on them until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring up at her with wide eyes. "I realized," she told him as she was pulling her panties off her waist. "There's something I've never seen you do."

"W-what?" Castle asked, not sure if he sounded stupid for stammering but unable to help it as she was holding the deep blue silk on the end of her fingertip in front of him.

"Take them," Beckett urged him. Once he had she said, "Come on the bed with me." She was pleased when he rushed to follow her, though she wasn't surprised, and had him lay down, smiling when she saw he was still holding onto the silk. "Have you ever pleasured yourself with mine?" she asked him.

"Wh- no," Castle began to say before he frowned and shook his head. "I've… thought about it," he confessed. "But I wasn't sure what exactly you'd think."  
"I want to watch you do it," Beckett said. She was surprised when her husband hesitated, and she asked him, "You don't want to?"

"I do, but promise me I can taste your pussy when I'm done," Castle told her. He thought for a moment he might be able to surprise her, but she merely smiled at him.

"It's only fair, I'll take your cock in my mouth once you start to come," Beckett replied.

Shuddering hard, Castle said, "I've never done this before," as he then looked at his wife after he'd studied her lingerie for a moment.

"Okay," Beckett said. "I've never done it myself."

"How would you?" Castle asked.

"I don't know," Beckett said with a soft laugh.

"Wait," Castle told her as she wrapped it around his hand. "I knew that part," he said with a slight grunt at the sensation of the silk around himself. "Just…" he began before trailing off as he was moving his hand up and down around his length. When he made a second pass and was up around the tip of himself, he was taken aback when his wife placed her hand on his arm to stop him.

"Rub it around there," Beckett said before she bit at her lower lip.

Castle could feel his heart pounding rapidly at the suggestion before he did as she was asking, and he was breathing even harder as the sensation affected him immediately. When he stopped, he was going to continue to rub up and down his member when he paused as his wife was rubbing the dampened fabric. "It's what you do to me," he told her.

"I realize what has to happen for you to help make me slick," Beckett said. When her husband very obviously froze she leaned over and kissed him, feeling him grabbing at the small of her back with one hand as he responded. When they parted, she nuzzled his nose with her own and said, "I don't mind it."

"I'm relieved," Castle said. "But can you do me a favor?"

Studying him, as his voice was suddenly steady and he almost seemed calm, Beckett waited for him to uncover his erection and she leaned down, brushing her lips against the tip of him. She wasn't surprised when he was swearing heavily in reaction and she flicked her tongue out to him a few times. He was groaning in ecstasy and she was loath to stop though she told him, "Just a little bit more."

Shaking his head Castle told her, "Don't worry, I know you're enjoying this." When she bit her lower lip briefly, he reached up to cup her cheek with his free hand before he went back to pleasuring himself with her panties. He was closing his eyes every so often but when he had them open he looked at his wife. She was watching him closely and he felt his mouth watering as he knew what that was doing for her own arousal. The thought of pleasuring her, taking care of her, made him falter and he knew he couldn't wait. "Love," he told her.

Beckett took the dark blue silk from him, tossing it aside, before she lowered her mouth onto him and immediately began bobbing her head. As she was doing that, she wasn't surprised he was groaning her name huskily and she sped up a little. She wasn't sure why her hand came up to fondle him under his length, she had told herself mentally not to do that, but it pushed him over the edge and she was careful as she worked with him while he was writhing a bit and calling her name.

When he had eventually calmed down, Castle waited for his wife to move away before he was grabbing her and pulling her on top of him. "Kate that was amazing," he told her.

"Do you want to do that again? You could if you w-" Beckett started to say before he was pulling her to him for a kiss.

"With your mouth? Yes," Castle said once they'd parted as they had been kissing passionately for a while. "But with your panties… I don't know, I like your mouth a lot more."

"Pervert," Beckett replied. She was crying out when he suddenly made her turn onto her back and before he could go between her legs she stopped him and told him, "Hurry."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"I want you to fuck me," Beckett said firmly. "On the dresser like you're hoping."

Castle smiled and leaned down, kissing her tenderly, before he pulled away and said, "You read me too easily."

"Hmm, I want the same," Beckett told him. When he crushed his lips to hers she wrapped her arms around him tightly before he pulled away from her. He kissed at her neck and she tilted her head back before he was sucking at her pulse. She was breathing a little faster when he was going further down, and she waited for him to move again. She couldn't help the slight gasp at his lips on her abdomen before he slid straight down to her mound. She tangled her fingers gently through his hair and she watched him kiss at the very tops of her legs before sliding around to the inside of her thighs. When he went lower; kissing at her the entire time; she had to let go of him and contented herself with looking on while he went to her feet. She laughed softly, feeling his lips around her toes and she nearly started to wriggle them before he was taking her entire foot with his hand. Since she had propped herself up on her elbows by then, she saw he was looking at her and she gave him a questioning look before he spoke rapidly.

"I wanted to take my time," Castle explained to her. "But… you're tense love."

"I know," Beckett breathed out as he was just brushing his fingertips against her ankle. "Just… please hurry." She was relieved when he set down her leg and she reached up to him as he moved to kiss her. Holding onto him their tongues were soon after tangling together, his hand running down her side before he was pulling away from her slowly. She caressed his face before he could move away from her, and she bit her lower lip when he turned to kiss at her palm. Though she'd wanted him to kiss her again, she couldn't complain as he moved down her body, brushing a few kisses to her abdomen until he had reached her sex.

That time Castle didn't delay, moving to her clit and kissing it firmly before he opened his mouth and started to suck at it. He brought his tongue into play swiftly, hearing his wife cry out in pleasure until he moved to her entrance. He let his tongue flick around her folds for a while, not surprised when he tasted how aroused she was before he slipped it inside of her. He felt her jerk underneath him and then moved his head back and forth. His fingers were at her clit, rubbing the swollen nub firmly and pressing her down with his other hand to hold her so he wouldn't be interrupted.

Taking in everything her husband was doing to her, Beckett wasn't surprised when she very soon after started to near her peak. She warned Castle that she was close to climaxing and was pleased when he doubled his efforts. Her hands, clenched on the sheet underneath her, tightened around the fabric until she was calling his name, her ecstasy taking her over and making her body undulate roughly. When she was still, she felt her husband move up her body and she opened her eyes to look at him. She reached up, gently brushing her fingers against his lips before he leaned down and kissed her. They lingered in the sensuous dance of their tongues and she felt her heartbeat speeding up again before she slowly moved back first. Smiling at the way her husband was looking at her, panting, she raised her head up enough to whisper in his ear, crying out when he picked her up before she could even finish speaking.

"I'm so glad you agreed with this," Castle told his wife as he set her down at the dresser.

"I had to," Beckett said with a smile. "It's been a while. Get it ready?" She bit at her lower lip to stop smiling as her husband ran over to the bathroom and came out with a towel, jogging again. "You're an interesting picture doing that in nothing but your brace and glasses," she said when he looked at her questioningly.

"Hopefully it's arousing," Castle said, busy with the towel before he froze completely as she was grasping his erection. "Kate," he breathed out hard to her.

"Are you done?" Beckett asked. Her response from him was to grab her and pick her up, making her cry out again though it was short. "You're lucky you can do that."

Shaking his head Castle touched her right knee and waited for her to spread her legs though she'd already been in the process of doing that. He reached for her clit as soon as she was ready, watching and waiting for her to tell him it was too much. But she was wrapping her arms and legs around him, pulling him close and making him grunt as his length pressed between them immediately. "You want me to?" he asked her.

"Yes," Beckett replied simply. She reached down with one hand, pushing his erection carefully until he could slip inside of her. She moaned heavily at the sensation as he didn't stop until their hips were pressed together and when he did she whispered, "Fuck me lover," against his lips.

Taking her lips in a crushing kiss, Castle didn't do that at first, instead reaching in between them to start rubbing at her clit as he wanted to make absolutely sure she was aroused and ready for him once he began. Feeling her nails digging slightly into his back he ended their kiss and trailed his lips to her ear, nibbling at the lobe until she cried out his name.

"Stop, I'm ready… I need you Rick," Beckett said, trying to pull him back against her. She nearly let out a short scream when her husband thrust the first time, but she stopped herself, only letting out a sound that was a cry cut off by her exclaiming his name. When she realized his rhythm, she moved along with him the best she could, breathing out hard when she heard the way their skin was smacking together. She then kissed him, pressing harder against him as he responded to her and their tongues were rolling around together in between their mouths. She ended it with a shuddering gasp as he slid his hand down her side, getting close to her breast.

Swearing bitterly in Irish, Castle told his wife, "I need…" not finishing as he knew she was aware of what he meant. As she caressed the back of his head, he pressed his forehead against hers, feeling her breath on his lips as they were panting together. "Kate," he murmured a second before he was slowing down.

Knowing what he wanted; and deciding she would try her best to accommodate him; Beckett told him as seductively as she could, "Slow my love, you… you n-need to… Like that," gasping and stammering as he was just barely pulling out of her. "Now faster, just a little… yes!" she said, ending in a soft cry. "Just do both and… I'll come," she told him as she didn't want him to experiment too much and end things a little too quickly for her.

Nodding, though his wife was kissing at the side of his head and cheeks, Castle kept up the varying rhythms. He changed them so he wasn't doing the same thing every time and eventually stopped thrusting completely as Beckett was groaning in annoyance. He kissed her before she could say anything and then told her firmly when they parted, "You're a fucking goddess Kate, I wouldn't be able to last."

Sighing Beckett nodded, letting that distract him so she could place her feet flat on his hips. She then clenched her muscles tightly about his member, working them over him the best she could as he began to say her name but stopped partway through and was swearing in English and Irish. "I don't think I care about lasting Rick," she told him. She was startled when he turned his darkened eyes to her and she was about to speak when he was thrusting and talking at the same time.

"I don't want to… make this… that fast," Castle explained to her. He was relieved when she let him kiss her and they were involved with that for some time. While they were, he was varying his thrusts like he'd been doing before and when they parted from their kiss they were involved with then he went to murmur in her ear. The second she was leaning back he was moving his hips around, thrusting down into her clit directly. He was startled at the way she was crying out in reaction as he struck the swollen nub and he did it only four times before he stopped.

"No… don't apologize," Beckett told him hurriedly. "Just… ooh…" she started to say before she was trailing off on a moan when he thrust again though with her sitting up straight that time. She knew, just from how tense he was when she wrapped her arms back around him, he wasn't going to stop until they reached their climax. She didn't mind at all, moving her legs back around his waist so she could hit his ass with her heels. She was crying out every time their hips slammed together, and she was grasping at his back and shoulders to feel how hard he was moving against her. A few more times feeling the friction they gave one another and she was breaking, throwing her head back and crying out her husband's name in complete joy as her orgasm felt intense.

Joining his wife, Castle called her name and proceeded quickly to chant it, trying to hold her close though his hand was moving to grasp onto the dresser. When he gave his last thrust, he staggered against her and murmured her name before he moved so he could kiss her. They were slow until they soon stopped and when he was looking at her he said, "Do you need to rest?"

"No, but I do want to go onto the bed," Beckett replied. She sighed when he moved away from her and then moved to help him pick her back up before she said in amusement, "You're going to get tired of doing that."

"I doubt it," Castle said quickly before he set her down on the bed. "I'll be back."

Beckett nodded, watching him take the towel into the bathroom before she laid on her back, putting her hands under her head as she looked up at the ceiling. She wasn't really seeing it, thinking about something she wanted to do before she started to move to act on it. But her husband was coming out of the other room as she sat up quickly and she looked at him.

"What?" Castle asked, startled slightly by her movement.

"Nothing," Beckett said, tense when he went over to her as soon as he was on the bed.

"You're usually better about that," Castle said, nuzzling her lips with his own. When he stopped he studied her and said, "Tell me," before she moved to whisper into his ear, as he'd expected her to do.

Beckett spoke swiftly and when she had finished she pulled away, watching him for his response. When he made her lay down, she breathed out a thank you before he gave her a swift kiss and slid his hand over her abdomen while she sighed in pleasure.

"I have to admit you've been surprising me tonight," Castle told her as he slipped his first two fingers inside her sex. He wasn't surprised when she didn't reply, her eyes closed tightly in her delight at his touch, and after he had run his fingers back and forth through her twice he withdrew them. He brought his fingers to her lips, trying to keep breathing as she licked at him with her tongue, being sure he could see. "Kate…" he began, his voice strained in his pleasure and husky with his arousal.

Beckett moved to get on top of her husband, coupling with him as soon as possible while their lips crushed hard. She was moaning and took his groans into her mouth while they worked almost frantically to get him inside of her. She stayed on top of him that time while they were rough together, touching and kissing as much as they could until she broke first and he followed her. When everything was still and she felt she could move she kissed him and got off him, laying on her side of the bed as he followed her. "What is it Rick?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair tenderly.

"You amaze me," Castle said. " _Ba mhaith leat fós dom_ ," he said while she cupped his cheek, telling her that he still wanted her.

" _Caithim leat_ ," Beckett said earnestly, which meant she craved him. They were kissing the second she stopped speaking and she was holding onto him as tightly as she could his hand holding tight to her side.

"You don't know how much I want you," Castle breathed to his wife in her ear once they'd parted. He nuzzled her ear lobe before telling her, "You're only woman I've ever made love to; it's why I want you this badly."

Beckett couldn't help pausing in caressing her husband's chest as he spoke, wanting to scoff at the idea when she wasn't the first woman he'd ever been with. And though she knew what he meant she said, "I doubt-"

"Don't," Castle interrupted her, looking at her intently as he turned onto his stomach. "There's a difference between just a means to an end and wanting to experience everything possible while you satisfy your lover."

Closing her eyes, Beckett wrapped her arms around her husband as he kissed around her jaw, ears and neck. Her body was responding and as he moved his hand over her abdomen she reached to it, holding it and stopping him. "I know," she breathed out, staring into his eyes. She took his kiss, responding to him as fast as she could until he moved away, and she told him, "I love you Rick," not surprised her voice was a bit emotional.

"I love you Kate," Castle said adoringly to her. He kissed her again, not surprised when she responded to him before he pulled back to breathe for a moment and then kissed her once more. When he stopped himself after that time, he looked at his wife and saw she was biting her slightly swollen lower lip. "What is it?"

"You know you're the only man I've felt inside me too," Beckett told him. She felt him tense for a moment and caressed his cheek telling him, "You are, and that's also why I want you as much as I do."

"Do you want me again?" Castle asked her hopefully. He felt his heart pounding a little at the sight of her smiling and when she nodded he kissed her. Her tongue beat him to their lips and they were dueling together shortly after that. When they needed to stop he asked her, "Can I love you Kate?"

"Hmm, always Rick," Beckett replied, caressing the back of his head.

With that the two moved together, beginning to make love as they lost themselves in one another and started what would be an enjoyably long night. They found they couldn't stop needing to be together, their intimacy that much more necessary after what they'd revealed, wanting to prove their desire was a passion for one another they didn't want to control.


	9. Party's Just Beginning

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The Fairplex and the LA County Fair are all real, the only thing I've made up is the 'new' horse area as they removed the stables that used to be there and there are only a couple of corrals now for a few horses these days.

A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Little Lamb Dragonfly_ and _Heart of the Country_ both by Paul and Linda McCartney, from the Paul McCartney and Wings album _Red Rose Speedway_ and Paul and Linda McCartney album _Ram_ respectively.

A/N #3: Really glad for the feedback for the last chapter so I'll get to my thank you right away! TORONTOSUN (Nice to see you thought it was great writing as always. And again thanks for the New Year wishes!),

Guest (Glad you thought it was steamy for the love scenes for both pairs since I was aiming for that in the end! And yeah, too high a score the first night isn't believable so I'm not surprised you noted that. Really happy to see you think the story is great so far!) and

Mb (Really happy you thought the chapter was fun! And I'm glad that you loved that I put them getting to compete on the first show of the season. I figured since Skye's not used to dancing like that she would definitely be nervous. And I'm not surprised you thought her alone time with Mary was a good way to relax, lol, I thought so too. Really relieved and pleased to see that you enjoyed the backstage stuff and how I described both the show and Skye and Derek's dance. And the same for the fact that you could picture it easily since I had been worrying about conveying the dances enough for the readers to see it so I'm very pleased you could picture their Jive! Great you love how I had the kids helping with the choreography and helping Skye with the moves as Derek encourages them. Happy to see you thought the first half was a fantastic update. You're welcome for sharing the first half! It was nice to see you thought the second half was a great update too. And I wasn't surprised that you mentioned that everyone else wanted to see the show though most of them were at the taping, lol. I also figured too Skye wouldn't want to see herself on TV, it's awkward for some I've heard. And actually the show on the west coast isn't live, even though it's filmed in Hollywood it's live for the east but not for the west which sucked when they had live voting this past season. But I am happy that you thought it was nicely done. I had been expecting someone to mention the slight discussion about Tyson, lol, but it does make sense of course. And I'm glad you thought Beckett's response and Skye making sure no one will tell Julia about her past was accurate, it seemed to me to be for their characters. So, so pleased that you thought the love scenes for Skye and Mary were beautifully written and hot along with the ones for Castle and Beckett. And I'm really glad you liked the reveals that Castle and Beckett shared with each other as I had been wondering what the reaction would be to those. Your thoughts on Castle never having truly made love with his first two wives before he was complete with Beckett as you put it is what I've thought for a long time watch the show, I had to mention it since it explains why I write them in their love scenes the way I do. And the same for what you said about Beckett, it felt that she was only going to really have a connection with Castle. And I'm glad you think too that that is the reason why their connection is so strong and why they've always found each other in their past life and their current one. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #4: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Last Night_ by the Traveling Wilburys, from their album _Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1_.

Party's Just Beginning

"Are you sure about this?" Skye was asking Derek.

"Salsa can have lifts," the pro replied after he'd drunk some water.

"Yes, but I'm not sure you can lift me," Skye said.

"I'm not lifting you up," Derek replied.

"I can stand in for her," Julia said, smiling when everyone started to laugh as she'd been hoping would happen. They'd been at the studio for a while that morning, watching Skye and Derek practicing their second dance. And with that she could tell the investigator was getting tense so she had said what she did to break that up.

"I wish you could," Skye said, playfully tugging one of the braids Julia's hair was in. "But I'm assuming we're just getting my feet off the floor?"

"Yeah, and we'll start," Derek said, glancing at the clock on the wall.

Looking over at it as well Beckett smiled when the kids started to look at one another and she said, "Are you going to come with us?" to the dancer.

"The kids still want you to," Castle added, sitting next to his wife. It was the seventeenth of September and they were watching the pair practicing for two hours that morning. He was relieved Skye was at least getting the hip movements she needed done better after two days, but the subjects of lifts had been touchy for the investigator.

"What about," Mari started to say. "If you just drag her and then pick her up like you're on your honeymoon." She then started to blush and said, "Not like it's romantic but-"

"Don't worry," Derek said quickly and reassuringly to her. "I got what you were saying. It does go with the whole us fighting for Mary."

"Except it sounds like you two will fall in love with picking her up," Beckett couldn't help pointing out. "Sorry Mari."

Smiling when the little girl shrugged, Skye then said to her partner, "Let's do it. Let's fall in love," making her voice as exaggerated as possible as she slung her arm around his shoulders.

"Um… no thanks," Derek said before they laughed together. "If we're going to do a lift now," he then said once they'd all calmed down. "I think we need to figure it out now or not at all."

"Wait, I wasn't exactly finished," Skye said. "You could pick me up like Mari suggested, and then just set me down before we're aggressive looking at one another and dance harder towards each other."

Thinking that over Derek said, "Since that's the story I was leaning towards that after the lift. It was just the lift itself that was throwing me. Okay, let's give it a shot and then figure out where it'll go."

Beckett watched Skye nod before they danced to work out how Derek would be 'dragging' her down the floor. She was impressed when the pro asked Julia and Peter to do the same move, watching them before he nodded and then spoke to his partner. She wondered why he'd had them do that though, when Skye and Derek danced again. When he dragged her, she watched him pick her up before the investigator was crying out in concern before she realized why as Skye was speaking rapidly.

"Derek put me down, your back!" the investigator said.

"Oh…" Peter said as the pro was doing so quickly. He saw Clive was looking at him and he explained to his friend, "He's hurt his back before."

"I'm fine," Derek said. "But-"

"No, what if you just throw me?" Skye said. She realized what she'd said when she saw the way his eyes widened, and she quickly told him, "I mean I'll make you put me down, quickly."

"I was thinking of taking you down the stairs," Derek said.

"Then pick me up at the edge, go down quickly and put me down as fast," Skye said.

"We'll need these stairs," Derek replied.

"Do we have to leave?" Julia asked.

"No, just sit on the sides," Derek said. "We need the middle."

When they were out of the way Castle couldn't help asking the pair, "Where's this going?"

"The beginning," Derek and Skye said at the same time. "It makes the most sense," the former said with a nod. "Let's work that in since we don't have much time left."

Beckett, after watching the pair practicing their new move a few times, glanced a look at Mary and saw she was holding herself tense though she was leaning against the wall. She turned her attention back to Skye and realized the investigator was likely pushing herself from the way her wife was watching. She wanted to say something but at that moment Skye was groaning as her feet scuffed the floor while her partner was trying to drag her across the top of the stage.

"I suppose this is what happens when you don't wear heels too often," the investigator said as Derek helped her stand up. She sighed and said, "Should we try again?"

"No," the pro said. He smiled when she looked startled and he explained, "Time's up," just as the door was opening and they turned to see who it was.

"You're still here?" Eddie said as he stepped inside the room first.

"We're just leaving," Skye replied with a smile. "Hopefully you'll have a good time."

"We will," Emma said with a laugh as the two were holding each other by the arms and pretending to shake each other.

"Should we have a bet?" Eddie asked.

"No, would mean we aren't mates anymore," Skye said simply.

Pretending to think about that, Eddie let her go and said, "Alright, let's just see what we'll do then."

"Agreed," Skye said before she went to get her bag her wife was holding.

"Are you dancing the Salsa too?" Julia couldn't help asking though they were getting off the stairs to leave.

"We are, any tips?" Eddie asked jokingly.

"Be careful on the stairs," Peter said.

Beckett smiled as everyone was laughing, and she made sure the kids were ready to go before they left the room saying goodbye to Eddie and Emma while they went. "Derek," she called as they were walking down the hall to leave the building. "Are you coming with us?"

Opening his mouth to respond, Derek paused as the kids were all telling him to and he laughed saying, "I already made up my mind." He was going to pause for a moment but seeing their disappointed expressions said, "I'll go with you, I've never been to the fair."

"I told him about it," Skye said. "Now let's get back for lunch so we don't miss anything."

Castle took his wife's hand as they followed behind their kids and the McDouglas girls. Listening to them talking about the fair he wanted to remind them they'd need to stop at home first but decided to let them have their fun while they made their way outside to their cars.

* * *

"We'll join you at three," Martha said, smiling at her son and daughter in law as they were last in the house. "And she'll be going to bed as soon as you give her to me."

"Sorry," Beckett said. "I wanted a little more time with her." She then kissed Josie's forehead and said, "We'll sit with you while the kids are on the rides."

"Are you sure it's alright to let them go on those rides?" Martha asked in slight concern.

"It is," Skye said, smiling when the three turned to her in the sliding glass doorway. "We need to go; the kids are getting barmy."

"Ours or yours?" Castle commented.

"Ours but your kids and the other three are getting there," Skye replied.

Beckett let Castle kiss the top of the baby's head and she did the same after telling Josie, "We'll see you later today sweetie. Be good for your gram."

"She will," Martha assured her. "Have fun and see if they have anything good in those buildings."

"We will Mother," Castle said. "Bye," he called before his wife was doing that and they hurried after Skye.

"How long will it take to get there?" Beckett asked the investigator as they were nearing the three cars they were taking.

"An hour," Mary answered as she'd heard that. She looked up from her phone and said, "We're lucky."

"How long does it normally take?" Castle said.

"Forty-five minutes," Skye said. "So traffic is going to start building up; let's go."

"You're sure about the train?" Castle asked the investigator. When she smiled he said, "Okay," before he got into the car with his wife, Julia, Mari and Peter. He started it and pulled out first before he heard laughter behind her and he was about to ask what was going on when his wife beat him to it.

"What's so funny?" Beckett asked, looking into the back.

"Why are you worried about the train Dad?" Julia asked.

"I don't know it that well," Castle said defensively before he realized what he was doing. "Why?"

"Marie and Kath said the Metrolink is a good train," Julia replied.

"Skye was debating telling her father to go on that or the Gold Line," Beckett told him. "The Gold Line is like a subway line."

"Oh… alright," Castle said, since his mother was going to take the train to the city where the fair was being held with Liam joining her and Josie. "We're going to be a while you guys, so try not to get carsick."

"We won't," Julia said. "We'll watch where we're going."

"Where are we going?" Mari said as they were pulling onto a freeway.

"Pomona, according to Skye and Mary," Beckett said. "But other than that I'm not sure where it is."

"Huh?" Julia asked in confusion.

Smiling back at her Beckett explained, "Skye said something about a fairplex but what that is I don't know."

"We'll find out," Castle said as they made their way through the slight traffic to the city. When they got off the freeway he said, "I can answer about the fairplex now love."

Looking ahead Beckett saw a sign and she said, "I'll ask her about it," since it was obvious they were going there. When they had pulled into a parking spot between the car her father was driving and the one Skye was driving at the Los Angeles County Fair she got out, seeing the investigator was helping her daughters out before she started to walk over to her when Iris was crying out in joy.

"Is that where we go in Mommy?" the little girl asked eagerly.

"It is," Mary replied. "Why?"

"It says blue gate," Iris read.

"Are there others?" Beckett asked.

"Two other entrances," Skye answered once she was sure she and Mary had everything they would need. "Ready?"

"We are," Beckett said, after she had checked what she had in her bag. "This is for extra stuff or… do you shop?" she asked slowly as Skye was taking her bag to put in one of the shopping carts she and Mary had brought.

"We might look around," Skye said. "But mostly for the fact we don't have to carry things."

"It's a good idea," Beckett said with a smile. She looked ahead at the gate they were approaching and then she asked, "So why Fairplex?"

"The permanent structures are here all the time," Skye said, smiling when her friend gave her a look. "It's called that. But they have different events through the year, but the biggest thing is this."

"How often have you been coming here?" Castle asked.

"Since I was a baby," Skye replied.

"Same for me," Mary said, smiling as the couple looked at her. "And we've continued with the girls."

"What're we doing first?" Fleur asked as they'd reached the admission booths under the tent that covered them.

"You'll see once we're inside," Mary said as she took her shopping cart over to a table set up to the side in front of the stalls.

"They really do this?" Jim asked his daughter as they were waiting for the two women to set down bags of canned goods.

"They do," Beckett said with a smile as those cans were their admission. "It's a good idea though."

"It is, I should start paying for things that way," Castle said. "It'll help people who need the food."

After everyone had given the workers cans and had their tickets they went through some metal detectors and then through turnstiles.

"We're going to get our picture taken," Skye said to Castle and Beckett. "So we might be a minute."

"We'll…" Beckett started to say before she realized the three kids with them wouldn't want to be in their family picture. She had been tempted to wait until Martha arrived with Josie but decided someone else could take their picture with her camera. "We'll wait for you," she finally said. When Skye smiled and nodded, she turned to the rest of her family and the kids to find them and join them. She saw the kids were looking ahead and was about to ask her husband and father what they saw when she paused herself.

"Mommy why is there a tunnel?" Eliza asked, hurrying over to her mother.

"I think," Beckett said as studied it. "We use it to go under the street."

"You're right, we do," Skye said as she and the girls were walking to them. "Will you take a picture of us once my dad gets here?" she asked her.

Smiling, as she wasn't surprised that she had figured out what she wanted to do, Beckett nodded and said, "It's only fair."

"We can get started," the investigator then directed to all the others.

"Awesome, we can run across the street," Clive said to Peter before they started to run down the ramp.

"Boys," Beckett said sternly. When they froze and turned to look at her she told them, "Come back. And please don't run, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Sorry," Peter said quickly.

"I don't blame you guys for wanting to go," Castle said as they'd reached the rest of them and they began to walk down to the tunnel. "But it's better to be uninjured. According to all of them we're going to walk a lot."

"We will," Mary said with a nod. "But we'll rest too."

"And have a snack!" Kathleen said.

"And that," Skye said in amusement before they were in the tunnel fully.

"This is cool," Mari commented, looking around them though there wasn't much to see except some posters that had ads on them.

When they had reached the top of the ramp coming out of the tunnel, Skye smiled at the others from New York and said, "Welcome to the Fair. Oh and you too Derek, I was including you too."

Whirling around, Julia gasped when she saw the dancer and she wrapped her arms around him saying, "I'm glad you came."  
"Thank you, I didn't think I'd be able to get to you unnoticed," the pro said with a smile.

"We're enthralled," Skye said, hugging him quickly as he reached her. "We'll head to the right. But Rick those buildings are the ones I told your mother about."

Nodding, as she'd told his mother they had items to buy but mostly items for the home, Castle said, "The jewelry though…"

"I don't know, I told Martha to look around, but it might be less than she likes," Skye said.

"But we'll go through a couple, just to see what there is," Mary added as they were walking by a wall that was painted purple.

"Do they have performances there?" Mari asked as they came to an opening and could see a stage inside.

"They do, mostly in Spanish," Mary answered, pointing at the top of the opening.

" _Plaza de las Américas_ ," Julia read slowly. "Was that right?"

"It was, but if we were teaching you Latin American Spanish you wouldn't have the fricative on the z," Skye said. "Okay straight ahead is what's first," she told them.

"It smells really good," Clive said.

"It does, like a barbeque," Ivy said, sniffing the smoke scent on the air.

"It is, but that's not where we're going," Mary told the two in amusement.

"I'm hungry," Marie commented.

"Sweetling, not yet," Skye said, smiling when her oldest groaned. "We're going here," she told her and the others.

"It's… animals!" Julia said happily when they rounded the corner of the building and seeing some goats in an enclosure.

"It is," Marie said first. "We go here first."

"We better get started," Castle said, looking ahead of them and seeing how far down the structures went in the distance.

"Can we go in there?" Eliza asked eagerly when she saw people with animals.

"Yes, but we should leave it for last," Skye suggested.

"Take pictures now?" Beckett asked. When her friend nodded she smiled and they went inside, leaning against the fence to look in at the goats. She took some pictures of Mari, Peter and Clive so she could send them to their parents, walking with them to the next animals.

"It's a baby!" Iris squealed as they looked in the next enclosure at the calf there.

"There's a baby pig in this one," Clive said.

"It's Wilbur," Peter replied.

"How's it going taking pictures?" Jim asked the two as he was watching them. He wasn't sure what they thought of the baby animals, though they were taking photos of them, and wanted to make sure they weren't forgotten as the girls were being urged to keep walking by their parents.

"I think I got it," Peter said, showing him the screen of his camera.

"Very nice," Jim said.

"Mr. Beckett?" Clive then said slowly.

"You can call me Jim," Beckett's father said.

"Oh… it smells in here Jim," Clive said.

"It will, it's a barn," Beckett said, going over to them. "But we're going to keep going, let's see the cows," she told them before they went to the railing in front of the animals. She felt her husband come up next to her and she smiled at him before he was taking her hand and squeezing it before he began to speak to her in Irish.

" _Didn't she mention something about horses_?" Castle asked her.

Giving him a look Beckett then smiled and said, " _We'll get there eventually. How're you doing_?"

" _The smell_?" Castle asked. When she smiled again he leaned over to her and murmured, " _Would it be weird if I tried to get your perfume_?"

" _Yes_ ," Beckett said. " _The kids are ready to go_."

Looking over at them, Castle saw she was right and they went together after them to another enclosure where there were sheep. He was letting go of his wife's hand when there was a sudden squeal from one of the girls and looked over to see it was Fleur.

"There's a lamb!" the little girl said before hurrying to Skye. " _Maman_ , sing, please!"  
"You've heard me sing this before," the investigator replied though she was smiling as she caressed the back of her daughter's head.

"Just a little Mum," Marie said.

Sighing, as she'd quickly spotted Derek was watching her interestedly, Skye said, "It's not happy girls."

"Still," Julia commented.

"Oh, not you too," Skye said in annoyance before she laughed so the girl wouldn't think she was annoyed. "Okay, okay. Lambs, this is not meant in a negative way at all," she said to the two that were inside the enclosure. She could see the other people; luckily only a few and no other kids; were looking at her in confusion and she quickly started to sing the beginning of the song. When Mary quickly joined her, she smiled at her wife and they were signing together until they reached the part where the dragonfly came in.

 _I have no answer for you little lamb  
I can help you out  
But I cannot help you in_

 _Sometimes you think that life is hard  
And this is only one of them_

 _My heart is breaking for you little lamb  
I can help you out  
But we may never meet again_

"Oh, thank you," Skye said to the applause when she and Mary stopped.

"Oh Mum," Kathleen said in disappointment as they walked over to a structure where there were some open cases with chicks in them. "I wish you had sung the whole song."

"There's no dragonflies around here," Mary said with a smile.

Walking past the rest of the animals, Julia couldn't tear herself away from a barn owl in a cage and she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at Mari and said, "My parents?"

"They're with your sister or the boys," the little girl said with a smile. Mari then looked at the owl and said, "There's more to see."

"Yeah," Julia said, shaking herself. She took her friend's hand and they walked over to the others before they were leaving that structure.

"Milk?" Ivy asked as she was walking with her mother, looking at the stall shaped like a milk bottle.

"Aye, since those cows are here after all," Skye replied. "There's more this way," she called to the others, going past the milk cows. She let Ivy go with the other kids before she glanced at Beckett who'd walked up next to her. "Yes?" she asked.

Looking at her out of the corner of her eye Becket smiled and said, " _Your costume_?"

" _We got them yesterday_ ," Skye said, speaking in Irish too since she didn't mind if her wife or Castle heard. " _The three of us_." She paused with a smile and then said, " _I'm wearing the outfit_ Paul _had in the picture_ Apple _used to advertise getting their music_. _Vest, white shirt and trousers_. Derek's _dressed as_ George _in that same picture with a jean jacket and black jeans_."

" _And_ Mary?" Beckett asked in amusement since her friend's cheeks had grown flushed suddenly.

" _A dress… blue_ ," Skye said quickly. She coughed a little and said, "Let's go." She was relieved when Beckett didn't tease her about that, walking over to her wife rapidly recalling her trying the dress on the day before.

"What's up with Skye?" Castle asked his wife.

"Never mind," Beckett said, watching their daughters. "What're the girls doing?"

Castle turned to find their daughters and saw that Julia was whispering in Eliza's ear, making him turn to his wife. "Should we be worried?" he asked before their second youngest was rushing to them. "Hey, no run-" he started to say as the little girl was doing that.

"There are horsies!" Eliza cried, interrupting her father. "Jules saw them over there."

"We'll go right now," Beckett said, picking her up. She walked after the kids before they came to a corral with a few horses inside.

"Mommy, can't you call them?" Eliza asked her hopefully.

"I better not sweetie," Beckett said, kissing her temple. "I don't know how they behave."

"There are more horses," Julia said, standing with her mother. She smiled as the two looked down at her and said, "Marie and Kath said."

"Okay," Beckett said after a moment of hesitation. "But we'll take our time and let Skye and Mary take us there okay?"

"Sure." "Kay," Julia and then Eliza said. They smiled at each other before the latter was being set down by Beckett and they walked to the structure across from the one they were in.

Beckett found herself taking several pictures of her daughters, as there were chickens, guinea pigs and rabbits there. After she'd gotten some of the last animals they were looking at; the rabbits; she watched the little girl winding her way around everyone to make her way to her.

"Mommy-" Eliza began to say.

"No sweetie," Beckett said gently.

"But-" the little girl began.

"The dogs sweetheart," Castle said as he'd known what Eliza was going to say too.

"But they like chameleons," the little girl said slowly.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "We're not home now so let's just enjoy the fair."

"Is that it for the animals?" Castle asked when Mary walked over to them.

"No, but there's something over here we want to show you," the woman said. "And if you could help our girls they'd appreciate that."

"Help with what?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"You'll see," Mary said simply before she led them out with the others to walk down the path to the red building ahead of them.

"Now Mum?" Marie asked hopefully.

"Alright," Skye said with a nod.

"This is The Farm!" the oldest McDouglas twins said at the same time before they paused and looked at each other. They started to laugh when they heard everyone else was doing the same before they turned to their mother.

"What?" Skye said in slight confusion.

"Is there a song about a farm?" Castle said.

Skye opened her mouth before she paused, closed it and looked at her oldest two with a frown. "Girls-" she began.

"Please," Marie and Kathleen said at the same time.

Sighing, Skye glanced at her wife and said, "You… you helped them."

"I actually asked Kate to, but it wasn't needed," Mary said simply with a smile.

"Do you know what song they want to hear?" Derek asked.

"Would you mind if we walked through with me singing?" Skye said to him. She tried not to groan when he merely smiled back at her and she sighed before she turned to her wife. "You're joining me on this," she told her firmly, startled when Mary walked straight to her and kissed her square on the lips though it didn't last long. "Well… blimey _grá_ , if you wanted me to sing this in the first place…" she said, unable to help her cheeks warming. "Okay, we should start," she then said after clearing her throat.

Beckett tried not to smile as Mary winked at her wife before she was getting her phone from her pocket. She let her husband take her hand and they walked to the planters of vegetables and herbs as Skye and her wife walked ahead of everyone and began to sing as soon as the song began.

 _I look high, I look low  
Lookin' everywhere I go  
Looking for a home  
In the heart of the country_

 _I'm gonna move, I'm gonna go  
I'm gonna tell everyone I know  
Looking for a home  
In the heart of the country_

 _Heart of the country  
Where the holy people grow  
Heart of the country  
Smell the grass in the meadow  
Whoa, whoa, whoa_

 _Want a horse, I want a sheep  
I wanna get me a good night's sleep  
Living in a home  
In the heart of the country_

 _I'm gonna move, I'm gonna go  
I'm gonna tell everyone I know  
Living in a home  
In the heart of the country_

 _Heart of the country  
Where the holy people grow  
Heart of the country  
Smell the grass in the meadow  
Whoa, whoa, whoa_

 _Want a horse, I got a sheep  
Gonna get me a good night's sleep  
Living in a home in the heart of the country_

 _I'm gonna move, I'm gonna go  
I'm gonna tell everyone I know  
In the heart of the country_

 _Heart of the country  
Where the holy people grow  
Heart of the country  
Smell the grass in the meadow  
Whoa, whoa, whoa_

Shaking her head, and smiling, as the others applauded Skye said, "I don't get it girls. This is not the country or-"

"I don't think that matters," Derek said. "And I see why they asked the band to perform."

"Thanks for not saying they were my band," Skye commented. "But you've heard me sing before."

"Not in person before we met," Derek said.

"Yeah, that's always fun," Peter commented.

"Thank you," Skye said. "And now we've gotten that out of the way I hope you'll enjoy the farm."

"Do they use these vegetables anywhere?" Jim asked, looking at the squash they were passing.

"Over here," Mary said. "Now we don't need to eat at the same places of course, but we ate here last year and our youngest haven't been to a fair before so we want to show them."

"You haven't?" Eliza asked Fleur with wide eyes.

Shaking her head, the little girl replied, "They do not have them in Paris like this."

"They'll have fairs but not exactly like ours," Skye said when Fleur looked at her.

"Oh, it looks like it's fun," Eliza said seriously to her friend.

Giggling, Fleur nodded and said, "It is."

"Come on, there's a lot of crops I know you'll want to take pictures of," Skye said to the kids. "And there's more to see."

"Rick?" Beckett asked her husband as they walked past the citrus trees at the end of the crops at the farm. She took a quick picture of some lemons as her husband asked her what was wrong, and she smiled at him saying, "Nothing's wrong. But why don't you want a camera?"

Shaking his head Castle said, "It's your thing love. I would rather take pictures of people."

"You mean me," Beckett said.

" _Not those kinds of pictures_ ," Castle said quickly and in Irish. " _You've seen what I have on my phone_."

"I know," Beckett replied with a smile. "I think we're heading back to that petting zoo."

"We are," Julia said as she walked back to her parents. "And then we're going to get our snack."

Looking at each other, Castle and Beckett began to walk a little faster so they could go to the animals as they could see Eliza skipping happily next to Jim.

"Will you take her?" Beckett asked her husband as they reached the gate to it.

Shaking his head Castle said, "I think your dad's going to take care of that."

Looking over at the others Beckett saw he was right, and her father was going inside with Eliza already. "Watch Julia?" she asked. She then realized she was with all the other kids and she smiled before they went inside after the others. She took pictures of Eliza feeding the goats and sheep in the zoo before moving to do the same with Julia and her three friends. She took individual shots of Mari, Peter and Clive for their parents first and then got shots of everyone. She was even able to get a picture of Derek and Skye, the two feeding some ewes that surrounded them. She was so involved in getting as many pictures as she could she had no idea her husband was taking a picture of her just as the kids' food for the animals was running out.

"Do we have to go," Clive said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Castle told him. "Don't forget that snack."

"And don't forget to wash your hands," Beckett added before she followed them out. Since she hadn't touched anything but her camera she stayed back from the row of sinks, watching to make sure her daughters and their friends from home washed their hands well. "Okay," she said to Skye once the investigator walked over to her. "What's this snack?"

"Come on," Skye replied with a smile. She led them out of the structure and back towards where they'd entered though instead of turning left to the tunnel she went to the right and walked up to a stall that was straight ahead of them.

"What're those?" Julia asked Kathleen as she was walking with her and Clive.

"A snack," the little girl said eagerly before she hurried to her mother.

Julia and Clive looked at each other before they shrugged, and she told him, "I'll ask my mom." And she went over to Beckett, grabbing her hand and getting out the word, "What-" before her mother was interrupting her to answer her already.

"It's called _agua fresca_ ," Beckett told her daughter with a smile. "Fruit with water and sugar."

"That's our snack?" Julia asked in surprise.

"We're getting everyone a small sized cup," Beckett explained, putting her hand on her back and leading her over to the counter around the stall to look at their choices.

"We sometimes go to a place at the mall at the Promenade," Skye was saying to everyone from New York when they were leaving with their drinks. "But it's the same here. How is it?"

"Good!" Eliza said first and happily. "Mine tastes like kiwis."

"Mine too," Iris said with a giggle.

"Why is there a ski lift?" Peter asked suddenly as they were walking down the street and past other food stalls.

"It's not a ski lift, but you can take it to the other end of the Fairplex," Mary said. "And there's a second one by the end of this one."

"How big is this fair?" Jim asked.

"Fourth largest," Skye replied. When she saw the looks she was getting she smiled and said, "I'm not kidding, the weekends are packed. Tonight will be packed as well so we get a bit of a break with that right now."

"Are these the buildings?" Castle asked.

Nodding Mary said, "There are six. But those we'll wait to look at with Martha. _Grá_?"

"What?" Skye asked, looking at her wife in surprise.

"We need a new cover for the barbeque," Mary reminded her.

"Ah, good point," Skye said. She saw Beckett; who was walking with her; looking at her questioningly and she smiled saying, "We ordered our barbeque… set… island, whatever you'd like to call it, here at the fair. The company was here to get business and they sell accessories too."

"Other companies are here?" Beckett asked.

"They are," Skye said before they turned the corner around an intersection of streets and they all heard the kids from New York gasping at the structure they'd reached.

"It's the Grandstand," Mary was saying. "It used to be a racehorse track, but they use it for shows now."

"Then why are the horses here?" Jim asked as they began to walk again.

"People have been petitioning them having more livestock since that's what this fair was for," Skye replied. "Agriculture and livestock."

"She was part of the group that started the online petition," Mary said, smiling at her wife.

"Well of course I was," Skye said simply. "Would you like a jacuzzi?" she then asked Castle to distract from what her wife had said and because there was a large tent for a jacuzzi company with hot tubs underneath it.

"That's alright," he replied, looking back at everyone else. "Is that all there is here?"

"That's it," Mary said.

"Rides!" Ivy cried as she was the first to spot one spinning around in the distance.

"Easy lass," Skye told her. "We're not going on the rides first."

"What are we going to do?" Peter asked.

"You'll see in a moment," Mary answered before her wife could.

"Daddy I want to play a game," Eliza said as her father was pulling her along after him.

"Not yet," Castle said reassuringly. "Here," he then told her as he picked her up. He placed her on his shoulders and was doing his best not to laugh as she was exclaiming over the games and prizes they were passing. He looked at his father in law as he walked to him and he was about to ask if he was enjoying himself when Marie and Kathleen were exclaiming in front of them.

"Mum, they did Japan this year!" the oldest was calling out.

"Japan?" Julia asked before she looked ahead at the large building they were approaching.

"This is the girls' favorite," Mary said as they walked nearer to it. "The Flower and Garden Pavilion."

"Every year they have different themes," Skye took up. "For a while it was places, China, Brazil and New Orleans for Mardi Gras. But then they started to do books and last year it was _The Wizard of Oz_. I suppose they've decided to go back to places this time around. Great it's Japan."

"That doesn't really answer the question of what this is exactly," Jim pointed out.

Shaking her head Skye said with a smile, "You'll see once we're inside." With that they reached the entrance and she took a few shots with her camera of the display there with cherry blossom branches in tall vases. She then looked at her wife and said, "Again."

"Again what?" Mari asked in confusion.

"They always seem to work in that couch," Mary said, nodding to it towards the back of the display where a green sofa was.

"Is it made of real grass?" Julia asked.

"Not likely, but it looks like it," Skye said. "Well, we should head in."

Once they had walked into the building, Beckett's eyes widened for a moment and then said, "Roses?"

"There are other flowers," Skye told her as she took a picture of the front display which had a torii and two female mannequins in kimonos in front of it, surrounded by roses. "But they are the focus." The kids were finishing in front of them and she then said, "But there are displays of course."

"It's beautiful," Julia said.

"It is," Mari said, as her friend was telling her that. She looked back at the display that was of bamboo and patterned shapes. She then smiled and said, "Too bad your dad couldn't get the roses."

"I don't think he would," Julia said, looking at her parents who were with Eliza at the next display. She reached over to her friend and took her hand before they walked together to them.

"How're your pictures coming out?" Beckett asked the two girls when they stopped to take pictures.

"Good," Julia said. "I'm glad they wanted us to come here."  
"Me too," Castle said first. He then smiled as Eliza was tugging at his hand and he looked down at her asking, "What is it?"

"There's water," the little girl said eagerly, pointing behind them.

"I see," Castle replied. "But we're not there yet, so hold on a little longer okay?"

"Kay," Eliza said, sounding disappointed.

"It's not that far," Julia said, doing her best not to sound exasperated at her little sister. She saw the way her mother was looking at her and she blanched before she went to a display tucked in between two doorways. She was busy taking a picture of a heron with blue fabric around it when she felt her mother next to her. "I-" she started to say before she was interrupted.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you," Beckett said gently. "But you're getting closer to your teenage years."

"Still a while," Julia told her.

"Yes," Beckett said, cupping the back of her head. "But that will happen, remember I told you."

"I was the same, wasn't I?" Julia asked.

"Of course, this is how kids are," Beckett said. "And for her it's a long way to look at the waterfall." She smiled when her second oldest laughed and then hugged her before she said, "But next time let us answer her first."

"Sure," Julia said before they were walking across to a smaller display with large origami shapes made from patterned 'paper' with rainbow roses below them. She took a quick picture before she asked, "We're going back to Japan right?"

"We will," Beckett said.

"Most likely for a full summer," Castle said. "Just Spring Break was nowhere near long enough," he added.

"No," Julia said, smiling at her little sister and grandfather. "Think of everything we didn't see. Oh… and that you haven't seen yet Grandpapa."

"I'm invited?" Jim asked, unable to help smiling.

"Mother too," Castle replied. "She loves Japan."

"But for now, we should pay attention to the flowers," Beckett told them. She smiled when the girls took each other's hands and rushed around to look up at the waterfall. She took some pictures before she saw Skye and Derek talking to each other across the aisle in front of more roses. She was a little startled when she saw they were speaking seriously and though she guessed it didn't really apply to her she went over to them.

"Oh good," Skye said with a smile. "We needed to talk to you."

"About?" Beckett asked.

"We're discussing what to do with the dance," Derek said. "The setting," he was quick to clarify. "We think it should be at a bar, but outside."

"Why outside?" Beckett said in confusion before she glanced behind her at Castle who'd walked over to them.

"We needed to talk to you too," Skye told the writer. "And we wanted to include the four."

"How?" Castle said when his wife didn't respond.

"Just the intro," Derek replied. "I should correct myself," he then said. "Just before the opening and then the opening before they run off?"

Shaking her head Skye said, "Have them run to Mary and I suppose go off stage before she comes to me."

"She's going to you?" Castle asked.

"Does that surprise you?" Derek responded with a question.

"Not really, just making sure that worked," Castle said. When he saw his wife looking at him, he started to speak but quickly stopped and shook his head.

"I got what you meant," Skye said quickly. "And it's not going to be a concern. She is my wife after all. But we'd need your permission about Julia and then your help to get in contact with the parents of the other three."

"She said they know Salsa," Derek said as soon as Castle and Beckett nodded.

"They do," Castle said first.

"Very well, Beckett added. "You should ask them now."

"I… don't think so," Skye said quickly, looking at her friend. She then realized something and said, "You just wanted us to show you something."

Shaking her head Beckett laughed and said, "I did, but we'll see it next week. Let's keep going."

After they'd gone to the kids the group went around to the Atrium attached outside. There were a few animals there and it took them some time to get the kids to keep going and return to the inside of the building to see the rest of the flowers.

"Now rides?" Kathleen asked hopefully.

"Yes, we should head to the games after dinner and dessert," Mary suggested to Castle and Beckett.

"That's fine," the latter said. "But we need to find something for the littlest kids to go on."

"There's something over by the Grandstand," Skye said. She was about to speak when she heard Iris calling to her and saw she was pointing to a fence. "That won't be open until later lass."

"What is it?" Beckett asked as there was a sign that read _Luminasia_.

"It's from China, different objects lit from within," Mary began. "They're made of fabric."

"They were here five years ago, I suppose they have new items or they wouldn't be back."

"Night?" Castle asked.

Nodding Skye replied, "Of course. But for now we have a lot of rides to check on." She smiled when the kids laughed, and they walked towards the former racetrack and she took them directly next to it. "These are the rides for the younger kids mainly," she said. " _Grá_?"

"Getting them," Mary said, reaching into her shopping bag. "These are our unlimited wristbands."

"How much did that cost?" Beckett said with a frown.

Shaking her head Skye said, "They're our gift to you. But you'll have to pay for the games, these don't cover that."

"And don't try to pay for our girls," Mary added swiftly.

"We won't," Castle said. "But thank you."

"Yeah, thanks!" Eliza said happily as her grandfather was putting on her wristband for her. "Are you gonna go on rides Grandpapa?"

"I will," Jim said as he let his daughter put his wristband on him. "Thank you for that," he said to Skye and Mary.

"Would you mind-" the former began to say.

"I'll watch them," Jim said as he looked around the rides. "I could take them as long as they don't need an adult with them."

"Thank you," Skye told him before she turned to the kids. "You need to head into this on your own since we're a bit too big."

"I might be able to join them," Jim said. He was slightly surprised when he saw the kids looking doubtfully at each other and he couldn't help laughing. "If you don't want me to go that's okay."

"Stick together," Mary called as all ten kids headed for the fun house. She looked at the others and said, "Hopefully they won't be disappointed."

"After Disney World?" Castle asked.

When the doctor nodded Beckett smiled and said, "I doubt they will," as the sounds of the kids crying out in the fun house reached them. She turned to look at it and felt her husband taking her hand, making her look up at him before the laughter of their daughters caught their attention and they watched the attraction. She squeezed his hand tightly as they watched the kids making their way through the different obstacles back to them.


	10. Party's Just Beginning (Part 2)

"Hello," Martha said with a smile as her two middle granddaughters rushed to her and hugged her. She was laughing as they were talking at the same time and she told them when they paused to take a breath, "Calm down, it sounds like you've been having a lot of fun."

"Yeah, there's a lot of cool stuff," Julia said.

"And rides!" Eliza said. "And games but we didn't get to play those."

Smiling, as his mother had sympathized with her about that, Castle told her, "We're going to play them after dinner."

"Oh well that'll be soon girls," Martha said to them. She looked around were they were, after exiting the tunnel, and she said, "So this is the fair."

"There are animals over there," Clive said, pointing towards the section. "And a farm too."

"They grow vegetables there," Julia said. "To use at a place to eat."

"Is that where we're eating dinner?" Martha asked.

"If you'd like to, but we've found places to eat already," Beckett said, turning from kissing Josie on the cheek. "Liam-"

"Grandda gets a turkey leg," Marie said quickly. "Every year."

"She's right," Skye's dad said with a smile. "I can't resist."

"The boys want to get that too," Castle said. "We need to walk over to there and our other places we chose so look at what there is," he told his mother. After she nodded, they started to walk and he took the baby from his wife and they went together until they were reaching where what the boys wanted was.

"We're also getting something here too," Skye commented.

"The kabobs?" Liam asked her.

Nodding, with a smile, Skye said, "I wanted to try that again."

"I'm getting what Kate's getting," Mary said when her father in law looked at her.

"Which is what?" Martha said.

"I'll show you," Beckett told her.

After they had three turkey legs and the kabobs that Skye, Kathleen and Fleur wanted, the group walked by the Grandstand and past it they found the two stalls they would need to visit to get the last meals for the others. Once everything had been bought, they went to area in front of the bar where there were tables.

"We went on that Gram," Eliza was saying as she hopped from foot to foot.

"Sit down Eliza," Castle told her, giving her the piece he'd taken off the waffle that had chicken tenders on both sides that she'd chosen since she'd loved the idea of chicken and waffles on a stick. "And here's your syrup."

"Thank you, Daddy," the little girl said before she smiled widely. She puckered her lips and giggled after they shared a kiss before she said, "Do you like it Daddy?"

"It's very good," Castle said as he knew she could taste the syrup he'd used on his chicken and waffles on a stick.

"Mommy!" Eliza gasped.

"Eat sweetie, or we won't have time for dessert," Beckett said with a smile. She watched the little girl pout before she started to eat and while Eliza was taking her first bite she shared a brief kiss with her husband.

"Taste it love," Castle said, dipping his quarter of waffle into the syrup. He was surprised when she fed him some of her chicken, pineapple and steamed rice; served in half a hollowed pineapple; she had chosen and they ate at the same time. "Nice," he said.

"Yours is good too," Beckett said with a smile. "Dad?"

"I'm enjoying it," Jim said with a nod, eating a hotdog in a pickle and made into a corn dog. "But it's really good we're not eating this all the time."

"Can I try Grandpapa?" Eliza asked hopefully. When he nodded, she waited for him to hold the corn dog up to her and took a bite. "Ooh, it's sour," she said, playfully wrinkling her nose.

"Did she get the hot dog at all?" Castle asked.

"She did," Jim said, smiling.

After Eliza was back to her food, Beckett looked at the table next to them where Julia was with her friends, talking as they were eating. "Julia," she called.

"It's good," the girl said quickly, eating a corn dog like her grandfather had.

"Yeah, I have to tell my dad about this," Mari said.

"I have to tell my dad about these," Clive said, holding up his turkey leg.

"Leg fight!" Peter exclaimed.

"Boys, boys," Beckett said when she saw they were intending to do that. "No food fights, you need to eat."

"Sorry," Peter and Clive said together though they were laughing.

After they'd calmed down the kids went back to eating, watching the rides that were going near them until Clive turned away suddenly, getting his friends' attention. They asked him what was wrong, but he shook his head and wouldn't look at them, making the girls look at Peter. The boy took a deep breath, realizing what was wrong and he was about to speak when their friend turned around and leaned in, making them do the same so they could hear him.

"I _hate_ my…" Clive began before he trailed off. "The lady who gave birth to me."

"Your birth mother," Mari suggested.

Nodding Clive said, "She didn't love me or my dad… I wish I had a real mom. You're so lucky."

Julia looked at Mari and Peter before she said, "You don't think your dad would ever get married?"

Shaking his head Clive said, "I told you he doesn't want to get hurt again."

"But he has you," Peter said quickly.

"Yeah," Clive said slowly. He then smiled slightly and said, "He said that was the best thing, that he got to raise me."

"Then you've got him," Julia said. She was about to say something else when her father was calling to them and they went back to their food so they could finish.

Returning to the table after he'd thrown away their trash after they'd eaten, Castle said, "Next we'll go through the buildings."

"Are you sure we should?" Martha asked since her son had directed that to her.

"We'll go to the games and then the rides again," Beckett said.

"What is it?" Castle asked his wife when she slowed down towards the end of that.

"There's that light exhibit next to the pavilion," Beckett reminded him.

"Oh… well then maybe that and after some games and the rides," Castle said.

"Here," Beckett said, handing something to her mother in law. She smiled when Martha looked confused and she told her, "A wristband for the rides, they'll want you to join them."

"Oh, then I'll put that on once we get to them," Martha said, tucking it into her purse.

Beckett checked on Josie as she stood from the table and seeing the baby was fine, began to turn her attention to her husband when Skye was calling to her.

"Before we do that, we forgot something," the investigator said once she had reached her.

"The 'orses!" Fleur exclaimed.

"Yes, but I get the feeling your mother planned that Fleur," Beckett told the little girl. She looked down at her and said, "She's been looking at her watch through dinner."

"You got me," Skye replied. "We should get there in time." She walked with Beckett past the last stall they'd gotten food at and they went around a corner to a path where there were Clydesdales harnessed to a wagon. "They're going to be in the parade that's going to go by," she explained as Julia and Eliza gasped with her three youngest.

"Can we pet them?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"No, they need to go, come on," Skye said before she led the way past them and said, "Here're the new stables."

Castle didn't need to see the girls to know they were looking at the structures in awe and he went to Eliza, taking her hand firmly so she wouldn't take off at a run.

"I can see them looking outside Daddy," the little girl said eagerly, peering up at him.

"Me too, we're going right now," Castle said before he hurried with her to follow the others.

"That's what I was waiting for," Skye told Beckett when they could see the corral in the middle of the stables.

"I've done that before," Beckett said, glancing at her.

"Yes, but they're going to let us go in," Skye replied with a smile before she climbed over the fence.

Watching her go, Beckett wondered how she had managed to set that up but then remembered the petition Mary had mentioned earlier. When the investigator called out to her, she climbed over the fence herself and was walking after her rapidly.

"You can take him first," Skye said once her friend had reached her. "I'm sorry but you'll have to wear this," she said, handing her a helmet.

"I figured. And you?" Beckett asked.

"After," Skye said with a smile before she watched as Beckett went to the horse. "Have fun."

"Believe me, I will," Beckett said, nodding to the worker who'd been holding the Friesian horse. She waited for him and Skye to get out of the corral before she began to nudge her heels into its sides, starting to trot to get a feel for the horse. While she was going around she could see everyone was watching her, and her husband was standing on the first railing of the fence with Skye as she sped up.

"You know it's very interesting how quickly she can get horses to take to her," the investigator said to Castle.

"I know," he was quick to reply. Castle then added, "She's always been like that she told me."

Biting her lower lip Beckett had been able to hear her husband as he'd spoken that, and she'd easily been able to hear the pride in his tone. She focused her attention back to the horse, having been gradually indicating to the stallion to speed up, and when they were galloping she only let that go on for a few times around the corral before slowing him down.

"Should I bother?" Skye asked with a smile as Beckett slowed down at them.

"Yes," she replied. "But we'll see if he wants to go." Beckett got down from the saddle and held the horse's reins before she called, "What's his name?"

"Hans," the worker replied as Skye was getting up on the saddle.

"Have fun," Beckett told her friend before she climbed over the fence in the corral. Standing with her husband she asked him, " _So you enjoy my talents_ ," speaking in Irish and not looking at him.

" _Of course_ ," Castle said firmly and in the same language. He smiled at her when she glanced at him and said, " _I have told you I love you_."

" _I know_ ," Beckett replied simply, looking ahead again. She eventually looked back to him and said, " _I love you too_."

"You're so good at that Mummy," Iris told Skye once she was out of the corral and with them going to see the other horses.

"Ah, Kate's far better," Skye reminded them.

"It's alright," Beckett said with a smile. "Look at this Thoroughbred." With their attention distracted she said to Skye in Russian, " _Why deflect to me_?"

"Easier to do," the investigator replied simply before she was laughing as her friend pushed her aside playfully. "But I'll try my best not to do that again."

"But you still will," Beckett told her. She shook her head when her friend merely smiled back at her and then turned her attention to the horses they were passing.

"Now what?" Julia asked her mother once they were finished.

"Should we head over to the _Luminasia_ now?" Castle asked the investigator.

"It should be starting," Mary said to her wife.

"We should," Skye said with a smile. "Alright, let's make our way over there. And Martha we'll go to the buildings next."

"I'm not in any hurry," Castle's mother assured her.

The group walked over to where the exhibit was and finding it had started, Castle insisted on paying for their admission before they were walking inside.

"Take it easy," he was telling the kids as he smiled at their thanks. "I wanted to see this too. Make sure you have the right settings to take pictures at night."

Beckett, expecting at least Julia to come to her, was startled when she went to Jim instead with most of the other kids. "They're planning something," she said to her husband as he walked over to her.

"I noticed," Castle replied. "Should we tell them no?"

"Do you think they're really paying attention," Beckett said, watching as Marie was talking to her mothers. When the two walked over to her and her husband she said, "What is it?"

"We're going to split up into three groups," Mary said first.

Breathing out hard Beckett turned to her father and mother in law and Liam saying, "You don't-" before the former was interrupting her.

"We'll take them," Jim said. "Go and walk around and we'll meet somewhere I'm sure."

"It's not that big here," Mary told them. "We'll see each other a lot."

After saying goodbye to their daughters and the others, Skye took Mary's hand and told her in French, " _I'd like to just walk around_."

" _No pictures_?" Mary asked in the same language.

" _Any new ones_ ," Skye said simply. When her wife nodded, she squeezed her hand and said, " _I hope they'll enjoy it_."

" _I'm sure they will_ ," Mary told her. They were walking down a path through some foliage and she then said, " _Are we going to walk much further_?"

" _You're tired already_?" Skye asked her wife with a smile.

" _Yes_ ," Mary said simply. When they'd stopped walking, she smiled at the investigator and then turned to her before Skye held her by her shoulders. "What's wrong _grá_?" she asked in English since her wife was looking at her intently.

Skye studied her closely before she leaned down slightly, taking Mary's lips with her own and wrapping her arms around her tightly. She felt her wife's hands reaching up to the backs of her shoulders and deepened the kiss before they slowly parted. "We need to stop," she said.

"I know," Mary murmured, leaning against her wife so she could speak against her lips. She smiled as Skye embraced her tightly and responded before they let go of one another. When they were walking again, hand in hand, she told her, "I would thank the girls, but I don't want to encourage them."

"They wouldn't need any," Skye said in amusement. "But it's Marie and Kath of course."

"Their sisters are learning," Mary said with a smile.

"They're quick," Skye said with a smile before they walked further down the path, admiring the figures they were approaching until they spotted Castle and Beckett in the distance.

* * *

"I'm impressed," Castle said.

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said with a smile as she took a quick picture of the dragon. "I'm sure the kids are too."

With an absent nod Castle shook himself and then said, "How are you enjoying this?"

"The fair or this specifically?" Beckett asked him.

"The fair," Castle replied, though he knew she was aware of what he meant.

"It's interesting," Beckett said. "And I have been to fairs before Rick."

"Yes," Castle said as they had reached a part of the path that went underneath what he guessed was a pergola covered with lights. He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms before he was kissing her deeply. When she responded to him he was relieved, as he wasn't sure she'd be alright with him doing that. He held her tightly to his body as their tongues gently caressed one another and once they needed to breathe he pulled away slowly before saying, "That's all we can do isn't it?"

"Here? It is," Beckett said. She pressed her cheek to his before he let her go and they started walking. " _That was nice though_ ," she eventually told him in Irish.

" _I thought so too_ ," Castle said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Giving him a look, Beckett heard someone calling their names and turned to see it was Skye and Mary. "Hey, how were the other figures?" she said when they were close.

"Nice, did you see the zodiac figures?" the investigator asked.

"Y-yes," Beckett started to say before she heard her text alert sounding. She pulled her phone from her pocket and said, "The girls," to the others. "On my dad's phone, I think they're wondering about their signs."

"They don't know them already?" Mary said in surprise.

"We told them a couple years ago," Castle explained as they were walking back to where the zodiac figures were. "I don't think they recall."

"Obviously," Skye said wryly. "Did you do what your daughters intended?"

"That's a personal question," Beckett said, pretending to sound offended.

"Not really, we did," Skye said. She glanced at her wife, seeing her covering her face with her hand before she laughed and took her hand. "We're almost there _grá_ , I'll stop."

"Good because we did too," Castle added, smiling when his wife rolled her eyes. They were almost where the kids and his mother and father in law were and he was about to call to them to get their attention when Julia and Eliza broke off and hurried to them with the former holding Josie carefully. He was going to tell them what Chinese zodiac sign they were jokingly, but Julia spoke before he could to his amusement.

"We can't remember what we are," the girl said. "No one can."

"Hold on," Castle said, looking at his phone. "Julia you're an ox, which means you are too Peter."

"Cool," the boy said with a grin.

"Oh, and you too Derek," Castle said to the dancer.

Laughing as Julia came over to him and gave him a high five, Derek did the same with Peter and said, "What about the rest of the kids?"

"Okay, so Mari, Clive, Marie and Kath," Castle said, smiling when the four laughed slightly. "You're all tigers."

Watching them all giving each other high fives, Beckett said, "Aren't you one too?" to her husband.

"I am," Castle said. He smiled when the four gasped and told them, "It's true, but let me hurry with the rest of us so we can keep going. Kate was born in the year of the monkey. Oh, and you too Skye, Mary. And you, Jim and Liam are rabbits Mother."

"I like rabbits," Eliza said, wrapping her arms around her grandmother's waist.

"I'm glad to hear that kiddo," Martha said, hugging her against her for a moment.

"Now you three," Castle directed to the three youngest McDouglas girls. "You're all snakes."

"I wonder why we're not in Slytherin," Ivy said to her sisters, making them all start to laugh.

"Doesn't really work like that lass," Skye told her, lightly pinching her cheek. "And Eliza?"

"You were born in the year of the goat," Castle said, not surprised when the little girl immediately started making a bleating sound.

Stopping suddenly, as her family and friends were laughing while they watched her, Eliza asked, "What about 'lexis?"

"She was born in the year of the dog," Castle said. "We're all set and we're all here."

"Keep walking or else it'll be too late for dessert," Beckett told them. She smiled when the kids immediately started down the path and she went to her husband, taking his hand before he was murmuring to her so the others wouldn't hear.

"You know our signs aren't supposed to be compatible," Castle said.

"I knew," Beckett replied. When he looked at her in surprise she smiled and said, "But that just shows you it's better to judge compatibility by personality and not a zodiac sign."

Castle nodded before they went through the rest of the exhibit and he then asked his wife, "Dessert?"

"I'm surprised you beat them to it," Skye commented.

"I knew it was coming so I had to head them off," Castle said.

"Head them off at the pass?" Mary asked wryly.

"No," Castle said, shaking his head. "What are you guys getting?"

"Some deep-fried watermelon," Skye said though she was looking at her partner as she spoke.

"Go ahead," Derek said. "It's only one night and considering everything here that's not too bad."

"Is that what you'll get?" Julia asked him.

"I think so," Derek said with a nod.

"What's that?" Clive then asked eagerly as they had reached a stall.

"Nitro popcorn? They put liquid nitrogen on the popcorn," Mary said easily.

"Do-" Castle said.

"Our girls are getting that," Mary interrupted him.

"Oh, sure," Castle said quickly as he knew why she'd said that. Turning to his wife he asked, "What're you going to get?"

"I'm old fashioned," Beckett said.

"Funnel cake?" Castle asked with a smile. When she nodded, he couldn't help kissing her temple and telling her, "Let me find an outrageous one and we'll share it."

"Is that what you want?" Beckett asked him. When he nodded she said, "Alright," before Marie was suddenly calling to her mothers.

"Mum, Mom," the girl began. We forgot about the corn!"

"Oh," Mary said. She breathed out and said, "We only eat like this at the fair."

"And it's only once a year," Liam said.

"Why is everyone looking at me?" Beckett said.

"Ultimately it's up to you," Skye said.

"It is vegetables," Beckett commented. She was startled when the two women exchanged a look and she said, "It's not?"

"It is but we add things," Skye said. "Come on." She led them over to the stall where she had gotten her kabobs and the one next to it where there was corn roasting on a grill. "Are we all getting it?"

"We'll share by twos in our group," Beckett said. "Though my dad and Martha…"

"I can ask for an empty cup, they can split," Mary said quickly before she went to order.

Grabbing the bowls of corn kernels, Skye led them then to the tables across the street from the Jacuzzis for sale. "Here you can put whatever you'd like. Butter, mayo, _cotija_ cheese, chili flakes… it's all here."

Since she was going to be sharing with her husband, Beckett helped the girls get their cups set before she made sure Eliza could hold her spoon. "Okay," she said once they were eating and sitting around some trees. "Eat but not too fast."

"Mphrm a-" Peter started to say.

"Stop," Castle said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder since he was close enough to do that. "You're going to choke. Finish and swallow before you ask us."

Doing so Peter said, "Sorry. What are we doing after this?"

"We're likely going to be full," Beckett commented. "I think we should go ahead and go to the buildings before we have dessert, play games and go on the rides before we go home."

"Okay," Julia said when her friends looked at her. "But we're not going in all of them, are we?"

"Just two," Skye reminded them.

"And I'm sure we won't take all that long," Martha commented. She then smiled and said, "I don't know that I'd really find much here."

"You likely won't," Skye said. "But we always look to see what we might find. How're you enjoying your corn?"

"It's good," Beckett said last after the kids had all said that they liked it and the other adults had as well. "You get this?"

"Every year," Mary said with a smile. "We used to get _elote_ ; this but with a corn on the cob; since we can get it around home. But the kernels are easier for the girls to eat so we moved to that and they call that _esquites_ though we have fresh corn."

"And it's just as good," Skye added before she smiled.

Laughing with the others, Julia ate the last bit of hers and Mari's corn before she went over to her mother and said, "How's Josa?" since the stroller was with her parents.

"Good, she'll be asleep soon," Castle answered first. He smiled at his wife and said, "She's had a great day."

"Even though she didn't do anything?" Clive asked in obvious confusion while they were throwing away their cups and spoons.

"She doesn't need to right now," Beckett said, pushing the stroller. "She is a baby."

Nodding Clive walked with Peter and Marie as they were going back around to the buildings they'd passed earlier. He watched as Skye and Mary looked inside through the glass doors and said, "What're you looking for?"

"The barbeque place," Kathleen said.

"It's here," Mary said. "Come on," she told the kids before they were entering inside.

"Look at the candy!" Peter said eagerly.

"Easy," Castle told the boy. "We'll have something else for dessert."

"Oh… okay," Peter said, turning away from the ropes of candy in the display. "Is it because we can get something like that at home?"

"It is," Castle replied.

"Whoa," Peter said, looking around. "There are a lot of people here."

"They want to see what's for sale," Kathleen told him with a smile.

Castle smiled himself when the boy nodded, and they went over to the stall until they could look at the different islands with the barbeques on display.

"Are you jealous?" Beckett asked, walking to her husband with Martha.

"No," Castle said. He spotted his wife and mother sharing a look and he said, "I'm not," firmly. "I know you think I may be, but we have the grill in the perfect spot, close to the kitchen and we don't need everything else."

"Yeah, we had one on the patio," Mary said, walking to them with Skye behind her gathering the kids. "But we found we liked cooking and eating at the pool so we moved there."

"What if you want to grill something but it's raining?" Derek asked.

"Their stove has a grill," Beckett said with a smile. "The one on the island."

"Yes," Skye said with a smile. "Alright we have our cover, now we can walk around. Martha?"

"You can lead," Castle's mother said in amusement before they walked out to the first aisle.

Looking around what they were passing, Beckett quickly saw why Skye and Mary had been uncertain about Martha really finding anything. The items weren't higher end as she enjoyed, though she was looking closely at what there was for sale. When they finished with that building she saw her mother in law was frowning slightly and she said, "Did you want to go to the other building?"

"Not really," Martha confessed.

"Do we need to?" Beckett said to Skye who was nearby.

"No, Marie and Kath were quite happy it took us so long to get to these," the investigator said with a smile.

"They find them boring," Mary added.

"Alright, let's get dessert," Castle said. "But you two-"

"We're coming with," Skye interrupted. "Quite ready for something sweet. Did everyone see what they wanted?"

After the kids had told them what they wanted, the group set out then to get everything in the order they'd reach it walking back to the games. When they all had dessert, they went to the tables where they had eaten dinner and sat down again to start on their sweets.

"There's something about fair food that's insanely good," Castle said, getting some of the strawberry ice cream sundae funnel cake he and Beckett were sharing.

"And yet we'll feel guilty later I'm sure," Mary said with a smile.

"Again, once a year _grá_ ," Skye told her.

"Exactly," Mary said, dabbing some whipped cream from their funnel cake on her nose.

Laughing, Julia was soon doing so louder as the nitrogen that was on her popcorn was escaping her mouth. She and all the kids had gotten the popcorn as they'd been unable to resist it. But they'd gotten unicorn popcorn and because the cup was surrounded by cotton candy with marshmallow treats on top of it they were sharing two by two again. "This is so good," she said.

"It is," Mari said, nodding. "I have to share that picture with my parents later."

"Yeah, hopefully your mom won't get mad," Julia commented.

"She won't," Beckett said. "I told her and your parents," she then directed to the boys. "That we'd have something sweet. But there won't be any desserts tomorrow."

"She's right," Derek said, finishing his deep-fried watermelon. "We have dancing to start on tomorrow for you four."

"Am I in trouble?" Skye asked.

"You got the less crazy funnel cake," Derek said, nodding to Castle and Beckett.

Laughing, as she and her wife had gotten the strawberry cake funnel cake with mixed berries and whipped cream on top, Skye said, "I made sure."

"Does anyone want cookies?" Jim asked then, holding up the bag of fresh chocolate chip cookies that he, Liam and Martha had gotten to share with Eliza.

"No, I would like to try the popcorn," Castle said.

"Here," Julia said, starting to pass them out to everyone in her family while Marie was giving some to her mothers and Derek.

"Is it weird we got the unicorn one too?" Clive asked Peter.

"Nah," the boy replied. "I like cotton candy already. And this unicorn could be like in Harry Potter. I got a wand with unicorn hair in mine; that's what Ron had."

"Oh yeah," Clive said with a nod. They looked at the adults and he laughed with his friends as they were breathing out the liquid nitrogen. He watched Julia taking a picture of them all and said, "Did it come out?"

"It did," the girl said with a wide smile. "How do you like it?"

"It's great," Castle said.

"Insanely sweet," Beckett said. "But I know it's supposed to be," she added swiftly.

The others laughed, and they soon turned their attention to finishing dessert and once they had they went over to the games they were near and began to walk among them to see what prizes the kids wanted to get.

"Hey, can I get a donut?" Peter eventually asked. "I have money."

"Sure," Skye said before Castle or Beckett could say anything. She then took something from Mary and said, "New item here at the fair. Game cards."

"R-" Beckett started to say in slight frustration.

"Don't call me that," Skye said quickly though she was smiling at her friend. "And really, this is for us all."

"We're buying you dinner," Castle said, sharing a look with his wife. "Someplace very nice."

"Okay," Mary said. "But for now, let's play."

"Wait," Beckett said, going to the boy. She touched his shoulder and then said, "Would you be alright if I threw the darts after you went?"

"Yeah, I was gonna ask 'cause you know how to throw right?" Peter asked.

"I do, go ahead," Beckett said with a smile, urging him to the game.

Standing just behind her partner, Julia couldn't help groaning when he was missing the first three darts he threw before he popped the fourth and then missed the fifth. "I don't think I would do that good," she told him as he turned around to her and she smiled reassuringly to him.

"I hope your mom can do better," Peter said.

Beckett stepped up to the stall and after getting her darts she threw them, getting all but one which luckily let her pick out the stuffed donut that had chocolate on it and sprinkles. When Peter hugged her as he was thanking her she squeezed him back and said, "You're very welcome," before she laughed as he settled the donut on his head.

"Cool hat," Mari said, smiling at him.

"Thanks," Peter replied before they looked around the games.

"Look at how tall that one is," Ivy said, pointing to a game stall.

"It has fishes!" Iris exclaimed. "I want one!"

"Alright, we should play," Skye said. "But does anyone else want a fish as well?" When Kathleen raised her hand she smiled and said, "We'll play a couple times."

Going to the game, the investigator gave the card for all the kids to play and they were soon shooting water to a target in front of them, raising a small circle above them until one of them stopped and the bell started to ring where Peter was sitting.

Blanching slightly, the boy looked at Iris and Kathleen as he wondered if he should pick out a color one of them liked. But before he could say anything, Beckett was going to him and murmuring in his ear. He picked out the orange fish available and set it on his lap before he watched as Skye was speaking to the worker and the game was starting. That time he wasn't that serious about winning and looked down the line of everyone to see who had made the bell ring again before the winner was crying out in her joy.

"I won!" Iris said happily. She then looked over at Peter; who had the stuffed fish she wanted; and then heard her mother whispering into her ear.

"Thanks," Kathleen told her little sister as she took the blue clownfish she'd wanted.

"You're welcome," Iris said, smiling shyly as she hugged her orange clownfish.

"Keep walking you two," Mary told the girls with a smile.

"We're going to keep playing right?" Ivy asked.

"You will," Liam said. He smiled when his granddaughter looked up at him and he said, "Your mum still has a lot of money to play with."

Walking around, the group played a few more games until every child had gotten something they'd wanted, and they stopped near the Grandstand.

"Are they having a performance?" Castle asked as they could hear music coming from there.

"They are," Skye said with a nod. "We have our wristbands and a little longer to go until we need to leave."

"When do we?" Eliza asked.

"In an hour," Beckett answered.

"What time is it?" Mari asked.

"Almost eight," Skye said. "It's getting late for the lot of you. And four of you need to practice."

"Are you sure?" Julia said, looking at Derek and speaking slowly.

"We are," the dancer answered. "I wouldn't raise your hopes and tell you to forget it. We need to set the scene, but it'll be quick."

"That's okay," the four kids said at the exact same time. They looked at one another before they laughed and then started to make their way to the small roller coaster there was so they could finish off their time at the fair going on the rides.

* * *

"Don't say we have to go," Julia said to her parents.

"It's getting late," Beckett commented.

Sighing Julia said, "Isn't there something else we can do?"

"There is," Skye said. She smiled when the others looked at her in surprise and she then went to her wife, whispering to her in Japanese for a moment.

"Alright, we're heading this way," Mary said before she and her wife led them down Palm Street until she saw the sign for Pepper Street.

"Is… a Merry-Go-Round!" Eliza gasped as she saw it first from her father's shoulders.

"Our wristbands apply to this as well," Skye commented. "And we nearly forgot it."

"It's two stories," Julia said. "Just like in San Francisco."

"Cool," Clive said. "But-"

"Come on, we'll go on the second story," Julia said, knowing he was looking at the horses on the bottom with the feather on their heads.

"We'll take them," Liam said to his daughter, speaking for himself, Jim and Martha.

"Are… thank you," Beckett started to say before she realized he was serious. She watched as the three followed the kids onto the ride and said, "Should we have helped them onto their horses?"

"They wouldn't have wanted us to," Skye said. "Though it's a bit futile, we're not about to go _póg_. Especially you two since Josie's here."

"They might be too tired to think of that," Beckett said as they were waving to their kids when the ride started up. She smiled at the others and said, "And they know we're leaving soon." She then looked down at Josie to make sure the baby was okay before Skye walked around to stand with her.

"Did you enjoy it?" the investigator asked.

"I did," Beckett said. "And I see you weren't kidding about it being so big."

Nodding Skye looked back down where they'd come from and then said, "I wonder about one more thing."

"The ski lift?" Castle asked.

Rolling her eyes, though she knew he was joking, Skye replied, "Yes, I know your kids and their friends were interested."

"Just one though," Beckett said.

"Oh of course, the one here," Skye said, indicating behind them. "And then straight to home."

When the kids got off the merry-go-round, Beckett told them about going on what was called the Sky Ride. She wasn't surprised when they were all agreeing to that immediately and she went with them before they were splitting up to go on the chairs. She was with her husband and Eliza and once they were rising into the air she said, "Are you tired sweetie?"

Shaking her head, the little girl then yawned and frowned when her parents laughed gently. "I'm not Mommy," Eliza insisted.

"I know, but you had a lot of fun," Beckett told her. She smiled when the little girl nodded and said, "I hope you'll be able to pay attention to classes tomorrow."

"I will," Eliza said. She recalled something about the next day and she turned to her mother, grabbing the side of her shirt before Castle on the other side of her was stopping her.

"You'll go with us tomorrow," he told her.

"Really?" Eliza asked happily.

"Really," Beckett said. "I'm sure your sister wants you to see too."

"But… Grandpapa and Gram," Eliza said when she recalled they wouldn't be going to the studio where Skye and Derek would be practicing.

"I know but I'll film it for a little bit," Castle told her. "With my phone. That way they'll be able to watch just her. And the other kids' parents."

"Oh," Eliza said in disappointment when she spotted where they'd started on the ride.

"We have a lot to do still sweetie," Beckett said, kissing the top of her head while their chair was descending.

"Time to say goodbye to the fair," Skye said when they were gathered all together off the chairs.

"Mum," the oldest twins said in a groan.

"What is it?" Mari asked them.

"Mum always said that to us," Kathleen explained first.

"When we were little kids, we're older now," Marie said.

"That you are, but we're finished and we're going to head home," Skye replied. She half expected them to protest, but when there was nothing she glanced at her wife and friends before they started to walk back to the tunnel where they'd come inside.

Beckett wrapped her arm around Julia's shoulders when they were out of the tunnel and on the other side saying, "You need to go straight to bed once we're back."

"And the rest of us?" Mari asked.

"Yes, all of you," Beckett said with a smile. "But-" she started to say when she was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. Looking over at Skye, who was returning to them from buying the picture of herself and her family at the entrance, she was about to ask who it was when the investigator was walking away from them.

"Is it for the show?" Kathleen asked, looking at Derek.

"No, they would have talked to me first," the dancer replied.

"Sorry," Skye said to everyone as she walked back to them. "That was something we've been waiting on for a while."

"They gave us permission?" Mary asked eagerly after she had thought for a moment and then gasped in remembrance.

"Both places," Skye said. She saw the others were looking at her questioningly and she was quick to say as she saw the people walking around them to leave, "Let's head back to the cars first."

Picking Eliza up, Castle held her on his hip and wondered what exactly the two were planning; thinking it was another trip the next week after the show. He wanted to ask them when they were relatively alone in the parking lot, but the pair were walking rapidly until they had reached the four cars, turning to the rest of them together.

"We're making two music videos," Skye said first.

"With Paul?" Julia asked hopefully.

"No," Mary said. "It'll just be our band. For two Traveling Wilburys songs we had permission to cover."

"Did you keep the music?" Liam asked.

"We did but we used different guitars, so it doesn't sound the exact same," Skye told him.

"Which songs?" Beckett asked.

" _Dirty World_ and _End of the Line_ ," Mary answered.

"What about the places you were talking about?" Castle said.

"The first song we're going to film on the road and then at the Promenade," Skye said. "And the second at Union Station."

"When?" Derek asked.

Smiling at her partner the investigator said, "If we're on to next week, is next Wednesday possible?"

"It is, but we need to practice then too," Derek replied. "And they'll likely want to film us doing that there."

"Sounds good to me," Skye said. "I'll need all the practice I can get."

"But you don't know what you're gonna dance to yet Mummy," Ivy told her.

"True, but I still need to practice," Skye told her. "Okay, we'll see you at ten tomorrow Derek. Thanks for joining us."

"It was a lot of fun," the dancer said as they were embracing briefly. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye," Julia said with a smile, waving to him. As soon as the dancer had gone, she turned to Skye and Mary and asked, "Are you dressing up at all?"

"You'll see," the investigator replied. "Oh, I forgot to mention to Derek. I'd like all of you to be in the video; and if you want to of course."

Hearing the near explosion of excitement from the kids, Beckett and Castle did their best to calm them down before Mary was doing the same with her daughters. "We'll have to get permission from their parents," Beckett said when they were quiet.

"That's fine, I would prefer you did," Skye replied.

"Do we?" Eliza asked.

"We can but we'll see what Skye has in mind," Beckett replied as Castle was looking at her.

"Okay, that'll be next week," Mary said.

"Just one day?" Castle then asked.

"We're not doing anything extravagant," Skye explained. "We'll wait for that though, I need to focus on the show now."

"We'll see you at the house," Castle said as he knew they needed to get going for the younger kids. He followed his wife to their car, Julia and Mari going with them as he carried Josie. He got the baby's carrier set in the backseat of the car and once he was done he watched with Beckett as the two girls got in on either side of the baby.

"Rick," Beckett said simply as he closed the door. "We need to go."

"I know," Castle said firmly. "But-" he said, cutting himself off and wrapping his arms around her.

Beckett wanted to stop him, but it was only a brief thought as she couldn't stop herself from responding to him. She had her arms about his neck and they were deepening the kiss as she did that. She did her best to duel against his tongue while he was rubbing it against her until he was pulling away from her slowly. She smiled before she opened her eyes and told him, "We'll be in the guest house soon."

"I know," Castle replied. He moved so his lips were next to her ear and he murmured, "I love you."

"I love you too," Beckett said immediately. They kissed gently and swiftly before he'd pulled away and she let him open the passenger door for her. As he walked around the car she watched him, smiling before she looked back at her daughters and Mari. She listened to the two oldest talking together, focusing her attention on them. She talked with them and Castle about the next day and everything they'd done at the fair, returning to the McDouglas home and bringing an end to their entertaining day.


	11. They Danced And Sang

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _Last Night_ by the Traveling Wilburys, from their album _Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1_.

A/N #2: Loved getting the feedback for the last chapter so will go to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Nice seeing that you thought the chapter makes this still an exciting story. And it was great that you like the family moments a lot since I love writing those),

Guest (I was really glad to read you thought they had a fun day at the fair since I wanted it to be for them. And great you think this story is fun and that you're enjoying it which is important of course. You're welcome!) and

Mb (Happy to see you thought the chapter was fun. And I'm glad you enjoyed them practicing the dance and then talking about the lifts with Julia and Mari offering suggestions. And great you liked you loved how Skye and Derek were making sure that the kids were getting involved and offering suggestions too. I wasn't surprised you were wondering about the lifts, since yeah in my mind Skye is similar to Beckett in size and height but since Derek's back has been a problem in the past I knew that would be a worry. And I'm glad you thought them seeing the animals at the fair was sweet and fun. I definitely agree, I love going to the fair so I find it a lot of fun so it's definitely not an age thing. Great you thought the first half was a sweet update. You're welcome for the first half! It was nice seeing you thought the second half was a sweet update with them having fun at the fair. And I'm really pleased that you can tell how close the kids are. And great you liked how they were protective of each other they were when Clive was sad talking about his birth mother and seeing what having a mother is like. And I figured the other three would give him support and encouragement since they're all friends. I'm not surprised that you mentioned them winning prizes, but I have seen people doing that so wanted to include it, lol. Happy to read that you thought they were great family and as you put it the extended family moments. You're welcome for sharing!).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them and I am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Last Night_ by the Traveling Wilburys, the same information as in the A/N above.

They Danced And Sang

Setting Josie down on the blanket in the living room, Beckett sat with the baby and then kissed the top of her head. "Stay with me okay?" she then told the baby. "Your daddy is going to be here, so you'll be able to play with him."

"Not you too love?" Castle asked with a smile as he walked in with their other two daughters with him.

"You can play too Mommy," Eliza said, hurrying over to the step down into the living room.

"Take off your slippers," Beckett told them quickly. She smiled when they stopped to do that and then joined her on the blanket.

"How much more time?" Julia asked her mother as Eliza was leaning down and kissing the baby's cheek.

"Another two hours," Castle answered before his wife could, looking at his watch.

"You'll break a leg sweetie," Beckett said, reaching over and running her hand over Julia's head.

The girl smiled tremulously before she turned her attention to her little sisters and grabbed Josie's other hand before the baby began to laugh.

Beckett was tempted to reassure her again, but she knew Julia was nervous enough as it was. She was relieved she'd been okay at the camera blocking that morning; though she'd only been told that by Skye and Mary since the four kids had asked the other adults not to go. She'd been surprised but knew the four were nervous about their first time dancing on TV. She turned her attention to the girls as Josie was laughing again and she took the stuffed Tigger doll that Castle brought over to her.

"Jules?" Eliza asked while she was watching her big sister bouncing the doll for their little sister.

"Yeah?" Julia asked, looking at her sister.

"How was it?" Eliza said.

"There were cameras," Julia replied. "And then people were talking to us so we could move. Oh," she then said, turning her attention to their parents. "They told us that we'd have to get our hair and makeup done."

"You're still wearing late sixties clothes?" Castle asked her, letting Josie take her hand though she only held it for a moment.

"Yep, but I'm not saying," Julia said, biting her lower lip.

"What's wrong?" Beckett asked, watching her and catching that.

Smiling up at her mother Julia said, "I can't believe Stella made the clothes for us."

"You're lucky you get to keep your outfits," Castle commented.

"But what do I do with it after?" Julia said.

"Keep it for Halloween," Castle said.

"You might need to save it for your sister," Beckett said when their daughter looked confused since she already had her Hogwarts uniform for that year. "If she wants to wear it."

"But I don't know what it looks like," Eliza said quickly.

"You can wait, I think you'll like it," Julia assured her. "I asked if you would do my hair for me, they said that was okay."

"Did you demand it?" Castle asked in amusement.

"Yeah, but I think they understood," Julia said. She then looked towards the kitchen and said, "Mari wants you to get her hair ready."

"I will," Beckett said with a nod. "I expected you to want that."

"You're not jealous Lizzy?" Julia asked her.

"No, I don't dance that good," Eliza was swift to say.

"It's not going to be that long," Julia then told her family with a smile. "Only a few seconds since Derek wants us to dance into the beginning."

Though they were aware of that already Beckett said, "I'm eager to see what there is that you will dance."

"We all are," Castle said.

"Josa will be able to see it one day, right?" Julia asked after she smiled at what her father had said.

"She will," Castle promised. When he saw the girls and Beckett were looking at him he said, "I asked if we could have this dance in some form to play back later. Just this dance."

"And they're okay with that?" Beckett said.

"They are," Castle replied before he looked with them at Josie who'd started to whimper. He glanced at his wife with a frown; since the baby had been changed and fed; and said, "She's tired?"

"Of sitting I think," Beckett said, having her lay down on her back. They watched her together as Josie rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up on her arms.

"Is she gonna crawl?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Not yet," Beckett replied as the baby was lowering her head again. She then reached out to her and picked her up saying, "We should go outside with everyone else."

"Are we doing P.E.?" Julia asked as she and her sister scrambled to get up to go with their parents.

"No, just playing," Beckett told her as they went to the entry to put on their slippers. After they were walking over to the back of the house she said, "And you have dancing tonight."

"It's not that much," Julia couldn't help repeating.

"Which is why you're all playing now," Castle said, letting them step outside to the patio.

"Hello," Martha said, turning to see the five coming down the step. "How was she?"

"She looked like she was gonna crawl," Eliza said first. "But she just did a push up."

Laughing with the others, Martha said, "I don't think that's quite what she was doing, but I'm sure she enjoyed her time with you."

"Are those bubbles?" Julia asked eagerly as she looked ahead and saw her friends playing with them.

"They are," Skye said, walking back to them. "Here you are Julia, Eliza. Play with my daughters please."

"Are we allowed to run around?" Julia asked, looking at the tube of bubbles she was given.

"Yeah, we'll have you stop and rest for a bit," Skye told her. "Have a snack."

"Cool," Julia said before she went with her sister over to the others on the grass. "Are you guys playing too?" she asked Peter and Clive.

"Yeah," the former said. "We don't even have to wave the wands," Peter then told the two girls, showing them. "It's windy enough."

Watching the kids playing together, Beckett turned to Skye and went to sit with her at the table saying, "I'm glad you have trees."

"My father had that in mind, he was well aware of our weather here," Skye said with a smile as the kids were in the shade.

"He'd be proud of you," Beckett told her, knowing what she was thinking.

"I hope so, him and Mum," Skye replied. She shook her head and said, "A bit depressing, I need to focus on my steps."

"So it was alright at the studio earlier?" Beckett asked.

Laughing for a moment Skye said, "Of course, your daughter's very good; as are the others." She saw the slight frown on her friend's face and squeezed her shoulder before telling her, "But if you want to know a little more detail…" She smiled when Beckett nodded and began saying, "They were very hesitant stepping out on the dance floor once we were ready to begin."

* * *

 _"I don't feel like I should be here," Mari said softly._

 _"You should, we've been practicing hard," Derek said, smiling at the four kids who all looked very small in their nervousness. "And you want to show your parents on TV what you can do, right?"_

 _"I do," Julia said softly before they walked up the steps. She turned around and almost gulped looking at the ballroom, even though there wasn't anyone there but them, other stars, dancers and the crew._

 _"We should take a tour around," Skye told her partner. "After we're finished here."_

 _"We can," Derek said, smiling when the kids gasped. "But first we have to test where you guys will look better."_

 _The four nodded and waited for the crew member to talk to them to direct them where to go. They did their steps at the top of the stairs, doing their best though they knew Derek and Skye were watching on a screen off the dance floor. After they'd done the same in front of the steps, they turned to the pair to find they were talking to the crew members._

 _"Okay, you guys will dance in front of the steps," Derek said after he and Skye had walked to them. "And we'll still have Mary walk down before Skye and I dance. You four go after her to the side here," he told them as he demonstrated. "And stay here."_

 _"Will we be able to see the judges up close?" Clive asked._

 _Skye was about to speak when she paused and smiled at the judge's table, not surprised when the kids whirled around and were gasping. She opened her mouth to talk again when the person she'd seen started doing so first and directly to her._

 _"I thought you were still here," Bruno said._

 _"You wanted to see us specifically?" Skye asked with a smile._

 _"I did, they did tell us about the kids," the judge replied._

 _"You're supposed to wait for us to dance later this afternoon," Derek joked._

 _"I wanted to meet them," Bruno said._

 _"Oh, well I'll introduce you," Skye said quickly. "Come here you guys," she said to the kids._

 _Julia felt a little embarrassed as the investigator was telling the judge their names though she wasn't really sure why. She then said after they had shaken Bruno's hand, "You're not going to judge Skye and Derek for our dancing, are you?"_

 _"No," Bruno said with a slight laugh. "We don't start until they begin dancing." He looked at the four closely and asked, "Are you a little nervous?"_

 _"Yeah," Peter said first. "Julia and I have danced in competition before but…"_

 _"Never on TV," the girl said._

 _"I was told you were both training for dancing," Bruno asked._

 _"Uh…" Clive said, looking at Mari when the judge turned his attention to them._

 _"We just dance for fun," the girl said, blushing. "They're more serious about it."_

 _"You'll do well," Bruno told them._

 _"We've told them," Derek said._

 _"Then you should listen to him," Bruno said seriously, smiling when the kids laughed. "I have to go, but I'll see you for the show."_

 _"_ Ciao _Bruno," Skye said. She smiled when the judge laughed and spoke to her in Italian before he was leaving._

 _"What'd he say?" Julia asked._

 _"Break a leg, and I know he told that to all of us," Skye said before someone was calling to them from the crew. "We better go," she said. "We're not there yet." She was relieved the kids were laughing as they walked back to the dance floor to finish their camera blocking for that afternoon._

* * *

"Ready?" Castle asked his wife as he watched her stepping out of the bathroom.

"I am," Becket said easily. "How is she?" she then asked him since he was holding Josie.

"Good," Castle said, looking at the baby who he'd just burped. He then looked at his wife and said, " _Breathnaíonn tú go hiontach_ ," which meant she looked great.

Beckett smiled and said, "I'm not finished though."

Castle frowned slightly, about to ask her what she had left to put on, when she walked to the closet and pulled out a blazer. When he saw it was the Stella McCartney one in blue he smiled and said, "You haven't worn that in a while."

"No, it was the perfect time to," Beckett said.

"You want Julia to see you," Castle stated instead of asking.

About to answer, Beckett smiled when the Josie went, "Mmm-ooh," and then told her husband, "Of course. I'm just hoping it doesn't make her nervous in the end."

Nodding Castle said, "There's the chance that could happen, but I really think she'll be okay."

"I hope," Beckett said, going to him so she could take the baby. "You're staying with Lenora again sweetie, but we'll make sure when you're older you'll be able to see the first time your big sister is on TV."

"Mom," a voice said from the stairs.

Castle turned to see that it was Julia and he glanced at his wife, wondering how she'd heard their daughter come inside. But he didn't question it, instead said, "Think she can take her sister up to the house?"

"Of course," Beckett said. "Be careful though."

"I will," Julia promised. "I came to tell you Skye's ready," she then added as she was taking the baby. "And getting nervous again."

"She probably will every week," Beckett said.

With a smile Julia nodded her head and then said, "We'll be in the house so kiss for the rest of the time left."

"Julia," Beckett said, looking over the railing to watch the girl leave the house. She sighed when the door was closed behind her and turned to her husband, not taken aback in the slightest when he wrapped his arms around her and crushed his lips to hers.

Castle was relieved when his wife responded to him, holding onto him tightly while his tongue slipped past her lips. When they rubbed together he pressed his hands on her back, trying to bring her closer though he had to soon stop as he needed to breathe. "Okay…" he began.

Beckett couldn't help smiling and she brushed her lips to his before telling him, "It's alright, but you need to keep that under control during the show."

"I know," Castle replied though he was speaking distractedly as he was reaching up to cup the bun she'd put her hair into. "I can watch you take this down right?"

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smirk. She then carefully stepped away from him to get his attention and said firmly, "Yes, but we need to get through everything tonight too."

Though he didn't want to, Castle nodded and followed her down the stairs saying, "Let's hope all the people in the house will distract them."

Beckett didn't reply, as she was aware her husband knew she was thinking the same. When they neared the house, she paused when she saw everyone stepping out of the house, laughing with her husband as the boys were yelling together and then running around them.

"Hey, calm down you guys," Castle said, reaching for them to stop them. "You're going to get tired before we leave."

"Oh good," Martha said, stepping out onto the patio. "I couldn't stop them."

"Are we ready?" Beckett asked, seeing her father was stepping out with Josie in his arms.

"Very," Mary said, coming outside with her wife following before Lenora was there with them.

"We'll be back later sweetie," Beckett said, taking Josie from her mother in law. She kissed her and told her she loved her quickly before she let the others say the same and goodnight to the baby. When she and Castle were left, they kissed her at the same time and told her goodnight before she handed Josie to Lenora.

"We'll need to head backstage immediately," Skye said once they were around the cars. "So whoever's helping the kids needs to join us."

"Me," Beckett said. She saw the boys looked startled and she reassured them, "You can change on your own, I'm there to help the girls."

"Can you… make sure our hair looks okay?" Clive asked shyly.

"Of course," Beckett reassured them. "We'll see you there," she told Skye, Mary and her father as they were driving the other cars. She got into the one she was driving with Castle, Julia, Eliza and Mari joining her and started it as soon as she heard the other cars doing so too. They drove through the city streets and through the beginnings of afternoon traffic, luckily reaching the studio building in a decent amount of time. When they were inside, she heard Skye calling to them and she followed with the girls while Castle headed with their parents and the McDouglas girls to the ballroom.

"The girls can go here," the investigator told Beckett once they were backstage. "And you boys head next door, your costumes should be ready."

"And then what?" Peter asked.

"Knock on the door where we are," Beckett told him. "But wait for me to either open it or come outside." When the two nodded she watched them go inside and once the door was closed behind them she went with Julia and Mari into the next room. She saw two garment bags there, the girls' names on paper pinned on them, and she smiled saying, "Go ahead behind the screen girls. If you need my help at all just let me know." She watched them go with the bags and then got her phone from her pocket to check it before she put it back. She smiled as she heard the two whispering together and she said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, we're just making sure we have things the right way," Julia called. "I'm ready," she said then.

"Me too!" Mari said quickly.

"Wow," Beckett said with a smile. "You look like you're from the late sixties."

"Oh good, I wasn't sure," Julia said, looking down at her pants. "Mari too?"

"Yes," Beckett said firmly, gesturing to the younger girl to come to her. She straightened the lapel of her blouse she was wearing with her pleated skirt. "Did anyone talk to you about the colors?" she asked.

"No, I think Skye knows though," Julia replied, her outfit a white long-sleeved sweater belted with the same fabric of plaid in dark blue and dark blue and white. She smiled at her friend, her blouse and skirt a grey-blue that brought out her eyes that were a similar color though her skirt was a little darker in hue.

"And the boys aren't gonna match us," Mari said quickly. They heard a knock on the door and then turned to watch Beckett open it. "Hey!" she said, unable to help laughing.

"It's not funny," Clive said with a frown though he quickly smiled. "Did boys really have to wear stuff like this?" he asked, looking down at his outfit of a green shirt with white and green plaid pants. "They almost look like bell bottoms!"

"That late in the sixties they would," Beckett said as the four kids all looked at her. "But you both look very nice. You can dance right?" she asked as she knew they'd only just tried on the outfits the day before.

"I can," Mari said with a grin. She then said, "I'm wearing my dance shorts though."

"That's fine," Beckett said. "You've got a longer skirt but it's better to be safe." She then turned to Peter and asked, "How do you feel?"

"Okay… kinda… weird," Peter said slowly, shrugging. He glanced down at his outfit, a dark blue shirt with dark blue and red striped pants, and then said, "I'm really glad we don't need to wear these now."

"I agree," Beckett said. "Now we need to get your makeup and hair."

"But they're dancing second to last," Julia said quickly.

"At the very least your hair," Beckett said, ushering the kids outside the room. She held Julia back then and just smiled when her daughter looked at her in confusion, shaking her head quickly.

"No one said if we-" Mari started to say, looking back to Beckett before she turned to make sure she wouldn't run into anything and cut herself off. "MOM, DAD!" she nearly screamed before taking off towards her parents down the hall.

"MOM!" "DAD!" Peter and then Clive were yelling once they spotted their parents there. They ran down the hall to them and were hugging their parents as tightly as they could while Beckett and Julia walked down to them.

"How long are you gonna be here?" Mari asked once she'd stopped crying in her joy at seeing her parents.

"Until tomorrow night," David said, shaking Beckett's hand. "We would stay longer but that's all I can do. But we couldn't miss you being on TV the first time."

"Is Dani here?" Mari asked.

"Out in the ballroom with everyone else," Rebecca replied, hugging her daughter again. "And I hope you don't mind, you're going to stay with us at our hotel tonight."

Beckett smiled when the little girl hugged her parents together in response and she was about to speak when Peter's mother was coming closer to her and shaking her hand. "Don't worry," she told her quickly as the woman was thanking her. "He's been very well behaved. They all have."

"I'm just glad you're doing okay," Genevieve told her son.

"I am," Peter assured her.

"And Clive too," Isaac said, ruffling his son's hair. "But they're going to start dancing soon so we need to head out to our seats."

"They need their hair done right now," Beckett said quickly. "So we should help them and then let them join Skye and Derek."

"That's what we're doing?" Peter asked.

"It is," Beckett said, leading them to where some stars and pros were already. "We'll be out of your way quickly," she said. "The kids won't take too long."

"This is amazing," David whispered. "Raul Granger is only a few feet from us."

"I know," Beckett replied, as the mayor was a baseball fan as well. Beckett turned her attention to Julia and said, "How did Derek suggest you should wear your hair?"

"A scarf," Julia said, holding it up to show her mother. "Mari's wearing a headband." When her mother started brushing out her hair she smiled at her; since she was sitting at a vanity; and then asked, "Where are Skye and Mary so we can see them?"

Beckett debated for a moment if she wanted to answer that in complete honesty but instead told her, "They'll be here soon," wondering if the women were too involved with each other to remember the time as she finished preparing her daughter's hair.

* * *

"I feel weird," Mary said, stepping around the screen.

"Why? You look amazing _grá_ ," Skye told her wife, smiling at her.

"I'm really glad this isn't the fashion now though," Mary said.

"I'll agree, but for this I'm very happy seeing you wear it," Skye said. She paused in buttoning her vest before she thought that over and said, "I guess that works."

"It does," Mary said, hurrying to her and kissing her gently on the lips. "And you look perfect."

Feeling her cheeks growing warm Skye then said, "Thank you," watching her wife checking the vest. "Okay, I need to get my hair done," she said, stopping Mary when she ran her hands over her chest. " _Grá_ ," she said simply.

"Yes?" Mary said simply. She gasped when her wife cupped her palm over her breast quickly and said, " _Touché_. You're still letting me take care of it."

"Yes," Skye replied. She went to the vanity that was in the room and sighed as her wife brushed her hair.

"You'll do wonderfully," Mary told her, looking at her wife's reflection in the mirror. "I've seen you and you have your hips down well."

Growling under her breath Skye said, "I told Stella they didn't need to be so-"

"They need to see your hips," Mary interrupted her, since her wife's trousers were a little tighter than she'd expected. "And Paul's a man you know."

Grumbling, Skye couldn't help laughing when Mary kissed the side of her head and said, "I know, I keep forgetting the cut and shape has to be different. Luckily the shirt and vest still work."

"Different cut and shape," Mary repeated. She laughed when her wife made a face in the mirror and embraced her from behind before she turned her attention back to her hair. "Okay," she said when she finished. "How is it?"

"Fab," Skye replied, looking at herself. Her hair was pulled back, but Mary had put braids on either side of her head until it was tied off by a ponytail holder. "Feminine enough?" she said to her wife as she got up and turned to her.

"Very," Mary replied before they kissed hard. She clung to the investigator, flicking her tongue to her wife's before they needed to stop, and she said, "We should go," about to walk to the door when she was pulled back with a gasp.

"Your hair _grá_ ," Skye said simply.

"But…" Mary started to say before she trailed off and then smiled. "Alright."

"That fast?" Skye asked.

"That fast," Mary said simply as her wife was brushing out her hair. "I nearly forgot to say; I can't wait to see what you'll get for next week."

"Bit audacious that _grá_ ," Skye told her.

"I know what I'm saying," Mary replied simply. She couldn't help laughing as she could see her wife rolling her eyes and they were quiet until the investigator was finishing. "Thank you," she said, standing up and looking at her wife. She was smiling as she watched Skye adjusting her dress, navy blue and knee-length with sleeves. It had a white collar and white cuffs while there was a blue and green patterned scarf tied around the neck. Stella had designed it for her and the scarf was from the set her wife had modeled in her pictures with Beckett. Thinking of the writer she said, "We need to go."

"I know," Skye said with a nod and she took her wife's hand, pulling her to her so they could share a gentle kiss. They stared at each other for some time and she then told her in Italian, " _Ballerei per te in qualsiasi momento_."

Mary laughed, as her wife had told her she would dance for her any time, and then hugged her telling her, "I know, and I love you for that." They kissed again, and she said, "Let's go so we can show the country that," relieved when Skye laughed in reaction before they left their room to find everyone else getting their makeup done.

"Hello," Skye said to the kids.

"We were going to have them wait but they suggested to us to get them in the makeup chairs now," Rebecca said.

"I'm glad you all made it," Skye said to the parents, shaking hands with Genevieve and Isaac before she hugged Mari's parents quickly. "I just hope you'll enjoy yourselves while you're here."

"We're taking them to Knotts," Isaac said.

"You are?" Mary asked in surprise.

"Mari told us all about it," David commented.

"So did Peter," Genevieve said.

"Clive wouldn't stop talking about it," Isaac commented.

"What about school?" Julia said.

"We won't have classes tomorrow, obviously," Beckett said. "But we'll likely stay around the house."

"We'll stay with our girls," Mary said quickly.

"She's right, I'd appreciate it if you were there with them because I'm not really going to be able to go anywhere tomorrow; if we're on to next week," Skye said. "Enjoy the park."

Though Julia wanted to go with her friends again, she realized they wouldn't be going in a large group and she didn't speak. She let the makeup artist finish with her makeup and looked at herself in the mirror. She was relieved there hadn't been much applied to her and she smiled at her mother as she leaned down a little to her.

"I'm so glad I taught you how to put on makeup before this," Beckett told her daughter.

"Me too," Julia said quickly.

"You look great sweetie," Beckett then told her. "I can't wait to see you out there. Break a leg."

"Thanks," Julia said, knowing that it was time for her to go. She got off the chair and was about to hug her when her mother stopped her.

"Let me say goodbye to Skye," Beckett explained. She squeezed her daughter's shoulder and walked over to the investigator saying, "Mary's staying with you?"

"She has to, she is in costume," Skye replied before she and Beckett shared a quick embrace. "We'll watch them," she told all the parents. "And we'll be up in the Sky Box mostly so you can see them every so often when they can look over to watch."

"Stay with them," Beckett told Julia firmly.

"My sentiments exactly," Isaac said to his son.

"We'll stay with Skye and Derek," Peter assured his mother.

"Yeah, we want to see the Sky Box," Mari added.

"We'll say goodbye now," David said, he and Rebecca turning to their daughter.

Beckett watched Skye go to one of the chairs and then turned her attention to Julia saying, "We'll miss you sitting with us. You don't have to-"

"I will, but I'm so excited Mom," Julia said, looking around them. She laughed softly when her mother hugged her and embraced her as tightly as she could until they parted while someone in the crew was trying to get the parents' attention.

"Break a leg Julia, I love you," Beckett said, looking down at her and cupping her face with her hands.

"Thanks mom, I love you too," Julia said earnestly. She embraced her once more before they let go of each other and she watched her mother leaving. She went with the other kids to Mary who was calling to them and she said, "Groovy dress Mary."

"Oh, thank you," the doctor said with a laugh. "I'll be with you guys too, stay with me because I'm not going to wander around either."

"What about the opening?" Clive asked.

"We're not going out," Mary said. "But we'll be introduced later, don't worry."

The kids nodded before they turned their attention to Skye and Mary as both women were getting their makeup done before they turned to one another.

"I'm glad your guys' parents came," Julia told her friends.

"You didn't know?" Mari asked her.

Shaking her head Julia said, "I didn't, I was really surprised too. I bet my parents told them to come."

"They wanted to," Skye said quickly as she had the chance before the makeup artist was about to work on her lips. "As soon as they heard you'd be on TV. But I know Kate was going to suggest it already."

Watching the woman getting lipstick applied Peter said, "That must be annoying."

Julia glanced at the investigator, but she didn't respond so she then looked around before she heard someone walking down to the room they were in. "It's Eddie," she told her friends.

"And I told her there's no possible way to help her do a cartwheel," the actor was saying as he walked inside with Sasha. "But she said that I would just need to help her stay steady." He then realized that there were children in the room and he smiled saying, "Well… if it isn't the little imps."

"From the sixties," Peter said, making the peace sign with both hands.

"Quite right… those costumes are spot on," Eddie said, squeezing Skye's shoulder. "And yours as well."

Julia smiled when the investigator and actor started to talk before she realized that some people were walking inside the room and spotted Derek soon after. "Hi," she said as he came over to them.

"Hey, you look great," the pro said, squeezing their shoulders. "I wish I wouldn't have taken so long, I heard your parents were here."

"You can meet them after," Mari said quickly.

"I will, I want them to make sure they know I'm teaching you guys well," Derek said.

"You are," Peter said firmly as they looked on while he went to sit where Skye had.

"You can take them up to the Sky Box, but you have to head right back," Derek told his partner.

"Sure," Skye replied before she waited for her wife to get off her chair once she was done. "Okay kids, this way," she told them as she smiled at the obvious excitement in their eyes.

Julia, while they were walking out of the room, grabbed Mari's hand since her friend was walking next to her and they went up the stairs, just able to see the ballroom where the audience was dancing. "Wow," she breathed when they stepped into the Sky Box finally.

"It's not that big," Skye told them. "So you'll have to watch out for the cameras of course."

"Are we not allowed to be on camera before the dance?" Clive asked.

"You are, it'll make the audience wonder who you are," Skye said.

"You'd better go _grá_ ," Mary told her wife. "You need to head out soon."

"I know, I'll join you guys soon," Skye said, squeezing the kids' shoulders before she went to her wife. She gave Mary a quick kiss on the lips before she headed down the stairs, going backstage so she would avoid anyone seeing her to join everyone else lining up.

Peering with her friends over the side of the box, Julia quickly spotted her parents, smiling as her father was spinning her mother at that moment. She saw that Mari's parents were dancing and Clive and Peter's parents were dancing with each other as well. "I see your kids," she said to Mary, quickly spotting the girls dancing with each other.

"I see, I don't think they're minding being together," the doctor said with a smile. The dance finished shortly after and she was smiling a little wider at the way the kids with her were shifting around in their excitement with the announcement for everyone to take their seats. As Tom spoke for the introduction of the episode, she watched the stars and their partners walking out before they spotted Skye and Derek in the middle. She was cheering louder for them, hearing the kids doing the same before the contestants were all in a row behind Tom and Erin.

"Welcome to the second week of competition. Our thirteen couples are dancing tonight before we find out which will be the first to head home," Tom began.

"We begin tonight with baseball player Raul Granger and his partner Sharna Burgess who placed third last week," Erin said. "Tonight they dance the Quickstep to a song by Gwen Stefani though a slip up in practice nearly sidelined our pro."

Mary was slightly annoyed for a moment that she had to stay but looking at the kids watching the rehearsal footage so closely she merely smiled before she heard people coming up the stairs behind them and saw her wife was one of the first. " _Grá_ ," she said, hugging her as soon as she'd reached her.

"We've time yet," Skye told her before they went to the kids to look down at the couple that was about to dance. She felt her wife taking her hand and she smiled at her before she wrapped her arm around her when the music from the band began to play.

* * *

Looking up at the Sky Box, Beckett felt her husband taking her hand and she looked at him saying, "They left."

"I saw," Castle murmured as the actress and her partner were being scored. They were nearing the end of the show and Skye and Derek would be dancing next. He wasn't sure where exactly the kids were but knew they would be with Mary who was going to need to wait.

"Let's hope they'll head over to the restaurant later," Tom was saying jokingly. "Up next, Skye and Derek take on the Salsa with some special guests."

Beckett smiled as the pair were on the side of the dance floor with their arms around each other, Derek holding her other and then pretending to move as if in a tango. "Okay," she said before she felt Eliza's hand on her arm.

"Is Jules gonna go next?" the little girl asked.

"She will," Beckett assured her. "Make sure you sit in your chair."

Nodding, Eliza moved over to it, on the other side of her mother and she watched the stage before she saw her sister coming out with the other kids and Mary. "Jules!" she squealed.

Smiling at her, Julia waved quickly before she turned her attention to Derek as he was talking to the four of them.

"So remember you want just basic steps before your cue," the pro said. "And go after Mary once we grab each other's hands."

"We remember," Peter said reassuringly. When they were left alone in front of the steps he breathed out and whispered, "We're going to dance."

"Yep, we better get ready," Mari said firmly though her voice still shook at the end.

Hugging her tightly for a moment, Julia went to her partner and while they were waiting for someone on the crew to say they were coming back from commercial she and Peter began to dance together to practice their steps. It seemed to take forever but finally the show was back on and they stopped to wait and see the rehearsal footage for the pair.

Beckett wasn't surprised the first thing they showed was the night when the pair had gotten their song and dance, looking at the audience across from them as they had cheered when Skye had sung the beginning of the song. She glanced at Julia, seeing she was looking at the screen with the other kids. When the footage went to the next day and Julia helping Skye with her hips she shared a look with her husband, as they were aware the introductions were coming up.

"We're setting up a story with this dance," Derek said then, though on the screen he was showing the four kids how to dance. "And we'll need some help, so we'll be having four dancers with us. They're from the Grey Dance Studio at the Hamptons Academy in New York."

"They're all children of my friends," Skye took up. The screen switched to her with the kids and she said, "There's Peter Waterson and Julia Beckett-Castle," pointing them out. "And the other pair here is Clive Lennox and Marianne Foster. They've been dancing for a while now and since they love to dance and are family friends I invited them here, just in case there was a chance to participate."

"And there is," Derek said.

"Definitely," Skye said in mock seriousness before the audience was laughing.

The screen switched to the pair dancing before Skye was showing frustration and Julia was helping her again. "Since we're making a story out of this," Derek's voice was saying as he and the investigator were shown practicing various steps. "We're having the kids dance just before we start, and Skye and I are trying to get the attention of her wife."

"I'm just hoping that Len really gave his permission for this," Skye was saying, sitting in a chair. "Because we've been practicing and I'm ready to give this song the Salsa it deserves," she said before the show's music played and the screen went dark.

Beckett squeezed her husband's hand tightly as the announcer said, "Dancing the Salsa, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough," and the sound of cars on a street began. She saw the kids were running around each other before the sound of instruments came through and she watched them moving to start dancing as the opening of the song started.

While she and Peter were starting to move together, Julia wasn't surprised the lighting on them was a little dimmer than up on the stage where Skye, Derek and Mary were standing together at a 'bar.' At the opening music, she moved with Peter over to the side, still dancing until Mary started to go down the steps in between them.

Skye and Derek, following her, walked quickly until they were near enough to reach for her and ended up grabbing each other's hand and turned to each other as the opening verse began. They narrowed their eyes at each other and started to dance their leading steps which he had made the basic Salsa steps before he was spinning her on the last line.

 _She was there at the bar, she heard my guitar  
She was long and tall, she was the queen of them all  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

Beckett, smiling over at Julia who was waiting with Mary at the other end of the dance floor, wasn't surprised the lyrics skipped over the second verse and went into the third with Derek picking Skye up. She watched the pro closely; slightly considered about his back since the investigator had been during practice; but they were soon dancing together again, and he lifted her a second time before they were dancing side by side at the end of the verse.

 _Down below they danced and sang in the street  
While up above the walls were steaming with heat  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

Skye held onto Derek's hand tightly then as he held onto her arm with his other and jumped up before she landed into the splits, coming up as he picked her up while the first line of the fourth verse ended. She heard the response to that but focused on their steps through the second and third lines. They finished the verse by hooking arms and dancing their steps side by side before he picked her up as she held her legs up and her right leg stuck out.

 _I was feeling no pain, feeling good in my brain  
I looked in her eyes, they were full of surprise  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night_

Beckett was a little startled to find that the very last verse of the song was without its first two lines. But since she knew what they were it made sense they were gone, and she smiled while Skye and Derek ended the song dancing together until Mary walked down the middle of the dance floor.

Seeing her wife, the investigator playfully pushed her partner aside before the kids gathered around him to block him from reaching the other two who walked up to the stage and finished the song leaning against the bar.

 _Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

When the music and lyrics stopped fully, Skye hugged her wife tightly and smiled when Mary murmured to her, "You did great." She squeezed her hands and then pulled her down the stairs with her, joining Derek who was with the kids where Tom was standing at the judge's table.

"We've got a crowd tonight," the co-host said with a smile.

"Yeah," Skye said.

"And you were able to move your hips," Tom added.

"I know, I'm so lucky," Skye said, wrapping her arm around Julia's shoulder.

"Alright, let's see what the judges have to say," Tom said to turn the attention to the three in front of them. "Carrie-Ann we'll start with you."

"I actually enjoyed this," the woman said. "You set it up very nicely and the kids were just adorable…"

"They were groovy," Skye couldn't help saying, making the audience laugh as they were all giving each other peace signs.

"Yes," Carrie-Ann said after she'd stopped laughing. "But the dance itself I think you worked through your posture but watch your hands don't turn into pancakes on the extensions."

"I'm hungry for breakfast now," Tom said, laughing when Skye and Derek started to do the same while they were nodding. "Okay, Bruno?" he said to turn the attention to the Italian judge.

"You got the girl and you proved you can move your hips!" Bruno said, standing up. "You did very well with your steps. And so did the children, you can dance very well."

"Thanks." "Thank you," the four kids said together.

"Very interesting Salsa, it's supposed to be between the man and the woman but since your wife was here I'm not surprised you needed to fight," Bruno said jokingly. "But you had good footwork. Just listen to Carrie-Ann and watch your extensions."

"Thank you," Skye said with a nod.

"And Len, what did you think of this Salsa," Tom said to direct it to the last judge.

"I know you've been asked to create stories for these songs," Len began with. "And I agree with Bruno, the kids are great. But I wonder if you truly danced the Salsa." He stopped as the audience started to boo him, and he then said, "Well. The steps were well done but you had a little trouble on your leads after the lifts you did."

Nodding, Skye then left with Derek as Tom directed them to head up to the Sky Box and she said, "Sorry about the song."

"Oh no," Derek said quickly. "I think it was great and Bruno and Carrie-Ann loved it."

Skye tried to remember that before they reached the top of the stairs and stood together next to Erin who was soon talking to her.

"You have some extra help tonight," the woman said. "Your wife who we met last week but not the group here."

"It's the Fab Four," Eddie called from the other side of the Sky Box.

Laughing with the others, Skye said, "It's a good name. But yeah, I need to thank Julia along with Derek about me being able to dance tonight."

"You're welcome," the girl said, knowing her cheeks were on fire.

"How was it dancing with your wife there?" Erin then said.

"Great, though I would have loved to have been dancing with her," Skye said. "Sorry Derek."

"That's alright," the pro said quickly, laughing.

"Okay, let's go ahead and get your scores," Erin then said.

Beckett watched the kids in amusement as she could see that they were all crossing their fingers obviously while the dramatic music played. But she quickly recalled Len's comments and she looked over to the judges across from them to see what the pair would get in the end.

"Carrie-Ann Inaba," the announcer said.

"Eight," the female judge was quick to say as she held up her paddle, Skye and Derek hugging each other quickly.

"Len Goodman," the announcer called out after.

"Seven," the British judge then said.

Castle could see Skye was mouthing the words 'it's alright,' as the audience immediately started to boo before the announcer was saying, "Bruno Tonioli."

"Eight!" Bruno said in exclamation.

"That gives you twenty-three out of thirty," Erin said as Skye and Derek were hugging each other. She laughed as the investigator was kissing her wife on the cheek before turning back to her. "How does that feel after the difficulties you've been having with the Salsa?"

"Confirmation that Julia's just that good," Skye said. "And Mari too since she helped me out as well. So I'll see if they can show me if we ever get to the Samba."

As Erin was telling viewers how to vote, Jim leaned over to his daughter in the row ahead of him saying, "Julia was just on TV."

"I know," Beckett said. "They were all great." She paused for a moment before she said, "Hopefully they'll ask them to dance on their own."

"Will they?" Eliza asked her mother.

"We'll wait and see," Beckett replied, running her hand over her hair. She looked over at the other parents, smiling when she saw they were talking together as they'd gone to another commercial break. Though they could breathe a sigh of relief she knew they still had the elimination coming up and just hoped the investigator would make it through.


	12. They Danced And Sang (Part 2)

"Don't be too worried," Derek said. "You saw the reaction to you on social media."

"True," Skye said, looking at the stage they were waiting to go out to as the race car driver was talking to the judges. "But after having the kids with us I want to keep going so they can stay."

"They might ask them to anyway," Derek said.

With a smile Skye said, "I would hope so." They were instructed to go out to the stage and she let her partner lead her to their spot they'd been directed to earlier. She watched as Gerry and Tristan were getting their scores, a twenty-two, before they were told that they were in jeopardy. She sucked in a breath of air, as she'd gotten to know the woman during lunch and breaks once in a while, and she looked at Derek before Tom and Erin came over to the side of the stage.

Beckett watched Skye as the other dancers were told they were safe before Tom addressed her and Derek.

"Skye and Derek," the co-host said. There was a pause and he then told them, "You are safe."

Hearing her family and friends cheering, Skye turned to her partner and they embraced tightly in their relief. She faced forward as Leandro and Allison were joining Gerry and Tristan in jeopardy and shortly after Oliver and Peta were in the same situation. She watched the three pairs step down as Tom waited before he was speaking.

"And on this second night of competition," he said after talking about each pair. "Our first couple leaving is…"

Julia, watching with the other kids and Mary from where they'd stayed in the Sky Box, tried not to growl at the time it took before the co-host was finally speaking again.

"Leandro and Allison," Tom said.

Skye breathed out in disappointment for the actor and dancer before they could head down all together to the pair that were taking a last dance to hug them. "You were great," she said when she'd hugged the man.

"Thank you," Leandro replied with a smile. "I'll be back… to watch."

Skye laughed and nodded before she stepped aside to let the others talk to them, walking over to where her family was. "I-" she started to say before her daughters were hugging her at the same time. "Hold on you lot," she said with a laugh, trying to hug them all. "I'm glad to still be here too," she then said when they'd calmed down.

"Mary," David said.

Looking at the mayor in surprise, Skye turned and saw her wife was coming across the dance floor with the kids running ahead of her. She smiled and led her daughters to Mary, wrapping her arms around her tightly as soon as they met.

Beckett was waiting with Castle and Eliza for Julia to reach them and they hugged her together, making the girl laugh heavily before they let her go. "Sweetie, I'm so, so proud of you," she said, sitting so she could hold her by her shoulders. "You were perfect."

"Thanks," Julia said, as her sister and father said the same thing. She then looked back at the dance floor and said, "I can't believe I did that," before Skye was calling out to everyone to get their attention, telling them about their dinner plans once they were looking at her.

"Derek and I need to head out to the media," the investigator said. "And after we're going to the studio to get the next dance and song."

"Are we going too?" Mari asked.

"That would be nice, but I don't know if we'll have you on," Skye said.

"It depends on the song and dance," Derek said when his partner looked at her.

"We'll meet you there," Isaac said. "If we can go, I'd like to see where Clive's been all this time."

"Not all the time Dad," the boy said though he was smiling.

"We'll see you," Skye said, Derek agreeing with her.

"Wait," the pro then said. "They might want to talk to the kids."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I don't want Julia to."

When the other parents said the same for their kids Skye said, "I'd be the same with my girls."

Saying goodbye when the two left Julia said to her parents, "I didn't want to. What if they asked dumb questions?"

"They might have just asked how you enjoyed being on the show," Martha said. "But then again you never know what they may say."

"We'll be back," Beckett said to the others, her hand on Julia's shoulder. "We have to get the costumes off."

Walking backstage, Julia said to her mother, "I hope people didn't mind we were there for the dance."

"Your dad said they haven't," Beckett told her daughter as she squeezed her shoulder. "He started checking when the show went to commercial."

"Cool," Julia said in relief.

"You won't mind if you don't dance next week, will you?" Beckett said.

Shaking her head Julia replied, "I'm just happy to get to do it a tiny little bit this week." She smiled when her mother laughed and hugged her against her side as they went back to the room where she and Mari had changed earlier.

* * *

"Da-dun-" Derek started to say.

"Again with the fanfare?" Skye asked jokingly.

"Yes," Derek replied with a smile. He glanced at the others in the room with them as they were laughing, and he then opened the flap of the envelope before he looked at the CD inside. "Okay, we have the Viennese Waltz next week. And we're dancing to _Behind That Locked Door_."

Letting out a quick cheer Skye said, "Awesome; thank you _grá_."

"You're welcome," Mary told her wife. "I wasn't sure what else you could dance to."

Skye laughed briefly and then said, "I think we're going to be dancing this one on our own. Sorry kids."

Shaking his head Peter said, "That's more like a dance for two."

"You two danced to this one," Genevieve said to her son and Julia.

"We did," the latter said.

"Oh good, then you'll still help if I need it," Skye said.

"You won't," the four kids said together.

Derek was laughing with everyone else after the four kids had started to do so, and when they'd calmed down he told them, "I like that confidence in her."

"And you, you're a great teacher," Julia said quickly.

"Thank you," Derek replied. "I need to hear this song before we start."

"What… no I'm not singing," Skye said when he looked at her. "Better to listen to George." She took a drink from her water bottle as he played the song and they listened to it with everyone before he was stopping the CD. "Well?" she asked.

"Do you want a story?" Derek asked.

"There needs to be," Skye replied. "George wrote it for Bob Dylan."

"Really?" Derek said in surprise.

"They were friends," Julia said, trying not to glance at the cameras filming them that had turned to her quickly. "And he, Bob Dylan, was shy about performing so George wrote that so he would perform his songs that George liked."

"He was part of the Traveling Wilburys wasn't he?" Derek asked. When Skye nodded, he studied her and was about the ask her what she had in mind before she spoke.

"Have me be hesitant in front of a microphone," Skye said.

"With a spotlight on you?" Derek suggested.

The investigator nodded and then said, "And I suppose if we're carrying this all the way through just take me back to it when we finish."

"I've built your confidence?" Derek asked. When she nodded he smiled and said, "Glad to know I can do that. But I like it, and it would be less story for Len."

"That as well, not sure how much of a story you can have for this dance," Skye said.

"Now we have that set," Derek replied. "It's time for you to learn the Viennese Waltz."

"I'm ready," Skye said firmly.

Beckett looked at Julia as the pro was showing the investigator the basic steps of the dance, not surprised she was watching intently. She smiled to herself at the sight but focused on the pair as Derek was soon after beginning to choreograph.

"Wait," the pro said eventually. "They said to watch your extensions so we need to work on that. Girls?"

Smiling at her friend, Julia got up the instant he looked at them and they hurried over to the investigator. "Did you ever try to practice while you were dancing?" she asked as Skye looked at them both.

"You mean dance steps but focus more on how my hands are?" the woman said. When the girls nodded Skye said, "I haven't. I suppose we'll do that now?" She laughed when the two nodded in sync and she let them show her how they moved during the steps of the waltz while moving their hands. She was ready to start when her partner was calling for them to stop to her surprise.

"Julia, Peter," Derek told them. "Why don't you dance a waltz yourself with some flourishes?"

"Sure," Peter said when his partner looked at him. He got up and walked over to her saying, "Is it alright if we just do basic steps?"

"Of course," Derek said reassuringly.

Watching Julia closely, Skye focused on her hands when she was doing her extensions eventually until the two paused. "Think it would be better if I did this?" she asked her partner as she moved her arm out and her hand.

"Try it," Derek said before they danced one of their steps where she would need to make an extension. He was watching the mirror closely and after they'd stopped he said, "Better, we'll keep an eye on you," before he looked at his partner in surprise as she laughed.

"Or else?" Skye asked.

"No," Derek said, shaking his head. "Since we have a story and at least the basic steps I can start choreographing."

"Is that what we're doing the rest of the tonight?" Skye asked.

"Tomorrow," Derek answered. "For a while tomorrow since Wednesday we'll be out."

"You're going to be in the music videos?" Julia asked eagerly.

"I am," Derek said. "But I don't know what I'll be doing exactly yet."

"Leave that to me," Skye said.

"What about you and Clive?" Mari said to Peter.

"They can be in the videos," Beckett said. She smiled when the kids looked at her and said, "They gave permission. Speaking of that I think we'll head out."

"We can go," Derek said as his partner looked at him. "I can use the time to think over how I'd want us to dance."

With that the camera crew left the studio and the group that were there for the practice got ready to head back to the McDouglas house. They split up at the cars, going quickly as they knew they had dinner waiting for them when they returned.

* * *

"How is she doing?" Rebecca said to Beckett as she sat next to her on the patio.

"Good, she is homesick of course," she replied with a smile. "But we've been trying to keep them occupied as much as we can."

"You've been doing a good job," Rebecca said. "All her calls she's got something to tell us about."

"You'll enjoy Knott's," Beckett told her.

"What were your plans for school?" Genevieve asked, sitting with the women at the table.

"Tomorrow?" Beckett asked. When the mother nodded she said, "Not much, we can't teach everyone who'll be here since your kids will end up being behind."

"So you'll be at practice?" Rebecca said slowly.

Shaking her head Beckett told them, "We're going to spend time at the beach, riding bikes as far as we can down the path they have on the sand."

"How-" Isaac started to say.

"They have a concrete path," Skye said, setting two large bowls with salad on them on the table. "We've walked that already with your kids, they won't miss anything."

"Nothing at all educational?" David asked jokingly.

Shaking his head Castle; who'd come outside after the investigator; said, "We plan to explore the front yard, a little science lesson but nothing that the kids don't know already."

"Like a quiz," David stated.

"Something like that," Castle said.

Seeing the way her husband was looking at her Beckett rolled her eyes and said, "Alright, we'll have an off day since the other kids are. But I still want us to exercise."

"Dinner's ready," Mary said, walking out with Derek.

"It's been ready," Skye said jokingly to her.

Rolling her eyes Mary said, "Sit _grá_."

"I'm not that tired," Skye said though she was doing as her wife said. When the kids had been pulled from the grass where they'd been playing with their bubbles they had she then said, "A toast to the parents all being here."

"Oh good," Castle said with a laugh after they'd tapped their glasses together. "Usually I'm the one does the toast."

"I gave you a break," Skye said. She then heard Derek calling to Julia and Peter and looked with the writer and Beckett down the table.

"You said you've danced to the song before," the dancer was saying.

"Yeah," Peter said, sharing a look with his partner.

"I'm asking because I'd like to see what you two did," Derek said with a smile, knowing what they were thinking with that glance between them.

"You wouldn't copy us," Julia said rapidly. "There are steps we don't make up."

"I know, but I'd still like to see," Derek said before looking at Skye.

"No, I've never seen them dance it," the investigator said quickly. "He's right, I'd like to see what you did. Maybe we could borrow a move."

"We'd have to ask their dance teacher," Derek said. "Tomorrow."

Skye nodded and then turned her attention to the food and continued to eat as she helped the Mari, Peter and Clive talk about Knott's to their parents. She smiled when all the other kids joined in and they kept talking even after they had finished, and she and Beckett were taking the plates to the kitchen.

"Are you looking forward to the next dance?" she asked her friend when they were inside the house at the kitchen sink.

"You know I am," Skye said. "I do love the lyrics and the music is perfect for this. But I'm jealous of you."

Laughing briefly, as she knew the investigator was talking about their plans the next day, Beckett said, "I can't help you with that, you do need to practice before next week."

"I know," Skye replied. She studied her friend and said, "I'm not nervous about the videos by the by."

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked.

"Very, it's not my first time filming one," Skye reminded her. "And again, I love the songs."

"I'm interested in the stories you've got for them," Castle said as he walked inside in time to hear their conversation about the videos.

"You'll see very shortly," Skye said, going to the fridge and taking out the fruit salad her wife had made. "I'll see you lot outside."

"Is that everything?" Castle asked his wife when they finished the last utensil.

"It is, let's go because I get the feeling Derek's waiting for us so we can see Julia and Peter dance," Beckett told her husband. She walked over to him and smiled as he reached for her and she said, "We don't need to get up early tomorrow."

"No," Castle replied with a smile. " _I'm getting the feeling you want to_?" he asked in Irish.

Beckett didn't answer, only smiled at her husband and she tried her best not to laugh at him when he groaned under his breath. They were stepping down onto the patio at that moment, so they were soon turning their attention to their second oldest and Peter as they were standing in the clear space of the patio. "Go ahead and start," she said as she and Castle hurried over to their chairs.

After Jim had played the song the two started to dance, only doing so for the first verse before they paused.

"We stopped here," Peter explained.

"I figured," Derek said as they waited for the song to get to the point where they'd start up again. He watched their steps and nodded at the last lines, where Peter was spinning Julia. Joining everyone else in applauding to the dance he then said when they'd finished, "I like the ending."

"I thought the same," Skye said. "You can spin me and leave me off at the microphone at the end."

"Do you know how to contact their teacher?" Derek asked the parents.

"I have her number on my phone," Beckett said. She gave it to Derek so he could put it onto his phone and then said, "You should be able to talk to her tomorrow."

"What does Ms. Grey do during the day?" Clive asked.

"No idea," Castle said. "But I'm sure she'll give you permission."

"I should mention the fact it's coming from you guys," Derek said, looking at his partner as he finished speaking.

"Do you mind being on the footage and not the dance this week?" Skye asked the kids.

"Nope, we don't need to be on it all the time," Mari said with a smile.

"The heads of the show contacted me before I came out here to join you for dinner," Derek then said. "And they do want you two to dance," he said to Peter and Julia. "Clive, Mari-"

"We're the backup dancers?" the boy said eagerly.

When they'd all stopped laughing Derek said, "I insisted you four dance together though you'll start things out Peter, Julia. And I have a name for you guys, the Dancing Four."

"So the Beatles won't sue us?" Julia asked.

The group was laughing again and as soon as they stopped Derek said, "They're going to wait a little bit longer before they set something up for you guys."

"When?" Clive asked.

"Week Five," the pro answered. "Which is a while I know but they're intending to do something for Week Four."

"That's fine," Julia said, looking at her friends in slight confusion. She was about to ask if they could go back to their bubbles, thinking the conversation was over, before she was surprised when Derek started to speak again.

"But we may ask you to dance again in our next dance," the pro said.

"How far ahead do you know?" Marie asked.

"Not that far," Derek assured them. He then looked at Julia and asked, "What is it?" as he'd seen the confusion on her face.

"I was thinking about the song," the girl said. "Why did they take so much of it out."

Hearing Mari say, "Yeah," Derek smiled and asked her, "You know the song?"

"We all do," Beckett said. "Listening to it with Julia."

"Okay, then you realize ABC doesn't want the bit about the knife in there as well since there are kids who watch the show," Derek told them. "Kids besides you."

"It… again?" Skye groaned when her partner looked at her.

"We wouldn't ask you if you didn't love singing," Castle said. "Especially these songs."

"I've never heard the song," Isaac said as the investigator was playfully groaning. "Besides what I heard tonight for the song."

"Alright then, that decided it," Skye said jokingly. "Ready?"

"Yes," Mary said. When Clive's father looked at her she said, "I sing backup when she needs it." She watched her wife getting the music on her phone and then said, "Makes it sound more like the song."

"And sorry for repeating all this again," Skye said. She smiled as the others were laughing, before they reassured her they didn't mind hearing it and she waited for the music for the opening to begin before she reached the point where she would need to take up the first verse. She smiled at her wife as she did so, since they loved teasing one another about the lyrics before Mary joined her on the last two lines. But she wondered, as they continued together, if she was thinking about the dance more than what the lyrics were saying exactly.

 _She was there at the bar, she heard my guitar  
She was long and tall, she was the queen of them all  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

 _She was dark and discreet, she was light on her feet  
We went up to her room, and she lowered the boom  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

 _Down below they danced and sang in the street  
While up above the walls were steaming with heat  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

 _I was feeling no pain, feeling good in my brain  
I looked in her eyes, they were full of surprise  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night_

 _I asked her to marry me, she smiled and pulled out a knife  
"The party's just beginning," she said, "it's your money or your life"  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night_

 _Now I'm back at the bar, she went a little too far  
She done me wrong, all I got is this song  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, talking about last night  
Last night, thinking about last night_

Beckett smiled when Julia and Peter stopped dancing and then looked over at Derek sheepishly. "If you ever need to do the dance over again…" she couldn't help saying.

The dancer laughed and said, "I'll keep that in mind." He then said, "We should applaud both performances though."

Skye shook her head, though she was smiling, and when the others had stopped she said, "Go on with you! Go on and play kids, there's still time left." She reached for her wife's hand, watching the kids all hurry out together to the grass and their bubbles. She breathed out, relieved they were finished with the Salsa, and entwined her fingers through Mary's while they watched the kids all together for a moment. She smiled at her daughters running around to let the wind blow bubbles before she started talking with the others about their plans for that week in the deepening dusk.

* * *

"Ah!"

"What?" Mary asked her wife.

Groaning Skye said, "You didn't need to do that so hard."

"I did," Mary said simply. She smiled when she heard her wife grumbling under her breath and then said, "Are you feeling more relaxed."

"Yeah," Skye said with a sigh. She then looked over her shoulder at her wife who was massaging her body that night. She wasn't sure why Mary had taken it on herself to go over all of her and she said, "You do know I'm going to be dancing again tomorrow right?"

"I'm aware," Mary said simply. She smiled when her wife rolled her eyes and said, "Do you want me to stop."

"No," Skye said with a sigh. "Just finish." She grunted while her wife massaged her left leg and said, "Why am I naked by the way?"

"For my enjoyment," Mary replied. She finished massaging her wife's foot last and then said, "Stay where you are," as she got off the bed.

Since her wife hadn't told her she couldn't move, Skye turned around onto her back and looked up at the ceiling before she could see her wife walking out from the bathroom. "Thank you for that _grá_ ," she told her sincerely.

"You're very welcome," Mary replied. "Tell me something," she then said as she got onto the bed carefully. Seeing her wife watching her she smiled and said, "What will you do about a costume this time?"

"I was thinking a long coat," Skye said, looking up at the ceiling again. "White or black, and Derek maybe dressed as Paul was on the cover of Abbey Road."

"Hmm, that might work," Mary said, thinking it over. "But shouldn't you have him dressed as George was?"

"Oh… that's true," Skye replied. "I'll talk to him in the morning."

"Good, he needs to stay out of our bedroom," Mary said firmly.

"You-" Skye started to say before Mary was taking off her robe. "Oh, and where was my enjoyment?" she asked teasingly since her wife was naked.

Smiling, as her wife's voice was a little strained, the doctor tossed her robe aside and said, "I didn't want to distract you."

"Distract me from what?" Skye asked in disbelief.

Kissing her quickly on the lips, Mary said, "I wanted to reward you."

"For my… score for the dance?" Skye asked slowly.

Shaking her head, Mary leaned over and kissed her tenderly before she said when they parted, "You got me didn't you?"

"Not really," Skye replied simply, holding her wife by her waist. "You made sure you got me."

"Hmm, so am I being rewarded now?" Mary asked.

"Yes," Skye said simply. She smiled when her wife laughed softly, and she told her, " _Mé grá tú_."

" _Mé grá tú_ Skye," Mary said quickly. She let her wife lay her down in the middle of the bed and she told her, "I think we need to reward each other."

Laughing softly Skye said, "I was just going to say." They kissed deeply and when they had parted slowly she told her, "You're first." Before Mary could say anything in response, she was kissing her, touching her to begin giving her wife exactly what she wanted so they could begin pleasuring each other as she'd been thinking of doing all night.

* * *

Turning from the window, Beckett smiled at her husband as she grabbed the cup of tea he was handing her. "What?" she asked when she saw that he was looking at her.

"No, just… admiring you," Castle said, sitting on the window seat next to her. He smiled and said, "And thinking that we're staying; no matter how long Skye stays on."

"I thought the same myself but it's what I want for Julia," Beckett replied, handing him the mug as she'd taken a sip. They were silent at that point, finishing their tea, and when he set the mug aside she told him, "I know you want to ask," watching him and smiling as he gave her a brief glance before he spoke.

"I don't need to," Castle commented, grabbing her. As soon as she was firmly on his lap he told her, "You answered it for me already." He moved to kiss her and was pleased when she moved to meet him, their hands clutching at one another. It didn't take him long to slip his tongue into her mouth, hers meeting him and tangling around his while their heads were tilting slightly. When they managed to stop he pulled away from her first and said, "I wanted to take things slowly."

"Try to?" Beckett asked, tilting her head back so he could kiss at her neck.

"No, actually do it," Castle said, moving so he could look at her.

Beckett bit at her lower lip before she told him, "That would be nice," before she was letting out a brief gasp when her husband lifted her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her the short distance to the bed and she said, "But eventually…"

Castle couldn't help laughing as he set her on the bed but kept it brief before he told her, "Eventually." Since he'd toed off his shoes once he'd come upstairs from the kitchen, he got onto the bed quickly after her, following her as she lay back on the mattress. They kissed as soon as their lips could meet and he wasn't surprised when her tongue reached up to his mouth first. They rubbed their tongues against each other for a while before he pulled back so he could look at his wife. "Here," he told her after they'd stared at each other for a while.

Sitting up with him, Beckett reached up to her hair and deftly removed the pins that were holding it up in its bun. She let it fall and wasn't surprised to find her husband was staring at her, though she couldn't smile at his reaction as his eyes were nearly black with his desire. She watched him reach for her blouse shortly after and he gently unbuttoned the first three which made her ask, "Should I have gone like this?"

"No," Castle said firmly. "Though if it was what you wanted…"

Beckett didn't speak, merely smiled before she said, "You played with fire telling me to do that."

"I did," Castle said, knowing she was remembering their first visit to The Old Haunt together. "But in the end, I think it just benefited me."

"Pervert," Beckett said.

"I should let you know I'm torturing myself right now," Castle said.

"I know," Beckett said with a nod, reaching for him so she could pull him to her. They kissed, and she wasn't surprised when he opened her blouse fully after that, making her end their kiss first to tell him, "You're eager."

"Apparently to look," Castle commented.

"You forgot?" Beckett asked him with a slight smile on her face. At his nod she reached for his hand so he could slide it down to her side and she was sighing as he moved it around to the small of her back. "Rick," she breathed, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Love," Castle murmured as he neared her lips. They kissed passionately then and were soon holding onto one another tightly before she felt him moving his shirt. He didn't stop their second kiss to let her continue to unbutton the white fabric, instead sliding his hands to the small of her back to span it with them both. When they finally stopped he moved away and watched her unbutton his shirt the rest of the way. "I…" he started to say before he trailed off in a groan.

"What do you want to know?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"I'm… not… not getting…" Castle said, stammering at first when his wife trailed her hands over his chest. When she leaned over to kiss at his nipples he lost his train of thought completely and couldn't recall his question about the shape his body was in. She was also answering it already, kissing over him and sucking at even his skin, making him reach for her so they could kiss again.

Beckett knew her husband wanted to take it slowly, but she had the sudden urge to see him bared to her and she reached for the fly of his trousers. She smiled briefly when he was wheezing out her name but didn't stop until the black fabric was unbuttoned and unzipped. "I adore you Rick," she told him.

"I feel the same about you Kate," Castle said seriously as he reached for her blouse, pushing it off her shoulders. He smiled when she helped him in getting it off and he said, "Need my help?"

"Not right now," Beckett said with a smile, reaching up in between her breasts to unclasp her bra. She took his help in getting it off her arms and watched him get off the bed. She was moving and said, "You need my help," in case he didn't want her to.

"I do," Castle said simply, taking off his trousers. He wasn't surprised when his wife moved to him and he watched her push his boxers down his hips. He stopped her swiftly before it got too far down and at her frustrated look he explained, "I didn't want it to… hit you or something."

"And you don't think I would want that?" Beckett asked simply. She smiled when her husband visibly gulped, and she then said, "Take those off Rick."

Nodding rapidly, Castle got rid of the silk fabric as fast as he could before he moved onto the bed with her. He grabbed for her trousers and got them off quickly, breathing out as he found her panties matched her bra, white that he knew was intentional. "You're trying to kill me," he said.

"What would be the point of that?" Beckett asked though her voice was distorted as her husband leaned down to kiss her mound through the fabric. She arched her back and moved against him before he pulled away and she reached for him, not sure what he was going to do before his hand slipped underneath her lingerie. He found her clit quickly and she gasped before it turned into a moan and said, "Get them off!"

Hearing her, Castle was swift to do as she had asked and as soon as he had moved his hand he was reaching for the fabric, pulling it off while she raised her hips to aid him. Once she was naked he lay atop her body; keeping his weight off her; and their lips were quick to search each other out. Their tongues did the same shortly after and as they rolled together he used his hand not on the bed to touch what he could of her. When they stopped to breathe he said, "I didn't want to do it like this."

"I don't mind you being on top," Beckett assured him.

"I know but if I stay like that I'm going to get inside you," Castle said.

"What?" Beckett asked though she was sitting up with him.

Castle opened his mouth to tell her she had to have understood him, but before he could speak he saw the look on her face. "I'll end up fucking you," he said. "And I don't want to do that yet."

"Yet," Beckett said, a smile on her face.

Leaning into her, Castle kissed her deeply before he sat where she'd been laying and he helped her onto his lap. He wasn't surprised when she responded as passionately, and they were doing that for a while before he ran his hands down her back. After he had reached her ass he couldn't help himself, cupping it firmly before she was raising herself up. "Wait," he said, ending their kiss to speak.

Beckett wanted to tell him they didn't need to, but she felt him holding her in such a way she knew he wanted to reach her neck. She tilted her head back, feeling his hands roaming over her back again and wishing he would let them begin. But when he pulled away from her she looked at him and saw the strain on his face, making her cup it in her hands. "I'm glad you want to take things slowly," she told him. "But this is driving us both crazy. And I think we've done well. No clothes ripped, or scratches…" She was relieved to see him smiling in response and was about to speak again when he kissed along her jaw and told her what she'd been desperate to hear.

"I guess we've taken things slowly enough," Castle said. He moved back to look at her and said, "And I want you."

"I need you," Beckett told him earnestly. She wasn't surprised when they fell into their kiss, or when her husband was almost groping over her body. "You're so lucky I enjoy that," she breathed to him once they'd managed to part.

"I realize I am," Castle said. They stared at one another for a moment and without a word his hands were on her hips though she didn't need any help to raise her body up and lower it down on his erection that she was holding. He was groaning the second it touched her, and he made himself stop as she was going slowly down until their skin was meeting. "You're fucking amazing love," he said seriously once he felt he could speak.

"So are you," Beckett said, her voice a little distorted as she was letting herself feel him inside her at the same time. She wrapped her arms around him and once he was holding her she moved. It was a roll of her hips and they were both reacting vocally to it before she pushed herself up and down. "Language," she told him when he swore though she couldn't really tease him as the pleasure was affecting her rapidly. She then kissed him, though it didn't last long as she was gasping when she felt him moving. Looking behind herself, she saw he'd bent his knees behind her and she couldn't help asking, "Do you want to play… with my… my clit?"

"Yes," Castle gasped out. "But not yet," he somehow managed to say swiftly enough to keep her from moving.

Beckett smiled; briefly; and then leaned more against him so they could kiss again, starting it off before she allowed her husband to take over. It allowed her to focus on her movement, still pushing up and down on him. She had started out at a slower pace but by then she was literally bouncing on him which made them kiss repeatedly. But she knew he didn't mind and she didn't care when they had to stop, holding him to her while he started to kiss around her neck and jaw. She bowed her head to him so he could reach her ear, feeling her sex throb harder as he nibbled at it gently. When he pulled away she felt his hands on her ass, squeezing tightly, and she pushed on his shoulders so she could move away while he watched her.

Making sure she was okay as she leaned back against his legs; somehow still moving on him; Castle reached up and gently started to rub at her clit as he knew that had been an indication to him to start. He couldn't help moving the swollen nub a little, watching it, before he was suddenly grabbing his wife. He was guessed the motion was abrupt as Beckett had stopped moving. But it didn't impede him in kissing her, hard, and when they parted he could feel his lips throbbing a little at how swollen they'd gotten. "Kate," he breathed to her as he leaned his head down to suck at her neck.

Leaning her head back, Beckett ran her hands up from his back to his head to let her nails rake over his scalp. Feeling him shuddering in response to her touch she didn't stop for a while until he moved away and they stared at each other intently for a moment. She could feel herself beginning to tremble as his hands slid over her back and she leaned against him, their lips meeting. But unlike their previous kiss that one was far gentler though as they continued they became more sensuous. When they stopped she pushed herself up so he nearly left her body and lowered herself slowly. She watched him when she could as it was affecting her as well and held him by his shoulders until their hips were flush against each other again.

"You're a goddess Kate," Castle told his wife with a groan. He wasn't surprised when her response was to move again, and he followed her though he didn't have as much leverage. They were kissing again and he took the opportunity to touch her wherever he could, though his hands ended up frequently at her ass. " _Ní féidir liom féin a stopadh_ ," he told her, gently squeezing it with both hands as he'd said he couldn't stop himself.

" _Níl mé ag iarraidh leatsa a dhéanamh_ ," Beckett replied, which meant she didn't want him to. She kissed him, stopping her up and down thrusts to roll her hips to allow her to do that, and then told him, " _Is leatsa mé_ ," which meant she was his.

" _Is leatsa mé_ Kate _._ _I gcónaí_ ," Castle was swift to tell her, adding the word always at the end. They were kissing passionately as soon as he'd finished speaking and he clung to her tightly, running his hands all around her though he was conscious of her breasts. When they parted he said, "I… you're too fucking good," groaning as she started to move up and down again. He worked to make sure he was going with her, taking a little time to do that as he had to expend a little more effort. But soon enough their hips were slapping together pleasantly, and they kissed when they could as they couldn't stay together for that long.

As they were involved in that for some time, Beckett eventually moved so she was leaning her head over his shoulder. She closed her eyes tightly and held onto him, just letting herself feel him as their friction had never really stopped. She tried her best to not let the pleasure overpower her, but she was quick to realize it was a losing battle so she stopped moving. "Sorry," she said as her husband groaned and then did the same.

"No," Castle told her hurriedly. "I was the same." He kissed her gently as he was caressing her hair and said when they were apart, "But we didn't have to take too long with this," slightly startled when his wife smiled at him.

"You realize you have amazing endurance," Beckett told him.

"I have to," Castle replied. "I really don't want to just fuck you… there has to be more."

Beckett kissed him deeply for that before she started to move again, but that time she merely rolled her hips as they were groaning into each other's mouths. "And this is… why I… want you so often," she breathed as she pressed her cheek to his.

"The same… for me," Castle groaned against her skin before he was stopping her. How he was able to get onto his knees he never was able to figure out, but he held his wife's body against his own until he could thrust better with her. Her legs were straddling him still and when they met their skin was smacking hard together as they kissed fervently until he felt her beginning to falter. "Are you going to come my love?" he whispered harshly into her ear.

"Yes," Beckett moaned heavily.

"Come for me Kate," Castle told her firmly. "And I'll worship you the rest of the night, my fucking love," he said as he was groaning in joy at the feel of her sex throbbing harder around him.

Leaning her head back, Beckett could only hold onto her husband's shoulders as her orgasm racked her body. The ecstasy nearly made her breathless, but she was able to call his name repeatedly until she felt him joining her. The way he was yelling her name the first time made her tremble, and feeling his pleasure was the last straw, climaxing a second time before she could stop herself. She clung to Castle, realizing he was moving faster than he had been. Her sense of awareness was focused on him and how he was treating her body, so it was little surprise when he was reaching a second peak with her.

Holding his wife's limp body once she was satiated, Castle hoped he wasn't hurting her moving in her still. He only had a couple thrusts luckily and he breathed out in joy at his last. "Kate," he said quickly, touching the back of her head.

"I'm okay," Beckett said, raising her head as she had recovered enough energy for that. She smiled at him as he was still breathing roughly, and she said, "I think this should reassure you how I feel about your… physique." She gasped when he suddenly groaned, as it moved his length within her, and she said, "What?"

"It wasn't vanity," Castle said, trying not to shudder at how pleasurable it was when she gently ran her fingers through his hair. "I don't want to crush you with my stomach."

Beckett brushed her lips against his and said, "It doesn't. Move."

Startled by how sternly she said the word, Castle did so after she'd gotten off him and he found himself suddenly pulled on top of her body. "Okay… you're right," he said as she pressed her hands to his back. "Kate?" he said when she wouldn't let him go as her legs had wound around his waist.

"You said you would worship me," Beckett told him simply.

"Yeah," Castle replied quickly, leaning down and capturing her lips with his own. They kissed sensuously for some time and he moved with her so he could slip inside of her sex. They breathed out in pleasure together before he focused on her and coupling completely. They kissed a second time and while they were he began to thrust, feeling her moving with him. When they parted he was a little startled when she moved up to his ear but as she told him, "Fuck me hard lover," he found he could easily follow her demand. He was as hard and fast as he could get until she was climaxing and he followed. He realized their quickie was going against what she had said about his endurance earlier but when they had calmed down he said, "I'm surprised you wanted to do that."

"I needed it," Beckett told him with a smile. She hugged him and then told him, "And you did."  
Nodding Castle said, "I'm not going to deny that. Should I move?" When his wife let him go she followed him to lay against his side, pressing her cheek to his shoulder as he held her tightly against him. "Is it crass of me to say I enjoy that… a lot?" he asked her.

"No, not when I feel the same way," Beckett said before she leaned up to kiss at his jaw. As his hand caressed her side she smiled and told him, "We're not finished, are we?"

"Not by a long shot," Castle said, turning her onto her back. He was overjoyed when she reached for his erection and he slid easily within her a moment later before he began to thrust. They were rough before they were beginning to move, and they continued to until he was feeling her climaxing first. He responded very shortly after and they were kissing as soon as they caught their breath and he moved away from her carefully once they'd stopped. Wrapping his arm around her again he rubbed her shoulder and said, "I think we'll have to take a break."

"Yes, we can be together again," Beckett said, turning fully onto her side and pressing a kiss to his shoulder. She smiled when he squeezed her a little tighter and said, "We don't need to worry about time."

"No," Castle said simply, turning so he was on his side and kissing her as hard as he could. When she responded to him he didn't want to stop but they eventually needed to breathe, and he moved away from her lips. "It's hard to stop," he confessed to her.

"I know," Beckett replied. She nuzzled his lips with her own and told him, "But this is nice too."

"It is," Castle replied. "But it's a little uncomfortable."

Sitting up with him, Beckett wasn't surprised when he grabbed her and then held her close against him while they met in another kiss. She held onto him and let him pull her onto his lap before he was gently rubbing at her side. She ended the kiss as he had moved around to slap her ass, making her say, "You couldn't help yourself."

"Not really," Castle said, kissing her. When they stopped he nuzzled at her jaw for a moment before telling her, "But I'll stop. And promise me something?"

"Of course," Beckett told him.

"Let me touch you," Castle stated instead of asking. When she kissed him, he knew immediately he had his answer and he slid his hand down her leg to gently grasp her knee. "I love you Kate," he told her adoringly.

Kissing him Beckett told him, "I love you too Rick." They came together again before they slowly parted that time and once they had she told him, "Take me love."

"Always," Castle breathed in his pleasure as he moved his wife so she could lay down on the bed. He followed her, and they worked together to couple their bodies and once they'd done so he was breathing out her name. After they had shared a deep, passionate kiss he began to thrust within her, telling her, "I want to pleasure you love."

"You will, I just want you!" Beckett cried out in rapture as she was moving with him.

As they gave each other what they wanted, Castle and Beckett forgot about their plans the next day. They found the need to experience their pleasure repeatedly too great to ignore, hungry again for it when they were sated. And as they were doing what they could to bring each other to their peak they promised they would repeat their night as it continued outside their world that comprised of their bed, themselves and their complete sensuality with one another.


	13. When Somebody Plays

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _End of the Line_ and _Dirty World_ , both by the Traveling Wilburys, from their album _Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1_.

A/N #2: It was great to see the feedback I got for the last chapter so I'll go right into my thank yous for that! Guest (Really pleased to read that you think the story is still a good one. And I'm so happy that you enjoyed the love scene between Castle and Beckett so much and thought it was so good as well),

TORONTOSUN (Great that you like they love dancing and singing, definitely wanted to show that so I'm glad you picked that up!) and

Mb (Really nice to read that you thought the chapter was a great update! And I'm glad you thought it was a fantastic surprise for the other parents to go out to the show so they could see their kids in the beginning of the dance and being on TV for the first time. Oh man, I'm so, so happy that you think I have the judge's responses down perfectly, lol, after watching the show since season 10 of it I hoped I could get each one of them down since they are such characters, lol. And it's great you see them as gradually building their scores, since a good contestant on the show will do that and I enjoy seeing those the most. Glad you thought the first half was a fun update and you're welcome for sharing it! I was also happy to read that you thought the second half was a really good update. Glad that you loved the kids being involved and having fun since I did want that to happen. Really pleased that you thought it was good scenes between Skye and Mary and that they showed how much they are in love with each other. Happy to see you thought Castle and Beckett at the end are sensual and loving together since I was aiming for that too. You're very welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thank you for the reviews, I loved reading them all and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _End of the Line_ , the information about it is in the A/N above.

When Somebody Plays

"What do you think?" Skye asked, walking over to the doorway that led outside.

"It looks like a waltz," Castle commented.

Rolling her eyes Beckett said, "It looks great. Your hands never looked better."

"Oh, thanks," Skye said, laughing. "You heard?" she asked Derek as he was walking to them and laughing as well.

"I did," the dancer replied. "What are we waiting for?"

"We're not," Skye said as she looked outside and spotted a car pulling up to the curb.

Following her, Beckett wasn't surprised when the rest of the band looked to the investigator. It was the twenty-third of September and they were at Union Station in Los Angeles to film the first of the two videos the group had planned. They'd arrived at nine-thirty and had been waiting, for that car she realized, which made her pay a little more attention to the door as it opened.

"Mr. Lynne," Skye said, approaching the man.

"Jeff is fine," the singer replied, shaking her hand. "We've arrived in time?"

"You have, considering our traffic you've gotten here in fantastic time," Skye replied with a smile.

"I can see why her British is thick right now," Castle said, a little stunned at seeing the singer. He'd been a fan of the band ELO and knew of the connection the singer had to the Beatles, so he glanced at Julia who was nearby with the kids to see her reaction.

"This is the O'Dells," Skye was telling Jeff. "My wife Mary and our friend Jackie who're rhythm and lead guitar but we can all play everything." She waited for the singer to shake their hands and turned her attention to the two men who'd been the most eager of the five of them to meet the singer.

"We're pleased to meet you," Barry said, shaking the man's hand warmly.

"This is Barry, our drummer," Skye said with a smile. "And his husband and our keyboardist and all-around musician, Raj."

"Rick," Beckett murmured to her husband as a second person left the car at that moment.

Glancing over, Castle froze when he saw the man and then said, "Is that-"

"Mr. Dylan," Skye was saying though she wasn't aware she was interrupting the writer. "Thank you so much for joining us here. We're ready to film the opening so we'll be able to go as quickly as possible."

"Is this the band?" he asked.

"It is," Skye said, introducing the band to the singer before he was asking her something that surprised her.

"Are all those kids yours?" the singer asked.

"No, I almost forgot," Skye said. "You said you'd seen the show on Monday?" she asked the two men. When they nodded, she told them, "These are the kids. And Julia's parents are here, the writers Richard Castle and Kate Beckett."

Castle was trying to realize fully that he had just shaken Bob Dylan's hand after it had happened but shook himself as Jeff was asking both him and his wife a question.

"Are you here for the entire show?" the singer asked.

"I should stop you before you say anything," Skye said with a smile. "And introduce the others." She did so with Eliza, Martha and Jim before introducing the men to her father and daughters. "And last is my partner on the show; Derek Hough."

"I've been waiting to tell you," Jeff said, going straight to the dancer to shake his hand. "You did a great job with our song for a Salsa, didn't know you could do that."

"Thank the kids too," Derek said. "They helped with the music. And Skye of course."

"What are you dancing to next?" Dylan asked.

Skye glanced at her partner, and when he nodded to her, she smiled slightly and told the man, "We're dancing the Viennese Waltz to _Behind That Locked Door_ ," watching him to see his reaction to that as Julia sucked in a breath of air audibly.

"You know the song?" Dylan asked her.

Nodding Julia said, "Peter and I danced to it before," a little shyly.

"Are you dancing next week?" Jeff asked her.

"No, it's just going to be them," Julia said quickly. "Which is good… they're going to honor George," she said, blushing as she realized what she was saying.

"She's right," Skye said with a smile as she'd seen the expression on the girl's face. "But we should turn to honoring the Wilburys."

"Great, is that our truck?" Jeff asked.

"It is," Skye replied.

"Are we driving it with you inside?" the singer said in surprise.

Shaking her head Skye said, "Insurance. We're going to have you pull in and… oh, there's the director. They got here Anne."

"I see," the woman said. "Are you ready to start?" When the two singers indicated they were she led them to the trailer where they could get their makeup.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Castle asked the investigator.

Shaking her head Skye said, "It wasn't for sure, especially Dylan. But they're not going to be here for very long. They'll be filmed until they stop, and we'll head onto the back and hop down."

"Still, the fact they're going to be in the video…" Beckett said.

Nodding Barry said, "We thought the same. They need to leave."

"They said they didn't want to have to stay for long," Skye replied. "Oh, we can head out now," she said as she saw Anne was walking to them.

"What do we do?" Peter asked Castle and Beckett in confusion.

"We wait," the former said first.

"You lot can head around the station," Skye said, walking over to them. She smiled as everyone looked at her and she told them, "Go ahead, it may not take all that long though."

"Then should we stay?" Beckett suggested.

"Yes, you'll have the chance to walk around later," Mary said before the director was calling to them.

"How are they with acting?" Martha asked her son and daughter in law.

"We'll find out," Castle said, not surprised his mother had asked that. He took his wife's hand while they were watching the two driving the old truck up to the doors of the station, not surprised it only took three takes before the director was satisfied. "She wasn't kidding," he murmured to her.

"I know, we'll have to see how this goes with them jumping out of the back," Beckett said, smiling at him.

"Alright, let's go in the order of Barry, Raj, Jackie, Mary and Skye," Anne was telling the band. "And you'll go ahead and shake Mr. Dylan's hand," she told the investigator. "Walk down to meet your band and then you'll head inside. No lip syncing since you're not going to sing until you're inside remember."

Beckett smiled as the band climbed up onto the back of the truck, playfully complaining while they were doing so, and shortly after they were set the truck was pulling forward slightly before stopping and the band jumped out together before Skye walked to the window. After her friend had shaken Dylan's hand she looked on while the band disappeared through the doors and she braced herself for the next takes. Luckily the director was satisfied after the second and they could head inside as the singers were coming inside.

While the crew was taking a break, Beckett gathered the kids and asked them all, "Do you want to go look around?" She smiled when they shook their heads vigorously before the investigator was calling to them.

After they'd all said goodbye to the two men, Skye promising them they would have the video to see as soon as it was ready, and she watched them go. She smiled at Beckett when she approached her and said, "We'll probably go quickly."

"You're hoping," she replied. Beckett then laughed and said, "To be honest I'm more interested in going to Olvera Street."

"Me too," Skye said with a smile as they were heading there for lunch.

"I like your shirt," Castle said, walking over to her.

"Thanks," Skye replied, her t-shirt having the cover of The Traveling Wilburys' first album on it. She wore a blazer over that, but had it unbuttoned so the album cover would be visible. "We're going to go through this verse by verse so…"

"We walked through already," Castle said. "And the kids want to watch you."

"They do," Beckett said with a smile, not surprised her friend looked at her. "And I get the feeling they're afraid they'll miss where we need to come on." Since the director was calling the band, she wasn't surprised when Skye nodded her head and then rushed away to them.

"Okay, since you're here Skye you'll all walk inside, and you'll start lip syncing and walking before you split up on the second to last line," Anne was telling them. "You two head over to those phones and the rest of you walk past the cameras."

Beckett saw Skye walking to Mary and they stood together before the director called for quiet and the song began to play back. The band was walking in while the investigator was lip syncing to her recorded voice though the others were doing the same when their voices as backup played too.

 _Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze  
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please  
Well it's all right, doing the best you can  
Well it's all right, as long as you lend a hand_

Julia's eyes widened as Skye and Mary didn't stop though that verse was over, and the latter took one of the payphones. She then smiled as Skye stood with her and watched her wife lip sync the next verse though she was lip syncing the backup vocals for the lyric _end of the line_. She wasn't surprised at the looks they were giving each other while doing that and she shared a smile with Mari before the doctor was finishing.

 _You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring (end of the line)  
Waiting for someone to tell you everything (end of the line)  
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring (end of the line)  
Maybe a diamond ring_

Beckett was surprised when the director told the band they could move on to the next verse; after Skye and Mary had left the pay phones and walked past the camera. But she recalled they had a second video to film and she said to her husband, "I wonder if we're going to be watching the other one."

"We can always go around the Promenade while we wait," Castle said, since the couple had told them they were going to wait there with everyone else. "Also, is she wearing the same outfit? Or I should say all of them."

"You'll find out," Mary said, walking to them. "We're heading inside more for this."

"Who takes Jeff's vocals?" Beckett asked.

"Me," Jackie called as she was standing near them. "Raj has Ray Orbison."

"Who do you guys have… or sing?" Clive asked Skye and the other two though he soon looked confused.

"I sing George's vocals," Skye answered.

"I sing Tom Petty's… hopefully well," Mary then said.

"I sing Bob Dylan's," Barry then said. "Let's hope he's alright with that."

"But…" Julia began as she knew already that his vocals hadn't sung a verse of that song. She then realized something about the second song they were making the video for and she was about to speak when Skye anticipated her and spoke first.

"I've got the vocals at the beginning," the investigator told her. "Barry sang it but for some reason they didn't like it."

"Your vocals work," the drummer told her. "We told you we loved the way you sang them."

"Alright," Skye said with a sigh. She then laughed and told everyone, "Bit late to change the song now since our recording is set."

"Okay," Anne was saying, directing that to Jackie, Skye and Mary. "You two," she said to the couple. "Walk over to where she's sitting, and we'll have the camera looking at her. But you'll be in the shot so remember that."

Nodding, Skye walked over to where she and Mary had walked past the camera before and they stood together while Anne was talking to their fellow guitarist. She glanced over at their daughters, waving to the three youngest when they did so. " _I feel bad_ ," she said in Russian to Beckett as she was close enough to them.

" _You shouldn't_ ," she replied. " _I think they're having fun. And we'll watch them so we won't get bored_."

" _Will your father and his mother take them around the_ Promenade _before we join you there_?" Mary asked in Irish so Castle would understand.

" _Are we going_?" he asked in surprise.

Shaking her head Skye said, " _You'll be able to watch on a_ TV _where we'll start filming at the top of the street_."

" _They might want to watch_ ," Beckett pointed out to her.

" _If they don't_ …" Skye began.

" _We'll take them_ ," Beckett promised her with a smile.

"Oh… _dinner at the pub_ ," Skye said rapidly.

" _They'll be happy_ ," Beckett said before she saw Derek had been watching and listening to them with a confused expression on his face.

"Those were two different languages, right?" the pro asked.

"Russian and Irish," Beckett replied with a nod. She then said, "Has she spoken anything to you?"

"Accidentally?" Derek said. When she nodded he said, "No, but I've been waiting for that to happen," before they looked back at the waiting room as someone was calling for quiet.

Castle, taking his wife's hand again, watched as Skye and Mary walked up to the other guitarist in the chair with an electric guitar on her lap. He knew; from the original music video; that it was the same kind of guitar Jeff Lynne had played though Jackie's was red and she was playing it even though it wasn't plugged in. He glanced at Beckett and made an impressed expression before she was smiling, and they turned as the woman's vocals were starting and Jackie was lip syncing on the chair and the couple were doing the same when they needed to.

 _Well it's all right, even if they say you're wrong  
Well it's all right, sometimes you gotta be strong  
Well it's all right, as long you got somewhere to lay  
Well it's all right, every day is judgement day_

At that point Skye and Mary walked past the woman, the former motioning to her to walk with them which they did together until they were past the camera.

"This'll take a while," Castle said to his wife as they were moving to a small newsstand that had been set up for the video.

Beckett looked at the kids, surprised to see they were sitting on the chairs near them and she was about to go check on them when quiet was being called for yet again. The next verse started, and Skye and Mary were walking together with Jackie behind them, the doctor lip syncing again and she wasn't surprised both of the other women were lip syncing with her.

 _Maybe somewhere down the road aways (end of the line)  
You'll think of me, wonder where I am these days (end of the line)  
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays (end of the line)  
Purple haze_

Julia, as Skye, Mary and Jackie walked up to where Raj was standing at the newsstand with Barry on the other side, wanted to ask when they'd discussed what they were going to be doing exactly. But the keyboardist was lowering the newspaper in front of him; that she was pleased to see had a picture of Roy Orbison on the front of it; and he was wearing similar glasses to the singer as he began to lip sync his verse while the other four were joining him where their voices were.

 _Well it's all right, even when push comes to shove  
Well it's all right, if you got someone to love  
Well it's all right, everything'll work out fine  
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line_

"Perfect," Anne said after she'd yelled out cut. "You guys look great and thank you for walking down to the hall and staying there."

"Guys," Skye called to the others watching them. "We're heading down here… let me come over there," she said in annoyance as she realized she was yelling and didn't really need to. She walked down to them with Mary and smiled when Fleur hugged her as soon as she was close. "Are you enjoying this _mon petite_?" she asked her.

"Yes, but when are we going on the train?" Fleur asked, leaning her head back to look at her.

"Soon, we only have one more verse before we can go," Skye replied. "As I was saying, we're heading down to the hall where the different tracks are and we're disappearing onto ours and after that we'll head up to the train." She noticed Julia was raising her hand and asked, "What is it?"

"When did you talk about doing all of this?" the girl said.

"While we were planning everything out to see if we _could_ do this," Skye answered. She smiled and said, "So Anne is just making sure we know what we're doing since we have another video soon."

"I can't wait for that," Ivy said.

"Me too," Skye said with a smile, ruffling her hair. She and Mary kissed their daughters quickly then before they went over to the rest of the band.

" _What're they going to do about that line_?" Castle asked his wife in Irish, keeping his voice down as they were close behind the camera on the other side of the hall that led to the train tracks.

" _We'll see_ ," Beckett replied simply as in front of them the group was walking toward them, and Mary was lip syncing the verse mainly while the others were joining her here and there.

 _Don't have to be ashamed of the car I drive (end of the line)  
I'm just glad to be here, happy to be alive (end of the line)  
It don't matter if you're by my side (end of the line)  
I'm satisfied_

Beckett shared a glance with her husband when the couple looked away at the second to last line, but they couldn't say anything as the band was returning to them and they had to move again.

"What's next?" Castle asked Mary when she walked to the girls.

"We get on the train," the doctor said, calming down her youngest daughters so she could talk to them. "You're going to be seated and you'll sit with your grandda," she said.

"He's here?" Marie asked in surprise.

"He's been on the train this whole time," Skye said, shaking her head though she was smiling. "So you'll sit with him, you two sit with Jim and an extra."

"Mother?" Castle asked slowly.

"I'll be near you with other extras," Martha replied easily. She then asked her daughter in law, "Are you going to check on Josie at all?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I texted already, and Lenora said she's fine, I'll text her once we're almost finished."

"It looks like it'll be soon," Castle said.

Looking over at where the crew and director were, Beckett watched Skye and Mary go over to where the woman was with the rest of the band before they were being called up one of the entrances to the track. "I forgot we were first," she told her husband.

"I know," Castle said before Peter was exclaiming in front of them.

"We're going up?" the boy said.

"Yeah, the tracks are up there," Kathleen told him.

"What's that? _Metrolink_?" Clive asked.

"It goes to the I.E. but we were lucky to get this one to use for the video today," Skye said behind them. She smiled at the others and said, "It's being repaired."

"I think they don't know what you meant by I.E. _grá_ ," Mary told her wryly. "It's the Inland Empire and east of us."

"How far does it go?" Castle asked.

"Well… I should be clearer and let them know it goes all over," Skye said. "But the ends of the line are five cities. You better get your seats, we need to start filming."

"Wait to look that up," Beckett told her husband as she knew he was wondering. "We have to sit, and we need to finish the video."

Nodding, Castle walked with her and the kids onto the train, not surprised when they looked at the steps. "I think we're on the lower level," he told the boys as he could see they wanted to go up.

"We'll see if we can look later," Beckett told them. She was relieved when they seemed to accept that, and they continued to where they were being directed to sit.

"Now what?" Eliza asked her parents, she and her sister sitting in the group of four seats looking at each other.

"And why are we sitting on the aisle?" Julia asked.

"I think that just randomly happened," Beckett said with a smile at them. "You've been doing a great job."

"We've just been watching," Julia pointed out.

"Still, you've been patient," Castle said, turning from the seats behind him where Peter and Mari were sitting with an extra. But at that point the band was on the platform outside and the director was calling outside before the band was running onto the train. He wasn't surprised to see Skye in the lead since she was lip syncing the first two lyrics before the rest of the band was doing so as they were following her, going down the aisle.

 _Well it's all right, even if you're old and grey  
Well it's all right, you still got something to say_

At the second line Skye looked at everyone and pointed to a few of the passengers to go with her words. She then looked at Jackie who took up the lyrics, putting her hands on Mary and Raj's shoulders as she was.

 _Well it's all right, remember to live and let live  
Well it's all right, the best you can do is forgive_

The band then ran down the aisle again while Jackie was lip syncing the first two lyrics and the camera filming them ahead ducked into an empty group of seats and Skye stood in the open doorway of the car to lip sync the last two lyrics while she was looking at the 'passengers,' the second camera in front of her.

 _Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze  
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please  
Well it's all right, even if the sun don't shine  
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line_

Beckett was a little startled when the five jumped out of the car though the director was soon calling cut to them. She laughed when Skye climbed back in and she said, "Don't tell me you have to do that again."

"No, we were lucky," the investigator said. Skye smiled and said, "So I want you two with the kids looking through the doorway here and we'll be filmed at the same time. Extras? Please come up behind them but don't push or else we'll have to film this again. And all of you wave to us since we'll be waving back."

"Skye?" Anne said. When the investigator turned she said, "We're ready."

"I forgot, were you going to have them approach the doorway?" Skye asked her.

"No, we'll show you walking and go to them there," Anne replied.

Beckett had Julia and Eliza come with them, not surprised the other kids joined them. She wasn't sure if Skye and Mary wanted their youngest to stand there as well but they were gathered in the doorway and she wasn't surprised to see Martha over her shoulder. She smiled before the director was calling to everyone to get their attention before she called action. The end of the song; just music; played, and she watched the band walk to a wall she knew had been made for the video. She just remembered to wave with the others as the band began to; and the director motioned them to do.

When the music stopped, Anne called, "That's a wrap, great job everyone."

"I guess filming with such a low budget makes things go faster?" Castle asked when Skye and Mary climbed up onto the train.

"It does, which is great because I'm starving," the investigator said with a smile.

"Me too," Iris said, going to her and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Can we look up at the floor up there?" Clive asked.

"Go ahead, but I would make it quick," Mary said. "You do want to eat."

"I do," Mari said though they were walking to the end of the car to head upstairs.

"What'd you think?" Skye asked her dad.

"Very nicely done," Liam replied. "I get the feeling you'd… already?" he then said as he saw the kids were coming down to them.

"We told them it's the same upstairs," Kathleen said.

"And we're all really hungry," Eliza said.

With some laughter, the group headed outside, the band talking to Anne who asked them to be at the Promenade by four. With them being allowed to go, they walked together outside and then across the street to Olvera Street.

"Alright," Skye said, turning to the kids with a smile at a large plaza with a gazebo in the center. "You're a bit young for this," she told hers and Mary's three youngest. "But it's a historic district from the beginning of this city, founded by the Spanish."

"She's right, and there's-" Mary started to say.

"Julia!" Castle and Beckett said at the same time as the girl suddenly took off towards a large building outside the plaza.

Though she knew she needed to stop, Julia couldn't and she paused at a street before she went right up to one of the glass windows, peering inside before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, thinking it would be her mother, before she stared in surprise at Skye as the investigator began to speak.

"I know," she told the girl. "I heard too but…" Skye began to say before they looked inside what they could see of the building. "Go back to your mom, go."

Feeling the heaviness in the air when the investigator had, Julia didn't need to be told twice and she turned around, running back to where her parents were across the street. As soon as she had reached Beckett, she wrapped her arms around her and pressed close against her while they were watching Skye. It was then she noticed the scent of lavender and she closed her eyes saying in her mind, _Help her Grandmama, just for now so she'll be okay_.

"Skye-" Beckett started to say before the woman staggered back and then walked over to them though Mary intercepted her first.

Shaking her head Skye said, "I don't think I was able to push that… negativity away." Her wife was holding onto her and she said, "I'm okay _grá_ , just a bit wobbly." She then turned her attention to Julia and said, "Your grandmother pushed me back."

"I know," the girl said with a nod. She then said, "Think the girl is okay?"

"I would try to help her on," Skye replied, looking back at the building. "But that negative energy won't let me."

"What did you see exactly?" Castle asked.

"A girl who was Chinese," Julia said when Skye nodded to her at her look. "She was standing in front of where I went. But when I went up to the windows she went inside, and I couldn't see her anymore."

"Wait," Castle said, stepping back and looking at the top of the three-story building. "Pico House…" he read at the top. "This is where _Ghost Adventures_ went."

"It is," Skye replied. "But the girl is a first… though I suppose it's not outside the realm of possibility since we're close to Chinatown," she mused. "I just hope she'll be alright," she said, turning to the building.

"Do you see her?" Mari asked Julia.

Shaking her head, the girl said, "No, I think she's back up at the top."

"Why would she be there?" Clive asked, having been watching everything in surprise. He had known about Julia's abilities but had never seen it happening in person and he wondered if she was okay as she was biting her lower lip.

"I think she always wanted to go inside," Julia said slowly. Her face screwed up in a look of disgust before she said, "But they wouldn't let her go because she was Chinese."

"She's right," Skye said, frowning herself. "They would chase her off if she got too close," she told everyone, shaking her head. "But she can go there in death, so she'll stay. She's ready to move on though, her mother is waiting for her…"

"We'll come back?" Mary asked.

"This is where my name can work in my favor," Skye said with a nod. She looked over at Beckett and then said, "But for now we should go. We're all hungry."

"Go ahead," Beckett told the others, going to Julia and holding her arm. She didn't say anything to her husband's questioning glance; knowing he was asking if he was okay staying behind too. Once everyone was far enough away, she looked at their second oldest and said, "Don't run off like that again."

"I know I just…" Julia started to say before she trailed off and glanced at her father.

"Was she telling you to go inside?" Castle asked.

"No," Julia said firmly, knowing what her father meant since she'd seen all the episodes of _Ghost Adventures_ with them. "She was a girl, maybe ten, but she was just saying hi… Oh! It's so Skye would come over and help her find her mom," she said eagerly. She saw her mother was looking at her and then mumbled, "Sorry Mom."

Sighing Beckett hugged her tightly and said, "It's alright, I felt… something heavy too."

"That's why you froze," Castle said. When she nodded he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her temple before telling her, "Well, Julia knows not to do that again…"

"I won't," the girl replied swiftly.

"And we should get some food," Castle said. "For-" he started to say, about to mention Skye, when the investigator herself called to them and they hurried to join them in the plaza by the gazebo before she spoke.

"I realized this was the perfect time to tell you," Skye began. "Next week we're heading to the Queen Mary."

" _GA_?" Castle asked.

When the investigator nodded Julia gasped and said, "Does that mean we can go?"

"It does but just for the day time," Skye said.

"That's not fair," Mari said. She wasn't surprised when the others looked at her and she said, "It's not, Julia should be going to the lockdown, not just you Skye."

"Let's head over to the restaurant," the investigator said. As they began to walk she said, "It's not up to me, it's more Rick and Kate's decision."

"You can see them during the day," Beckett said firmly when Julia looked at her. She wasn't surprised when the girl frowned but gently squeezed her shoulder before they were walking down the crowded street and stayed close together until they were going inside a restaurant with outdoor seating. They had to split up since their group was so large, but they were sitting and eating after as they'd missed the lunch rush.

"What are we doing next?" Eliza asked after they had finished and were walking out.

"Walk a little around here," Mary told them, holding Fleur on her hip as the street was crowded. "And then we head over to the Promenade."

"Where's Josa?" Eliza said to her mother.

"She fell asleep," Beckett said with a smile, looking at her husband.

"We didn't realize we'd finish during naptime," Castle commented with a smile. "So she'll meet us at the Promenade."

Beckett, still smiling as Eliza was obviously excited for their future plans, felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked at Skye who'd made her way over to her. "Change of plans," she stated instead of asking as she waited for the investigator to reply to that.

"Yes, Peter asked me about the In-N-Out by the airport," Skye replied. "And I realized we hadn't gone there yet while you're here."

"I'd like to do that," Castle told his wife.

Looking at him, Beckett smiled and then said, "Alright, but where are the headphones for Josie?"

"They're in one of the drawers in my room," Martha said as she'd heard that.

"Mom," Julia was calling them.

"Do you remember which?" Castle asked his mother as his wife left them.

"The top one on the… right," Martha said slowly as she was recalling. "Are you really going to take her?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine," Castle said before he went ahead of them to where his wife was with Julia, Peter and Mari. "You got a hat?" he asked the boy.

"Yep," Peter said, taking off his white straw fedora. "My mom said I could get something. Does it look weird?"

"No, it almost looks like a Panama hat," Castle said.

"I told you he'd think it was cool," Julia said, playfully socking him on the shoulder.

"Yeah," Peter said.

"Let's go," Skye was calling to everyone. "We need to make our way back to the plaza."

"How come?" Kathleen asked her mother.

"Some dancing," Derek said. He wasn't surprised when the others looked at him and he said, "We need some practice since she'll be working after this."

"Are the cameras here?" Julia asked.

"No, so just practice," Derek said. "You guys get a sneak peek."

Castle wanted to comment about that, but he felt Beckett's hand on his arm and he glanced at her before they were reaching the plaza again. They were standing together while the pair were dancing steps around the plaza and he wasn't surprised when people were stopping around them to watch.

"Oh… we have an audience," Derek said when they stopped the last bit he wanted them to practice and some people were applauding.

"Should we bow?" Skye asked wryly.

"Just hurry," Mary called to her.

Laughing together, the group went back to their cars parked at Union Station, talking about what they would do in the time they had at the Promenade before they split up and drove to Santa Monica.

* * *

"So there is a costume change," Castle said under his breath to his wife.

Beckett did say anything, shaking her head as she was smiling at the same time though she could see he was right on the screen they were watching with the director. They were across the street from the beginning of the Promenade, inside what she guessed was an office building, looking at a TV the crew had set up to watch the filming that was going on outside. "So that apartment is yours?" she asked Anne.

"It is, or else we would have been doing something a lot different," the director replied with a smile. She then said over the radio, "Are we ready?" Hearing the reply that they were she said, "Alright, action."

On the screen Skye was zipping up her boots and once the drums started in the song Beckett smiled at the sight of her walking in time to the beat. She had a feeling the band knew what they were going to do, but she wondered at the director's method as she had only told the group to remember what they had planned. But her attention focused back to the screen as the investigator had begun lip syncing to her vocals for the first three lyrics while she walked but after the first line climbed into the back of the truck from the train station that started to drive.

 _He loves your sexy body, he loves your dirty mind  
He loves when you hold him, when you grab him from behind  
Oh baby, you're such a pretty thing_

Castle couldn't help laughing as at the next lyric the rest of the group was leaning their heads into the shot and vocalizing though they were only moving their lips.

 _I can't wait to introduce you to the other members of my gang_

Smiling, Beckett watched as Mary kept her head close to Skye's though the other three had pulled out of the shot. When the investigator shook her head and nodded, all while lip syncing the second verse, she had to bite back some laughter as the doctor winked at her wife and moved before the truck was stopping at the end at the Promenade's beginning.

 _You don't need no wax job, you're smooth enough for me  
If you need your oil changed, I'll do it for you free  
Oh baby, the pleasure would be all mine  
If you let me drive your pickup truck and park it where the sun don't shine_

There was a break there in the vocals and at each drumbeat the group jumped down from the truck before Anne was yelling into her radio, "Cut!"

"How was it?" Skye asked as soon as Castle and Beckett were outside with them.

"Great, I was laughing at you," the former said to Mary.

Laughing herself the doctor said, "Wonderful, I wanted that reaction. The kids?"

"They're there," Beckett said. "We told them to go to the bookstore, but you can see they didn't really want to."

"That's a surprise," Skye said. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to go ahead and stop after we're finished here."

"Where are we going now?" Beckett asked.

"You'll all have to stay behind the camera," Mary said, both herself and her wife looking to Anne who was calling to them. "So you'll need to go to the other end of the street and watch the camera while it moves so you don't end up in the shot. But we want you watching us at the very end."

"We'll let you know," Skye said as they were rushing to gather with the rest of the band.

"Mom-" Julia started to say when her parents had reached her.

"We need to stay behind the camera," Beckett said, looking at all the kids. "That way they'll be able to finish filming sooner and we can go to LAX."

Castle wanted to comment about the kids all nodding their heads, but he held back and said to his wife, "You're sure about Josie staying at the house?"

"I am, better that she stays home instead of out here with all of this noise," Beckett said. "But tomorrow we'll stay with her." She wasn't surprised when her husband nodded, and they turned their attention to the band. They were all dressed differently from the previous video and were wearing three pins on their jackets which were all different types and styles. She smiled at Skye's pins; though the band had said they would give them to the kids; she had a picture of George on one, a sitar on the other and one of the Hindu god Vishnu. "I should ask where she got those," Beckett said softly to her husband.

"I already did, online," Castle told his wife.

Smiling at him Beckett said, "I'm not surprised you did."

Castle took the chance and pressed a kiss to his wife's cheek before they watched Skye and Mary going in front of the camera. He glanced at Beckett; not surprised she was too; and then heard Anne calling for quiet and yelling action.

Skye and Mary started to walk, looking into the camera that was in front of them and the former began to lip sync again, her wife joining her as the backup for that verse.

 _Every time he touches you, his hair stands up on end  
His legs begin to quiver, and his mind begins to bend  
Oh baby, you're such a tasty treat  
But I'm under doctor's orders, I'm afraid to overeat_

Beckett couldn't help being impressed at Skye making motions with her hands or facial expressions as Mary was just making facial expressions. She had to wonder about the rest of the band when the next verse was starting, and the pair was beginning to react to the lyrics.

 _He loves your sense of humor, disposition too  
There's absolutely nothing that he don't love about you  
Oh baby, I'm on my hands and knees  
Life would be so simple if I only had you to please_

"Cut! Beautiful," Anne said when the pair had walked past the camera to the crosswalk they'd come to at the end of the first section of the street.

"What about the rest of the band?" Julia asked her mother.

"I was thinking the same thing," Beckett said. She could hear a crew member telling Jackie they were going to film her scenes and said, "I guess they're separate."

"I was wondering about those instruments," Castle couldn't help commenting as they started with Barry first and he was playing the air with his drumsticks. The women had guitars they'd been wearing across their backs and Raj had a melodica. "We should ask him to actually play that," he couldn't help commenting.

"We'll wait," Beckett said, taking his hand. "Are you tired?" she asked Eliza as she had suddenly leaned against her.

"Little," she replied.

"Come here," Castle said, picking her up to set her on his shoulders. "Rest there until we need to move."

Beckett checked the little girl while Jackie and Raj filmed their parts before Skye and Mary walked to the start of the next section of the street. "Now what?" she asked.

"Just a little bit left and we're going to try to get it in one stretch," Skye explained. "You guys need to be there," she then told everyone, pointing out the drum and keyboard with microphones and amps. "We're not plugging in or playing but we'll be playing the music so you can react to that."

"That's… kind of far," Clive said slowly.

"There's a reason," Barry said. "You'll see," he said. When the director called to them he then told them, "Right now."

"Are you using a drone?" Castle asked in awe.

"Just for this end bit," Skye said. She was about to turn when she paused and then looked at Julia before the girl was telling her what she'd been about to say to her amusement.

"We can look at it," Julia stated.

"You can," Skye said. "But Rick," she said as she turned to him, pointing at him. "Do not touch, that is Darin's prized possession and it's for his career."

"Okay," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when both his wife and the investigator looked at him and he said slightly defensively, "I won't, seriously."

"Alright, we'll see you when we finish," Skye said. "Hopefully when we finish."

"You will," Beckett said.

"She's right," Liam added with a smile.

"Even I know that," Derek said. "You guys know this song as well as the Wilburys themselves."

"You've heard them play?" Mari asked the dancer once the band was back at the other end of the street at their instruments.

"I have, it's what you recorded right?" Derek said, directing the question to Beckett.

"They were in their backyard," she replied with a nod. Beckett then smiled and said, "I hope they will perform."

"They will, even if we're voted off," Derek said.

"We're ready," Anne called so everyone would know. Once she saw Skye and Mary were ready and the drone was set in the air she yelled, "Action!" and the music began where it had left off while the couple was walking, and the investigator was lip syncing.

 _Oh baby, turn around and say goodbye  
You're going to the airport now, and I'm going home to cry_

Becket turned to Julia who was jumping up and down next to her, not surprised at her reaction to the rest of the band walking up to Skye and Mary so they were walking in a line as they began the last section of the song, the drone moving in front of each of them while they were lip syncing in turn every other lyric, starting with Jackie. Skye took the next lyric that wasn't ' _He loves your_ ', Mary going next, then Raj and finally Barry. When they sang the line all together, whoever the camera was on would look to their left until it went from Barry to Jackie.

 _He loves your  
Electric dumplings  
He loves your  
Red bell peppers  
He loves your  
Fuel injection  
He loves your  
Service charge  
He loves your  
Five-speed gearbox  
He loves your  
Long endurance  
He loves your  
Quest for junk food  
He loves your  
Big refrigerator  
He loves your  
Trembling Wilbury  
He loves your  
Marble earrings  
He loves your  
Porky curtains  
He loves your  
Power steering  
He loves your  
Bottled water  
He loves your  
Parts and service_

The group stopped lip syncing when they reached the two instruments and got in place before they were all lip syncing to the last lyric of the song as they pretended to play, though Barry was actually playing the drums.

 _Dirty world, a dirty world, it's a dirty world_

"Cut! That's a wrap!" Anne called.

"That's it?" Julia asked her parents as the band were hugging each other.

"They practiced doing that already," Marie said with a smile. "At our house."

"And we couldn't stay here too long," Mary said as she and Skye walked over to the others. "Since this is a busy street."

"Are we going now?" Ivy asked.

"We are, we just need to change and then we can go," Skye said. "Quickly though, you do want to see the planes, don't you?"

"I think that's a yes," Beckett said when the kids all answered to the investigator's question in the affirmative, though in different ways.

"I think so," Skye said laughingly before they started to walk up the Promenade to return to their cars so they could visit the restaurant by LAX.


	14. When Somebody Plays (Part 2)

"There's one!" Kathleen cried out as they were reaching the seating area.

"One what?" Peter said before he looked over to where the girl was pointing, and his eyes widened when he saw the large plane in the distance.

"That'll be an A380," Skye said, looking with the kids.

"Are you staying _grá_?" Mary asked as she and Castle walked to the path over to the restaurant.

"Will you be alright?" Skye asked.

"I'll go with them," Jim said quickly.

"You don't have your radio Mum?" Marie asked her.

"It's back in the car," Skye replied, getting her camera ready. "I'll get it once this one lands."

"How close does it get…" Clive said slowly.

"Close but we'll be alright; don't worry," Skye said with a smile at him.

The plane was closer, and Fleur cried out, " _Corée_!" to her mother.

"Does that mean Korea in French?" Eliza asked her mother as the plane was a Korean Air.

"It does," Beckett said though she was speaking absently as she was checking on Josie. The baby sitter had brought her, and she was in her carrier with her headphones on and seemed to be alright.

"Is she kay?" Eliza asked.

"She is," Beckett replied reassuringly. She then smiled at her second youngest and said, "You didn't take a picture."

"I don't have my camera," Eliza replied. When her mother looked at her in surprise she couldn't help smiling and told her, "I wanna watch, you're gonna take pictures and so is Jules."

"Okay, but stay here," Beckett told her firmly. "Are you alright with her?" she asked Martha.

"I am, go," Castle's mother urged her as she was sitting at the table already next to the carrier. "I think Skye's about to leave."

"I am, I was just going to let you know," the investigator said before she then hurried down the sidewalk to where one of the cars was.

"What's the radio?" Mari asked Julia.

"It goes to the… tower?" the girl asked Marie and Kathleen.

"It does but she can't talk to them, just hear," the latter said.

"There's another one," Ivy said rapidly as she'd been watching the sky to the east.

"It's a Southwest," Skye said, walking back to them already.

Hearing the McDouglas kids groaning Peter shared a confused look with Clive and Mari and asked, "What is it?"

"Southwest has a hub here," Skye said. "And their terminal is right there," she told them, pointing out the planes in the distance. "So we see quite a lot." She saw that Peter looked thoughtful and she said, "If there's anything you want to know about the airport or planes you can ask. No question is silly." She smiled when the boy did before he was asking her while the plane went by them.

"There's more than one runway… you said two, right?" Peter said slowly.

Nodding Skye said, "Two here and on the south side of the airport are two more. We're not going to see every-" she started to say before the radio had had put on her belt started to speak.

"Is that an Air France?" Mari asked as they all listened to the conversation between the pilot and tower.

"It is," Skye said, looking at her watch. "It's an A350," she told them.

"How do you know that?" Eliza said with wide eyes.

"They have… schedules?" Marie started to say before looking at her mother.

"Right, they'll come at a certain time and day of the week," Skye replied. "This one's coming from Papeete."

"Pa… what?" Clive asked.

"It's in Tahiti," Beckett commented. When the three kids looked at her she said, "Did Julia tell you that's where we go?"

"I never said the city Mom," the girl explained to her.

"It's the capital," Beckett said simply as the plane was nearing. She noticed that Julia took a picture of the plane quickly before turning to her. "We're still going," she said quickly.

"You knew what I was going to ask?" Julia said as she was smiling.

"I did," Beckett said.

"There's a Virgin America plane on the way," Skye said, listening to her radio. "And another Southwest." At the groans of her daughters she laughed and then told them, "Alright, alright I know you lot don't like there being so many of those, but they need to land somewhere."

At that moment Castle, Mary and Jim returned with their drinks; since they weren't going to order food just yet; and the writer went over to his wife as Jim sat with Martha to watch Josie.

"Anything interesting?" Castle asked his wife.

Beckett listed the planes and said, when he glanced to the sky, " _I know what you're thinking_ ," speaking in Irish.

" _How would you know_?" Castle said.

Shaking her head Beckett said, " _I thought the same when she said the name of the city. But we have a while until… whenever we go_."

" _It's still for your birthday, whenever that is_ ," Castle said rapidly.

Beckett couldn't respond right away as an Alaska Airlines plane passed them by and she smiled as Eliza was squealing as the Eskimo in the back had a lei around it. When it had gone to the runway, she turned her attention back to her husband and said, " _It doesn't need to be if it's past the seventeenth. We can make it just for us_."

" _True… but you realize in the end it is about us_ ," Castle pointed out to her.

" _That's me telling you we should do that anyway_ ," Beckett replied. When her husband wrapped his arm around her she smiled and then told him, " _We need to stop_."

Castle studied her, since that seemed to be a strange thing to say when they were surrounded by their family, friends and strangers, but realized there was another reason she'd said that. " _What's wrong_?" he asked her.

Shaking her head Beckett didn't reply to that, but with her husband watching her instead of an American Eagle plane she sighed. " _I did want to do something tonight_ ," she told him.

" _Me too_ ," Castle said.

" _We were together the last two nights_ ," Beckett commented.

" _Yes, and we've done that before_ ," Castle replied. " _Remember we just let things happen as they will_."

" _You'll use any excuse to use that phrase_ ," Beckett told him teasingly. When he nodded; smiling at the same time; she laughed and squeezed his arm before she said, " _I know… I just wonder if it's normal_."

" _It is_ ," Castle replied. When she looked at him, he shrugged and then said, " _Really_."

Beckett shook her head; smiling at the same time; before she said, "Okay, but we should focus on them now."

"Oh, that reminds me," Castle said. "How's Josie been doing?"

"Good, she's awake if you're wondering," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband let her go and she watched him go to the carrier to check on the baby. When he took her out she said, "She won't see them."

"It doesn't matter," Castle said quickly, making sure the headphones were okay on her head.

"Never too early to introduce them to planes," Skye said with a smile as she had walked up to them.

"You taught them all to fly," Beckett said suddenly, realizing that about their past lives.

"Oh sure," Skye replied.

"You'd be more surprised if she hadn't," Liam called from where he was with the kids, holding the radio.

"That's true," Beckett admitted before she smiled. "And despite my protests."

"For all of that you didn't care in the end," Skye replied. "Just you being a mother."

"That's not a surprise either," Castle commented.

"Mum!" Kathleen called. "There's a 747 coming in."

"I was just checking on Josie myself," Skye said swiftly.

"Richard," Martha called. When he turned she asked, "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"School," Beckett answered before her husband could. "We need to catch up."

"But what about practice?" Julia said, looking at the investigator.

"We're only practicing for a few hours," Derek said, responding to his partner's glance. "And I think you need to pay more attention to school."

"That's unfair," Mari said, pretending to grumble.

"We don't get to go to the camera blocking, do we?" Peter asked.

"Not this time," Skye said. "But once you lot dance you'll need to go for that."

"Would you ever have us dance with you again?" Julia asked rapidly as an Alitalia plane was going by.

Waiting for the plane to go by Derek said once it had, "I will if it calls for kids."

"Hey," Clive said. "We're good dancers," he continued with before they all started to laugh.

"We'll let you know," Derek said when they'd managed to stop.

After they'd watched the planes for nearly an hour more Castle went inside with Mary, Liam and Jim to order their food.

"I thought that was so cool," Peter was saying to Skye as they were sitting for another rest from standing. "The music videos," he explained as she looked at him.

"Oh, I'm glad you enjoyed it, you were mostly watching," the investigator said.

"So you can really play the guitar you had," Clive said.

"I can, we all had our instruments," Skye said with a nod. She listened to her radio and said, "Interesting."

"What?" Marie asked.

"Swiss, I think they started a new route," Skye replied.

"Have you been there?" Julia asked.

"Switzerland?" Skye asked. She smiled when the five Hamptons kids nodded, and she said, "I have, a few times actually."

"For… your job?" Mari asked hesitantly.

"We went," Kathleen told her. "Once and the other times were for something about pilots."

Laughing Skye said, "Conferences in Zürich." She glanced at Beckett and was about to ask her friend what she wanted to know when the writer was speaking first.

"You can speak all the languages over there," Beckett commented.

"Everything except for Romansh," Skye said with a nod. She then glanced to the sky after the Swiss plane had gone by and said, "I think we have a bit of a break just now."

"Why is it so busy?" Julia said then, looking at the drive thru.

"It's always like this," Marie said.

"Because of the airport," Kathleen added.

"What's wrong _mon petite_?" Skye asked Fleur as the little girl had come over to her and wrapped her arms around her. When her daughter shook her head, she hugged her and said, "Would you like to go inside?"

Beckett wasn't surprised when Fleur spoke to her mother in French and Skye responded in turn. She felt a little bad that she could understand but wasn't surprised when the little girl was asking if everyone knew about her.

" _They do_ ," Skye told her. " _But you're being very brave_."

" _You too Maman_ ," Fleur said, pressing closer to her.

" _Thank you, I'm very proud of you_ ," Skye replied. She smiled and then hugged her daughter before she looked at Beckett. " _You understood_?" she asked her in Russian. When her friend nodded she said, " _It's alright, she just doesn't want anyone to ask her about it_."

" _It makes sense_ ," Beckett said with a nod.

"What are you saying?" Fleur asked her mother in English.

"Oh, just talking about how we love our daughters," Skye said. She smiled when Fleur blushed a bit and she kissed her cheek before she handed her the radio telling her, " _Ĕtre á l'affut_?" asking her to be on the lookout.

" _Oui_!" Fleur said happily before she went over to the sidewalk with her sisters and the other kids.

"Is it difficult for her still?" Derek asked, having gotten an idea of what the conversation in French had been.

With a brief nod Skye said, "There are times when she'll have nightmares. Luckily the last time Eliza was there with her and she comforted her." She then spotted the others coming with the food and she said quickly, "I should have asked her about the lookout after we ate," before she and Beckett got up to get the kids back to the table.

"But Mommy," Eliza said in protest. "There's another plane!"

"I see," Beckett replied, since she had seen the lights in the distance. "And we'll watch the plane while we're eating. You don't want your burger to get cold."

"We can stand," Julia said teasingly. She stifled a laugh when her mother gave her a 'you're not helping' look and went the rest of the way to the table where their family was.

While they were eating the parents were doing their best keeping the kids from running over to the sidewalk, which was difficult since there were more planes at that point. But when they had finished they went back to watch while the adults stayed at their tables.

"What time do you want me there?" Skye asked her partner.

"Nine," Derek said. "We'll practice until lunch."

"Do you want me to teach them at all?" Skye said to Castle and Beckett.

"After lunch we should have a day in Madrid," the former said.

Alright," Skye said with a nod. "But today wasn't all that bad."

"You're tired, aren't you?" Mary asked her wife with a smile.

"And you aren't?" Skye retorted quickly.

"Oh no, I am," Mary replied. "But at least you admitted it."

"Kind of in a roundabout way," Castle said.

"Close enough," Mary said, rolling her eyes before they started to laugh.

Beckett looked at the kids when she had calmed down and saw they were talking together as Marie was holding the radio. She was about to speak when she realized the older twins were starting to argue, beginning to call to Skye and Mary to let them know when the investigator was getting up.

"Marie, Kathleen," Skye said to them firmly. When they stopped and looked at her she said, "Why are we fighting over the radio?"

"I wanted to hold it," Kathleen said softly at her mother saying her full name.

"Which you have actually," Skye said. "Here," she told her oldest. When the girl had handed the radio to her she turned to Ivy and said, "Your sister hasn't had the chance yet. And if I hear arguing over it, it's going back into the car."

"Sorry Mum," the twins said together.

"I know, but we've talked about it," Skye said, motioning to the two so they would hug her. She squeezed them close and then said, "Though I don't blame you. Now, what're you going to do."

"Watch for the next planes," Marie said.

"Nice _grá_ ," Mary said to her wife when Skye sat down next to her.

"They always argue over that," the investigator said, shaking her head. She then smiled and said, "But I suppose there's something exciting in holding the radio."

"Can I ask you about next week?" Castle said after they were silent, watching a private jet coming in to land.

"Yes, we can go around the ship after I talk with Zak," Skye replied. She looked at the couple and said, "Not buying it?"

"Not really," Beckett said.

"Okay," Skye said. "We'll see them first as they want to film their segments. After that we can go through the ship, but I'd suggest going around quickly."

"The aquarium?" Mary asked.

"Why doesn't she know about this already lass?" Liam asked his daughter.

"I just realized," Skye replied.

"What about the lockdown?" Beckett said.

"Well, we'll only be there for half of it," Skye said. She opened her mouth to speak before she paused and then glanced over at her wife, who let out a heavy sigh.

"You're such a coward," Mary told her jokingly before she turned her attention to the other couple. "She's including you two."

"We already knew," Beckett commented. She smiled slightly when Skye turned her attention to her and said, "What you expect me to do though…"

"I suppose it's better to wait until we get there," the investigator said. She was about to speak again when Castle's phone began to ring asking, "Alexis?"

"Yeah… oh, it's only ten for her," he said, looking at his watch.

"Julia, Eliza," Beckett called out to the girls. When they looked over at her she said, "It's your sister."

"Hold on," Castle was telling Alexis. He tapped where he needed to so they could have a video call and handed the phone to Eliza. "Sweetheart," he said laughingly as she made a face at her sister.

"Lizzy," Alexis said with a smile. "How are you… where are you?"

"At the In-N-Out by the airport," Julia answered as Eliza moved the phone so they could all see the young woman. "We've been taking pictures. And we had dinner here too."

"It sounds like fun," Alexis said. "Did you watch the music videos being filmed today?"

"Yeah, we went to the train station, on the train," Eliza said. "And then the street in Mexico and the Promenade."

"The street in Mexico?" Alexis asked in confusion.

"Olvera Street," Castle hurried to explain. "An old street. We had lunch there before we walked around. Your ma and sister have pictures."

"I look forward to seeing those," Alexis said before Julia suddenly burst out speaking.

"We're going on _Ghost Adventures_ next week," the girl said in a rush.

"Not exactly," Skye called so Alexis would hear her. "Your ma will be joining me, your dad and Mary there for support."

"We'll be able to see the episode, right?" the young woman asked.

"You will," Beckett said with a nod. "But that's next week. How are things with you?"

"That patient is still meeting with us," Alexis said. "But I'm working more with them, Dr. Frost thinks I can do better work with them than she can."

"So she has more trust in you," Castle commented.

"It looks like it," Alexis said, nodding. "That's it for me," she then said. "I should let you go to enjoy the planes," having to pause for one passing by.

"What was it?" Eliza asked her grandparents.

"Hawaiian Airlines," Jim said. "It's nice to see you Alexis."

"Oh, sorry Grandpapa, Gram," the young woman said. "I didn't see you there. And what about Josa?"

"She's asleep," Beckett said, glancing at the carrier. "But you're going to bed soon, aren't you?"

"Louis needs to," Alexis said. "I'm going to read some case work. I love you, all of you, and we'll talk soon."

Everyone in the family said goodbye to the young woman before she was hanging up her connection and Castle was doing the same with his. "Okay, how much longer do we have?" he asked his wife as the girls hurried back to the others.

"Not that much," Beckett said. She stood up and leaned over the baby saying, "Since she's asleep." She watched her husband lean over and kiss the baby's forehead before she watched Skye and Mary getting up to join their daughters. "Come on," she told him.

Castle was a little startled at his wife taking his hand, but when she tugged him towards the sidewalk he was quick to follow. And while they were watching the planes coming in he wrapped his arm around her waist as she began taking pictures. They listened to the kids exclaiming over each plane as it called on the radio and flew past them while dusk settled around them.

* * *

"Rick?" Beckett called to her husband as she leaned over the railing.

"Yeah?" Castle asked her, turning from the stove to look up.

"Is the tea almost ready?" Beckett said.

"Almost," Castle replied after he'd looked at the kettle. He then glanced up at her asking, "Am I taking too long?"

"No," Beckett replied. "I just feel awkward here by myself."

"It's ready," Castle said rapidly as the kettle began to whistle. He took it off the burner before he poured it out into the two mugs he had set up and then made his way up to his wife. "You don't want anything else?" he asked her.

"No," Beckett said firmly as she kissed him on the lips quickly. "This is enough."

"Did you get everything ready for them tomorrow?" Castle said as they sat on the window seat.

"I did, it didn't take very long," Beckett replied. She set her mug aside; to let it cool down; before she said to him, "What about you?"

"It didn't take me very long either," Castle replied. "Just some history and math… we are teaching them Friday?"

"We are," Beckett said with a nod. She then told him, "But Friday we'll stop early for P.E."

"A walk tomorrow?" Castle inquired. When she nodded he did the same and said, "Great."  
"What is it?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

Shaking his head Castle said, "It's nothing."

"Really?" Beckett commented. When he looked at her in confusion she told him, "If you've thought of it I'm sure it's not nothing." She waited then, picking up her mug of tea to drink while she let him find what he wanted to say.

"It's… you asked if what we do is normal," Castle said. "How many times," he quickly corrected himself. "What was it like for you before?" he said after a moment of hesitation.

Beckett couldn't really pretend she wasn't aware of what her husband was talking about and she said, "It wasn't like it is now." She took another sip of tea and told him, "But that's all I really want to say."

"That's fine," Castle replied quickly. "You don't need to say anything else." He looked down at her mug and said, "Do you want another cup?"

"No," Beckett said, handing it to him. She watched him go and then leaned back, looking at the ceiling before she heard the water in the sink running. She stood up and was about to go downstairs to join him when she saw he was coming up. "That was fast," she said in slight surprise.

"I just filled them with water," Castle said, wrapping his arms around her as soon as he was with her. He kissed her but kept it gentle and short before they parted slowly making him say, "You wanted to…" stopping himself when he realized he wasn't sure he wanted to say that.

"Start?" Beckett finished for him. When her husband nodded quickly she smiled and said, "I would. But you should know I don't want to delay."

"Okay," Castle said, not sure what else he could say to that. When she kissed him, he held her tightly against him before they began to duel with each other's tongues until they moved away slowly. "What do you want to do first?" he asked.

"Here," Beckett replied, reaching up to him and unbuttoning his shirt. She pulled it apart once she had finished; as he had remained still and let her continue; and then said, "I didn't want to go that slowly."

"Yeah… I was enjoying that," Castle said though he wasn't speaking apologetically. He then took off his shirt himself before he moved to get rid of the rest of his clothes while she was doing the same in front of him. He watched her move to the bed and he was following, getting on his knees with her before she pressed her hand to his chest and he said, "I'm fine."

"You're sure?" Beckett said.

Leaning over, Castle kissed her gently on the lips before he said, "I am, but if you want me to lay down…"  
Beckett's response to that was to kiss him, gently on the lips at first before she deepened it. She gasped into his mouth before she pulled away and said, "You took that as permission," teasingly.

"Yes," Castle said simply as he had reached around her and grasped her ass firmly.

"Come here," Beckett said, pulling him with her and making him lay down on the bed.

"I asked you," Castle told her teasingly.

"I know, but I think how I answered was a lot better," Beckett told him.

"I think I have to agree," Castle said after he pretended to contemplate that for a moment.

"Pervert," Beckett said with a slight laugh before they kissed one another. She let him slip his tongue into her mouth and turn her onto her back though she had wanted him to stay on his. Eventually they needed to stop and when they were apart she reached up and cupped his face before she said, "You interrupted me."

"I know, sorry," Castle said as he let go of her and moved to get on his back. He wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her back and saying, "What're you thinking?"

"You'll find out," Beckett said simply. When he frowned at her she laughed softly and said, "To be honest I wanted to pleasure you."  
"First?" Castle asked to make sure.

"Yes," Beckett replied firmly.

"I'm going to let you," Castle said, studying her closely. "I know you want to." He wasn't surprised when she let out an exasperated breath and then pressed her face into his neck. He reached up to caress her hair and said, "As long as you enjoy it."

Raising her head Beckett said, "I do." She studied him for a moment and then leaned down, meeting his lips for a kiss that soon after became intense while she could feel him caressing the back of her body. When she needed to breathe she ended the kiss, pulling away from him and then moving, startled when her husband grabbed her. She looked at him in confusion before he asked her something that made her begin to smile.

"I can do the same to you, right?" Castle said.

"Do you really need to ask?" Beckett inquired, one eyebrow raised.

"I mean you're going to let me finish," Castle said.

"As long as you let me do the same," Beckett pointed out. When he nodded she smiled again and kissed him before he was responding, and they were soon dueling with their tongues again. She didn't let that last for too long, pulling away and then moving to kiss around his jaw. Moving from there she went to his chest, kissing at it a few times before she paused and then said, "Can I?"

"Yes…" Castle said, reaching up to hold onto the back of her head while she was lowering it. He let out a hiss as she wrapped her lips around his nipple and held her with his arm tightly, digging his fingertips into her skin since she had sucked at him. "Kate," he groaned heavily.

Raising her head, Beckett smiled and then kissed him quickly before she moved down his chest again. She worked on his other nipple for a bit, moving down as she found she couldn't wait any longer. While she was doing that she could hear her husband's breathing growing rougher and rougher and she didn't stop until she reached his erection and paused there to look at him.

"What is it?" Castle asked, trying not to strain at how close she was to him.

"Will it be alright if I touch?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"Yeah but… not too much," Castle begged her.

Leaning over, Beckett pressed a quick kiss to his lips before she moved down as fast as she could until she reached where she'd left off. Taking his member in her hand she lowered her head to it and began to gently kiss him, going over him as much as she could until she had worked her way back up to the tip.

"I… I thought you s-said you were going to t-touch," Castle stammered as he was watching her licking at him almost hungrily. He couldn't wait for her answer, throwing his head down on the pillow under him as her tongue started to try and curl around him.

Hearing the way he was groaning her name, Beckett was pleased to get a reaction from him before she moved again. That time she was slipping him inside of her mouth and she immediately proceeded to bob her head up and down. She kept her speed slow at first and began to speed up a bit more while her husband was calling her name in pleasure. While she was doing that she reached up to him with her hand, gently cupping him as he yelled to her.

Relieved when his wife stopped shortly after that, Castle breathed out, "That… that would have been too much." He half expected her to respond, but she was still working over him and he didn't bother to say anything else, laying back on the bed fully again. She wasn't stopping over him and while he did his best to withstand her he groaned, "I'm going to come love… you're too g-good."

Though she wanted to smile at his stammering, Beckett nodded her head, hearing him swearing as she'd done it enough to move on him. When she felt he was calm she laved her tongue over the tip of him for a bit before she went back to working over him. Doing that for barely a minute more, she could feel his body under hers tense up and she knew he had reached his peak. Her name coming out of him in a near yell, she was quick to take his release and felt him stopping and starting to move as she knew he was trying not to thrust. Finally, he was laying still on the bed and she kissed over his erection that hadn't diminished yet before she let him pull her up to him.

Castle was pleased when his wife was ready to meet his kiss and they were holding onto one another tightly as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. After they'd parted he said, "Thank you," breathing out the words.

"You're welcome," Beckett said with a smile. "But I wanted to," she reminded him.

"Yeah," Castle said, breathing out hard again. He rubbed her back and then said, "I need to recover; don't think I don't want to."

"I wasn't thinking that," Beckett replied easily. She brushed her lips to his and then said, "But I wasn't going to make you start right now."  
Castle nodded and then reached for her to bring her down to him for another kiss and once they'd parted he told her, "I can do something now."

A little startled, Beckett couldn't help letting out a gasp as her husband moved so he could flip her onto her back. She only had a moment to respond to his kiss but was lucky to have expected it enough to do so quickly. After they had parted she smiled and said, "I don't need anything so badly you-" when he was kissing her a second time. When he lingered, she realized why that was and she gently pushed against his shoulders so he would look down at her. "Don't worry," she said as he seemed to look both hopeful and concerned at the same time.

"About…" Castle began as she wasn't continuing after that.

"I still want you, but you don't need to race to me," Beckett replied before she reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand.

"I want you though," Castle told her earnestly. When his wife merely smiled at him he had to kiss her and he did so lovingly before they were parting and he told her, "I adore you Kate. I can show you, right?"

Beckett found she didn't really want to respond to that vocally, so she merely nodded her head before he was leaning down to her and kissing at her neck. She knew he would slightly follow what she had done to him as he moved back up to her jaw and she sighed in pleasure before he moved away.

"When you let me have your breasts again… I'm going to work them over," Castle groaned as he pushed himself up. "I mean," he said, frowning when he realized what he had said. "I'll do that with my mouth and hands and pleasurably so-"

Gently covering her husband's mouth with her hand Beckett said, "I know love, just hurry."

As he was nodding his head rapidly, Castle carefully moved her hand from his mouth before he went to her abdomen. He began to kiss over it gently and then trailed his lips down to her mound. Pulling away a little, he looked up at her to see she was watching him, and he took her hand that came down to rest on the top of his head. Kissing her palm lovingly he told her, " _Is breá liom tú_ Kate," using Irish to tell her he adored her again as he felt it was needed.

" _Is_ -" Beckett began, wanting to tell him the same before her husband was moving to her sex. She gasped as he pressed a firm kiss to her clit and then moaned when his mouth was taking the swollen nub to begin sucking on it gently. "Rick…" she sighed as she couldn't stop her body stretching in reaction to the pleasure that he was making her feel. When she stopped she wasn't surprised to find her legs were over her husband's shoulders or that he was holding onto her.

After a moment, Castle moved to go lower on her and gently slid his tongue past her swollen folds. He wasn't surprised when she cried out heavily in pleasure in response to him and he had to push his hands down on her legs so she wouldn't push him off her. He was able to calm her down slightly, but it wasn't for very long as he was moving his tongue within her, feeling her beginning to writhe underneath him. He brought his hand into play shortly after, realizing she was close already, and pushed her steadily to the edge.

"Oh… you… you haven't been working on me for that long!" Beckett moaned as she realized what he was doing. When he wasn't stopping, she arched her back and suddenly broke when his tongue rubbed hard against her that time, crying his name repeatedly. Her orgasm was rough, and she wasn't sure how much she was moving for him but he wasn't doing much to her so she let that go before she was slowing down and then completely still. "Thank you," she breathed when she felt she could speak.

Castle didn't reply at first, too busy making sure he'd finished completely until he was moving so he could lay next to her, kissing her hungrily. He was pleased when she responded to him and they were busy with their tongues for some time. When they had stopped and pulled away he pressed his forehead against hers telling her, "You're welcome."

"You enjoyed it?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"As much as you enjoyed doing that to me," Castle assured her. He then laid down and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tightly to his side before he said, "I hope we'll manage something else if you'd like."

"I don't blame you," Beckett replied. She couldn't help laughing when he was looking at her in surprise and she said, "I can feel you."  
"Yes… I can feel me too and it's really making me hope I don't explode," Castle said swiftly.

"Why would you?" Beckett said in confusion.

"Even this…" Castle began.

"You don't need to kiss my ass," Beckett commented wryly.

"Oh of course not," Castle said, cupping his hand over her ass as he was well aware that was her invitation for him to do that. "But why are you so unaware of your power over me?"

"Is that you telling me that you want me to be a dominatrix right now?" Beckett said as she pushed herself up to get on top of his body. She raised her body up but kept her head close enough to him so she could feel his breath on her lips.

"You've never done that fully," Castle said. "And I really don't want you to."

"Are you sure?" Beckett said with a smile as she knew he was. When he pulled her down to him, she went with him before she was suddenly on her back again. The kiss over, she smiled at him and said, "I don't want to."

"It's a surprise," Castle confessed to her.

"I know," Beckett said, nodding her head. She then smiled and said, "I did that enough in interrogation, I deserve a break."

"And a reward," Castle said rapidly. When she looked at him in surprise he said, "You're good at it, and I wanted you watching you."

"While we were talking?" Beckett said. She smiled when her husband kissed at her ear before he nibbled at her lobe which made her sigh. "Rick… wait," she told him. She was a little surprised when he immediately pulled away and she said, "How-"

"I've taught myself to," Castle replied simply. He was going to ask her what she wanted when she grabbed his erection, jerking as he breathed out heavily. He moved with her so he could enter her and they were groaning in joy as they were shortly after coupled. "I…" he began. He stopped himself and said, "I'm so glad you're aroused."

"I wouldn't have pulled you here," Beckett said, pausing a bit here and there as she was moving her hips back and forth slightly and feeling him easily.

Castle was more than ready to move when he paused and asked her, "What do you want?" startled as she was shaking her head.

"You pick," Beckett said simply. She saw his desire to protest but she merely stared at him before he sighed and then bowed his head near her shoulder. Though she had to push herself up a little she raised her head and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "What do you want Rick?" she asked him.

Looking at her Castle said, "I want to fuck you."  
"I want you to do that too," Beckett said with a smile.

"Were you trying to get me to say that?" Castle asked her. When she just looked at him again he grit his teeth for a moment before he moved. He was pleased when Beckett cried out heavily in pleasure as he was rough immediately and he didn't pause, moving repeatedly until he realized she was moving her legs. "What-" he started to say.

"I wasn't sure what I wanted," Beckett replied, moaning throughout between her words. She'd wrapped her right leg around his waist and raised her left so he would hold it under his arm. Their first thrust after they were set in their position they were groaning together before he was leaning down to try and kiss her. She needed to push herself up, but they were able to meet and after their tongues were curling together in their mouths she reached up to hold onto his arms as tightly as she could.

Castle watched her fall back fully to the bed, moving at the same time to start varying his thrusts. He was pleased when her leg around his waist immediately tightened in response and he did that for some time. He kept his eye on her while he was giving her his slower thrusts. She arched her back and he felt her nipples just barely brushing against him, making him go into his harder thrusts. Beckett was crying out his name and her grip on his body was even stronger until he was slowing down again. He had no idea how many times he was doing that but finally he couldn't help himself and he stopped, turning her around with him so she was above him.

"Do you want me to…" Beckett began, gently running her hands over his hair, nails raking along his scalp.

Shaking his head Castle said, "This is just so we don't explode now." He smiled when she laughed softly, and they then kissed, doing so sensuously before he started to caress her hair and back until he was at her ass. There he hesitated, wondering if he should ask her for something he wanted badly when she had let him do so much already. Luckily his wife seemed to sense what he wanted, and she was bringing her lips against his to have them brush together while he spoke. "Can-" he began before he stopped himself and pulled away.

Beckett was startled when he had her get off him, but she moved quickly, losing her surprise when he pushed her against the headboard. She looked at him over her shoulder and asked in amusement, "You couldn't have told me that?"

"Not really," Castle said simply, kissing at her shoulder. He moved up to her neck and pulled her hair carefully out of the way before he was nibbling at her skin. "Love," he murmured to her.

"Here," Beckett said, reaching back to him and taking his hand. When she placed it on her ass she told him, "You made me anticipate."

"If you wanted it already you should have told me," Castle replied, moving his head so they could kiss. They were a little intense, but they soon parted, leading him to slap her firmly to her short cry.

"Again?" Beckett asked him.

Castle was momentarily surprised, but guessed she really did want him to, so he responded by slapping her a second time, grasping her ass a little hard before he was moving. Hearing her gasp as he pressed fully against his back he murmured into her ear, "Do you want this?"

"Yes, but…" Beckett started to say. She had to stop talking as her husband was reaching down in between her legs to rub her clit for a moment and she was moaning in response. When she had managed to stop she continued saying, "I want you to fuck me into the bed before we come."

"I will," Castle promised before he was taking her hand and they worked together to help him slip inside her sex. Once he was there he took her hips and while she was leaning over on the bed he thrust as hard as he could until his hips were slamming against her ass. He was groaning and swearing while she was crying out heavily at the sensation. He started to move and was hissing when she thrust herself and he kissed at the side of Beckett's head wildly, wishing he could get to her lips. But he made do with her back and shoulders until he stopped thrusting.

"Don't," Beckett said when she could feel her husband was about to move. "Lay me down."

Hearing her tone, Castle didn't respond verbally, instead moving to withdraw from her and allow her to lay down on the middle of the bed again. He moved down, sucking at her clit a bit before he pushed himself up and entered her again as she held onto him. Thrusting hard he ended up ramming into her and they both reacted vocally in their pleasure which made him start thrusting as soon as their skin was touching, his wife holding onto him tightly with both her arms and legs. He knew they were close, but she was begging him to fuck her, even as he was, and he tried to move faster to please her as they kissed hungrily.

After their kiss they were engaged in at that moment, she wasn't sure how many they'd been involved with, Beckett tilted her head back and she was moaning, "I'm going to come Rick… please… don't stop… I… don't stop fucking me… Rick!" before she broke. Her orgasm was strong and nearly took away her breath, but she wouldn't let it as she was calling Castle's name repeatedly until she was stopped feeling him joining her. She was gasping and clinging to him desperately as the sensation of his fulfilled desire was making her even hotter and her sex was throbbing uncontrollably. When she was stopping she was limp but sated while she waited for her husband to finish which he soon did.

"I didn't… hurt you… did I?" Castle asked panted before he was really ready to speak.

"No," Beckett said, glad he'd given her a moment to process the way he'd shuddered so hard with his last thrust that it almost turned into a second one. He'd collapsed on her a bit, but he had his weight above her enough and she squeezed his back with her hands. "Are you okay?" she asked him with a smile.

"Yeah," Castle said, breathing out heavily. He then moved to pull away from her, a little surprised when she let him go. He lay on his back and wrapped both his arms around her to pull her close against him. He kissed her deeply and after she slipped her tongue into his mouth he was rolling his around hers. They went back and forth between their mouths for a while until they had to breathe, and he pressed a few kisses to her hair. "Kate?" he asked when they'd been quiet for a few minutes.

"Hmm?" Beckett asked, pressing her cheek to his shoulder.

"Have I mentioned how much I love doing that?" Castle told her.

"Which part?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"All of it," Castle said.

"Pervert," Beckett told him teasingly before they were kissing deeply. She reached up as they swiftly began dueling with their tongues and caressed his hair gently, feeling him shuddering in pleasure at her touch. After they had parted she nuzzled her nose to his and said, "So do I."

"It's a good thing we're going to Tahiti," Castle commented. They kissed again, gently, before he said, "Are you looking forward to that?"  
"I am, I want to have the chance to enjoy some sun before winter really hits," Beckett replied.

"It feels like it's going to be a while until that," Castle said, as they were both fine without a cover over their naked bodies. Thinking of that he reached to her and ran his hand over her side until he rested it again the side of her ass. He looked down at her and watched her as she reached up to brush her fingers against his jaw and the side of his neck, making him shudder before he started to speak when she stopped him hurriedly by pulling him hard onto her body as she moved onto her back.

Beckett was pleased when she didn't really have to convey to her husband what she wanted, he moved so he was sliding into her and he began to move. As he was fast and hard immediately, she cried out a thank you before he crushed his lips to hers and they were kissing hungrily at the same time. They were climaxing together in a short amount of time and she was calling to him trying her best to take everything in before she was limp, and he was groaning her name as he finished. When he was still above her she said as she gently started to scratch his scalp, "Still with me." She couldn't help laughing when he groaned in response and she said, "Partially."

"Why are you all… conscious?" Castle asked jokingly as he raised his head to look at her.

"I had a little more time to recover," Beckett said with a smile before they kissed. When they parted, she reluctantly let him go, watching him lay back while she pushed herself up. He was reaching out to her and she smiled while she shook her head at him. Before he could protest, she gently covered his mouth with her hand and said, "I don't need to lay down just yet," waiting to see what he would say.

"Sure," Castle replied easily. He froze a moment when she leaned down but relaxed as she kissed him deeply. After they had parted he pulled her down to him and they were kissing again. Running his hands around her back at the same time he felt himself growing aroused again and he pulled away first saying, "I need to stop."

"Would it be a problem if we were together again?" Beckett asked.

"No, just… I want to take a long enough break," Castle replied.

"What would be a long enough break?" Beckett said with a smile.

"More than a few minutes," Castle said. He paused and then said, "Or seconds."

Beckett laughed and leaned down to kiss him before they parted and she said, "It would be nice, but we're not done."

"I'm glad we don't have much tomorrow," Castle said. He could feel his wife moving around and he said, "I know you don't want to talk about it, but we need to at some point."

Sighing, Beckett let herself collapse onto her husband, not surprised when he didn't say anything, and she said, "I don't know if we should do this."

"You said you could," Castle said. He could feel how tense she was and he suggested, "Maybe we should wait until we're clothed to discuss it."

"That would be better," Beckett said. When he rubbed her upper arm she said, "Sorry."

"No, you make a good point, it's awkward discussing this nude," Castle said. When she raised her head he asked, "Should I have used another word?"

"No," Beckett said slightly laughingly. Kissing him briefly she told him, "But we should talk about something else."  
"Okay," Castle said. "The book you're reading?" He smiled when his wife laughed and when she had stopped he said, "I love you Kate," seriously.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett replied in the same tone. She cupped his cheek with her hand and leaned down, kissing him sensuously before he was responding hungrily. They did that for some time before they parted, and she bit at her lower lip before she pulled him with her.

With Castle on top of his wife's body partially, he and Beckett began kissing one another and did that repeatedly. They weren't stopping to move into making love again, just enjoying their kissing while they could. And as they touched one another they knew ultimately they would be intimate again. But for the time being they did what they could showing each other how much they wanted one another as their desire was intensifying yet again while they were embracing tightly.


	15. This World's Waiting For

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Good Sign_ , by Paul McCartney and released as a B-side, and _Behind That Locked Door_ by George Harrison, from his album _All Things Must Pass_.

A/N #2: I loved getting the feedback for the last chapter so I'll go right to my thanks for that! TORONTOSUN (It was great to see you thought it was very good writing for everyone!),

Guest (I'm happy to see you're still thinking this is a really great story. And of course, I'm pleased reading you're still enjoying the story as well as my series. I love writing it since I feel like to imagine this as the love story I; and everyone else; would have. You're very welcome for posting!) and

Mb (Glad to see you thought the chapter was a sweet update. And I was so happy you thought it was a great look into them making the music videos and the special guests they had, lol. Not surprised that you mentioned Castle being starstruck by Bob Dylan being there too. Happy to read you thought it was a sweet filler update! You're welcome for the first half of the chapter! Really nice to read that you thought the second half was a sweet update. And I'm really glad that you love when they do some plane spotting. I love doing it myself and I'm glad you think it's cool seeing it where you are as you know what's going on when they do it, lol. But yeah, it's definitely cool to do that! Not surprised you mentioned it going from sweet to hot between Castle and Beckett. But it was great to read that you enjoyed it so much. And yeah, lol, I do figure that them being intimate often and intense is definitely them. You're right, she could have said more to Castle but I guess in my head; and what I should have put down; Beckett might have said that it was never intense as it is with Castle already. But you made great points about it being way different for Beckett with Castle than the other men. And I definitely agree that once they were dating they definitely became everything to each other and definitely that they have their hearts and souls fully. Great you thought the second half was fantastic and you're welcome for sharing it!).

Thank you so much for the reviews, loved reading them and I am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Behind That Locked Door_ , the information about it in the A/N above.

This World's Waiting For

"Hey," Skye said, smiling as she walked up to her friend.

"How was it?" Beckett asked her.

"Good, I think I'm ready," Skye replied. "At least I hope I am."

"We'll find out tonight," Beckett said.

"What? No saying that I will do fine?" Skye asked with a smile.

"You've heard it constantly since we got here," Beckett said, smiling herself as they walked together out of the studio.

"Are we still going for lunch together?" Skye asked her when they'd stepped outside.

"Yeah, that place around the house," Beckett said. "But you're going to drive right?"

"I am," Skye said with a slight laugh. She took the keys to her car that her friend handed her and she told her, "Though I'm still curious why we're on our own."

"I feel the same," Beckett told her. "But Mary was insistent."

"So she either wants you to interrogate me about how I'm feeling or… no, just that," Skye said jokingly as she opened the car as they'd reached it.

"She didn't mention it to me, but wouldn't you tell her how you're doing?" Beckett asked once they were sitting inside.

"I have been, I guess she just wants me to relax," Skye said as she pulled out of the parking lot. "And she wants to be with the kids."

"And everyone else," Beckett reminded her.

"Naturally," Skye said with a firm nod of her head. They looked at each other for a moment and then laughed together before she got onto the freeway to reach Santa Monica. When they got to the restaurant she said, "It will be nice though," as they were getting out of the car and looking at one another across the roof.

"It will," Beckett replied.

"How have things gone while I've been out?" Skye asked her.

"Good, they have their lessons done and they were working on their homework when I left," Beckett said.

"My girls?" Skye said.

"They wanted to come with me," Beckett told her as they walked inside the restaurant. "And I think Mary wanted to too."

Laughing slightly Skye nodded and said, "That doesn't surprise me." She glanced up at the menu before she said, "I wonder why she didn't."

"I think she wanted one of you to be with the girls," Beckett said, looking at her friend from the food choices. "And since she was there already…"

"True," Skye said with a nod. They didn't talk again until they'd ordered their food and said, "Mind if we head to the park across the street?"  
"No," Beckett said with a nod as they were waiting. "Do you do that often?" she asked.

"We do, though with the kids more than just Mary and myself alone," Skye answered.

"I didn't think you came with Mary alone all the time," Beckett said in amusement. "Maybe you need to spend some time with her alone once you're home."  
"I couldn't ask," Skye started to say before her name was called, and she walked over to the counter to get their food so they could head outside. "And we need to be with the girls."

"The girls will play with the other kids there," Beckett reminded her.

" _Why are you pushing my wife and I into our bedroom_?" Skye asked her jokingly in Russian while they were waiting to cross the street.

" _I'm not_ ," Beckett said simply though in amusement as they reached a picnic table. " _You can do whatever you want_."  
Skye frowned for a moment before she then said, " _Well… we'll see what the girls say once we're back_." She ate from her bowl and then said, " _Would you and_ Rick _want to do anything on your own_?"

"Oh no, we have a play date with Josie," Beckett said. "What?" she said when she saw the smile on her friend's face.

"Did you ever think you'd be saying that?" Skye asked.

"Before Julia? No," Beckett said. "Before Marie and Kath?" she then said to her friend.

"Not at all," Skye said. "Oh… I knew I'd eventually want to adopt a child or two," she added after eating a little more. "But the idea of talking like a mother was…"  
"You couldn't think of it," Beckett supplied. When the investigator nodded she said with a smile, "I thought the same myself, but I think we're settled into being mothers."

"I'll remind you, you have four children to my five," Skye said teasingly.

"I know," Beckett replied, throwing one of her cherry tomatoes at her friend.

"Thank you," Skye said, holding the vegetable up and then popping it into her mouth.

"When are you going to the show?" Beckett asked after they'd been eating for a while.

"At my usual time," Skye replied. "I feel bad the kids won't be able to come along with."

"They know they'll have a chance later," Beckett said. She then smiled and said, "When are they going to start having themed weeks?"

"I'm not sure… I would imagine next week but they haven't told us stars," Skye replied. She then shook her head and said, "Do I really deserve to be called that?"

"You do," Beckett said, finishing her bowl and then standing with the investigator who'd finished as well. "You're a singer remember."

"True," Skye said slowly. "Not recorded though."

"You have the short live album and music videos with Paul," Beckett assured her. "But eventually you will be on a full album."

Nodding Skye said, "We can head home now?"

"You're the one who's driving," Beckett told her teasingly.

"Then I'm going," Skye said exaggeratedly before they laughed and went over to the car. She drove them back to the house and she wasn't surprised to find the kids in the front. "Do I need to honk?" she asked Beckett as she slowly pulled in.

"No need," she replied as they watched the kids waving at the car. "But our spouses don't look too ragged so that's a good sign."

" _That's a good sign, see the meter's moving_ …" Skye sang. She laughed when Beckett pinched her shoulder lightly and said, "It's a good song so I can't resist it."

"I don't blame you but get us to the garage they are holding back the kids," Beckett said since their spouses were doing that. When they were finally to the structure they got out and she smiled as her daughters made a beeline for her.

"How was lunch Mommy?" Eliza asked, peering up at her.

"It was very nice," Beckett said, putting her arms around them and pulling them with her to the house. "But I missed you."

"Even Dad?" Julia asked with a smile.

"I did," Beckett said, smiling at him as they were approaching him. "You're in one piece."

"It wasn't hard to be," Castle replied. "We were playing hide and seek."

"Daddy said it's P.E." Eliza said eagerly.

Laughing, Beckett squeezed her close for a moment before she said, "We should head inside."

"Go Mum," Marie said. "Mom told us that you would probably take a nap."

"Oh, she did," Skye said, looking at her wife.

"We're going to get them ready with their snack," Mary replied. " _And then we'll go_ ," she added in Japanese.

"Okay, I'm assuming you lot made the snack?" Skye said.

"We made it a lesson," Beckett told the investigator. "Math for each of them where we could."

"Ah… smart," Skye said. "What is it though?"

"Look!" Iris said, taking her hand and pulling her to the fridge.

Opening the door, Skye laughed and said, "Apparently an art lesson too," as there was a plate with fruit cut into shapes and stuck together with toothpicks to look like bugs.

"And science too," Peter commented.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," Skye said with a nod. "Alright, I'll be taking a quick nap," she said as she started to hug her daughters in turn. "But I'll be up an hour before I need to leave and we'll play together."

"Go Mummy," Fleur said. "So you won't be tired."

"Thank you," Skye said, running her hand over her hair. She leaned over and kissed the top of her head before saying to Martha and Jim, "Thank you for watching them too."

"We had fun," Jim replied though they'd been putting Josie down for her nap.

"Yes, rest since you'll need to glide this week," Martha said.

Skye laughed and nodded before she went up the stairs, going to the master bedroom where she was holding the door before she paused as she heard footsteps down the hall. "I was wondering," she said in amusement as Mary walked by her.

"I had to tell them I needed to check on you," the doctor said with a smile. She waited for her wife to close and lock the door and then grabbed her hand, pulling her with her to the bathroom. As soon as that door was closed she stopped the tub and ran the water while she could feel Skye watching her. When she had turned off the faucet she then turned to her wife and was about to ask her why she hadn't gotten undressed when the investigator was stepping up to her and cutting her off.

"What did you want _grá_?" Skye asked her wife.

"Just this," Mary answered reassuringly. "I want you to relax."

"Alright," Skye said before she started to undress while her wife stood. When they both had their clothes off she expected to go inside first but looked at Mary in surprise when she grabbed her arm gently.

Stepping into the water, the doctor got on her knees and waited for her wife to join her which she did soon after. "Better?" she asked, making her lean back against her.

"Yes," Skye breathed out in pleasure. When her wife wrapped her arms around her from behind she said, "I'm not really that anxious. I just want to get this dance right."

"I know," Mary said before she kissed the back of her shoulder. "But you'll do a great job with it of course," she told her.

"As much practice as we've been doing with it…" Skye said.

"Exactly," Mary said firmly. She carefully moved her hair away from her neck and leaned down to kiss the side of it a few times before she told her, "And you'll be going tonight to practice."

Skye laughed and said, "Nice way to avoid saying you'd think I'd be safe this week." She moved then and turned around to face her wife telling her, "Have you told anyone this song applies to you as well?"

"No, you didn't write it," Mary said teasingly. She laughed when her wife pinched her side and they kissed gently before they soon parted. "But I don't want to think about anyone else right now."

"Neither do I," Skye said in agreement, wrapping her arms around her wife so they could start kissing. They were doing that for a while until she ended the kiss to look at her. "We're still just taking a bath, right?" she asked her.

"Yes," Mary said simply.

"Good," Skye said before she was leaning over and kissing her again while they held onto each other tightly as they took advantage of their time alone in their bath.

* * *

"Here," Castle said to the baby as he handed her a foam ball.

Watching as Josie let go of it quickly after, Beckett said, "What were you hoping for?"

"Nothing," Castle told her seriously. "It was more to see how long she could do that."

Beckett was about to speak when she paused and then looked over at the stairs as she'd heard footsteps. "Why did you come down that staircase?" she asked Skye who was ahead of her wife.

"We wanted to see if the kids were in the front in that window by the stairs," Mary explained.

"They're in the back," Beckett told them.

"And your kids?" Skye asked.

"With them, everyone's in the back," Beckett said before she looked at her husband.

"Yeah, I'll follow you," Castle said before he handed Josie over to her. He walked with her after the couple and they stepped out into the backyard to see all the kids standing down the grass from an archery target.

"Whose idea was that?" Beckett asked, looking at her father as he was walking over to her.

"Marie and Kath," Jim replied. "But I don't think they're very happy with what they have."

"They're going to have to play with what they have," Skye said firmly, as the archery set was a child's one.

"You guys don't have one?" Castle asked them.

Shaking her head Mary said, "It's not something we really like to play. Darts yes…"

"Oh… give over," Skye said, rolling her eyes. She looked at the others and said, "She's actually better than I at that, we've played at the pub on the Promenade before."

"Just one time?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"Just the one," Mary said, glancing over at her wife.

"We were on a date and I had lied and said I'd loved darts," Skye confessed. "Boy did she figure out I'd lied fast."

"She did marry you," Castle said.

"That she did," Skye said with a nod. "Are you finished?" she asked Fleur who'd hurried over to them and was wrapping her arms around her.

"Yeah, can we play something else?" the little girl said.

"Of course," Skye said. "What would you like to do?"

"What about the new one we got?" Fleur asked hopefully.

"You and your sisters have been waiting to ask that haven't you?" Mary said jokingly. When the little girl just smiled she said, "I think we should, we keep forgetting it."

"I'll grab it," Skye said.

"What is it?" Castle asked Mary after he'd kissed the top of Josie's head so Beckett could give the baby to her father.

"A big game," Mary said simply.

"Alright, alright, calm down!" Skye said as her three youngest daughters were gathering around her. "I know you all want to play but we need to get it set up."

"What… basketball?" Clive asked in confusion as he saw the wire basket type of object the investigator was carrying.

"You'll see. _Grá_?" Skye said, calling to Mary.

"Is it a life size version of KerPLunk?" Castle asked as the women were starting to stick long dowels of wood into the wire.

"It is, we saw this at a bar in Venice and the girls were wild to try it," Skye said. "And it gets them outside of course."

"Is the gameplay the same?" Jim asked.

"You want to play Dad?" Beckett said to him with a smile.

"I'd like to," Jim replied.

"We'll group into three teams," Skye said, motioning to the base that had three slots for the plastic colored balls Mary was pouring into the top. "And take turns though I should warn you we may not have the chance to all go."

"We need to let them?" Ivy asked.

"Yes, they won't have the game when they return home," Skye replied.

"We're ready," Mary told her wife. "Eliza?"

"Grandpapa you go," the little girl said to him. "For Josa."

"Okay," Jim said after he'd looked around at the kids to make sure they didn't mind. He reached for one of the dowels; studying how they were set up; and then pulled it out with nothing falling. He then stepped away and watched as Eliza moved up to the game, looking at it closely before she hurried to her mother.

Picking Eliza up, Beckett said, "Make sure you know which one you want to get."

"I know," the little girl replied. Eliza pulled the dowel and held her breath before she cheered as the balls stayed in place.

As they went through the rest of the kids by age Castle said, "It also keeps them calm."

Skye laughed and then said, "I suppose you're right. You should try and find this game… or others for them to play."

"We have less time to play them," Beckett commented.

Scoffing, though she smiled soon after, Skye then said, "You can take them inside you know. We'll likely do that when it rains."

"I'm sure he'll want to try and find them when we go back home," Beckett said with a smile.

Skye nodded and then looked over as the kids were groaning making her say, "Don't worry," to Iris who'd just pulled a dowel. "It's only two and there are a lot more." Satisfied her youngest wasn't upset, she then looked at Beckett who'd touched her arm.

"Do you have more games like this?" she asked.

Smiling Skye stepped closer to her friend and murmured, "One we didn't tell them about but it's only for two at a time."

" _Should have just spoken this_ ," Beckett said, speaking in Russian. " _Did you want to wait for us to leave before you showed them_?"

" _No_ ," Skye replied. " _But I'm just concerned who'll want to play first_."

" _We'll watch them_ ," Beckett said before she felt a hand taking hers and looked down to find it was Eliza.

"Mommy, I'm thirsty," the little girl said.

"Oh, _pereryv na napitki_ ," Skye said. She paused when she realized what she had just said and then switched back to English telling them, "A drink break."

"But…" Marie began before Mary pulled out her dowel and the rest of the balls dropped to the bottom. "Never mind."

"Better at darts _grá_ ," Skye told her wife wryly. She laughed when her wife pushed her playfully and then said, "We'll be back."

"Do you need any help?" Beckett asked.

"No, we're fine," Skye replied before she took her wife's hand and they walked together up to the house.

"Now what?" Peter said.

"We need to pick this up," Beckett told them. She wasn't surprised when the kids groaned, and she said with a smile, "We all played with it so we need to all help."

Castle, hoping the two women would come out soon, helped the others in getting the game picked up so it could be put away in the garage which he took. When he stepped back out he saw the couple was walking over to the others and he said, "Good timing."

"We figured we should hurry," Mary commented as she held the tray down slightly for the kids to take the glasses of juice on it. "And there's enough for us all."

"Why did we have to put the game away Mummy?" Iris asked after she'd taken a sip from her cup.

"We have something else to play," Skye replied.

"Not the archery again," Julia said, trying not to groan though she couldn't help it.

"No," Skye said simply.

"We'll find out," Beckett said with a smile at her daughter when she turned to her.

"You know already," Julia said.

"Of course, we're the adults," Castle commented before he smiled as Julia frowned at him. He ruffled her hair to her laugh and they finished their drinks before he took the tray with the glasses into the house urging the investigator and doctor to get the other game.

"We have this," Skye was saying to the girls once she and Mary were out of the garage. "But we can't all play at once."

"What is it?" Mari asked, looking at the large board with holes in it.

"Ever heard of Connect Four?" Mary asked.

"Really?" Julia said eagerly.

"Yeah, right here," Skye said. "But as I said, we're too many and there're only two players needed."

"Teams?" Marie asked her.

"I was thinking that myself," Skye said. "Oh, we can do that now. Should we have New Yorkers versus the Californians?" she suggested to Beckett.

"Alright, but we'll have the kids take turns," she replied with a nod.

After they'd split up, the teams started to put their pieces into the game in order of age until Beckett was putting their last piece and winning for them.

"Well… that'll do it," Skye said, nodding as she studied the board. "Good game though. Alright, girls, go on and play with your bubbles it's nearly time for us to head out to the studio."

Castle put away the game that time as well before he joined his wife on the patio as she was nursing Josie while the others were with the kids to give her some privacy. "Okay?" he asked, sitting with her.

"I am," Beckett said with a nod. She smiled at him and said, "She knew we needed to go soon." She was startled when he didn't respond to her, but as he draped the towel on her shoulder over his she smiled and said, "You don't want to join the kids?"

"I think our girls would want me to be here," Castle said simply. He squeezed her shoulder and then said, "But I am looking forward to tonight."

"Oh?" Beckett asked, glancing at Skye and Mary as they were walking up to them.

"Yes, you know there's something with this dance," Castle said.

"Yes, dancing," Skye said. She laughed with the others and then said, "Really, that's all there is."

"I don't know," Mary said, looking at her wife. She cupped her cheek when the investigator looked at her with wide eyes and said, "I get the feeling too."

" _O furo ni modottekita_ ," Skye commented wryly, telling her wife the phrase 'that would have been back in the bath' in Japanese.

" _Sore mo dōyō ni_ ," Mary responded, saying that as well.

"Guys, we don't know what you're saying but if it's s-" Castle began.

"Which is why we were just speaking in Japanese," Skye commented. "It wasn't," she added hurriedly as her wife palmed her face. "But you'll see the dance… there you are."

"When are you dancing?" Beckett asked her after she had given Josie to Castle and her blouse was fully closed.

"Third," Skye said. "Which is nice; get it over with." She saw three looks and said, "What?"

"Despite what you say _grá_ we can tell you enjoy it," Mary told her first.

"She's right," Beckett said. "Or is it the anticipation of the scores?"

"The elimination," Skye corrected her. Shaking her head, she then said, "Hate that part."

"You got great scores last week," Castle told her as she'd tied for first with the actress the week before.

"Very true," Skye said, tempted to say something about the votes but her wife was holding her hand and she smiled. "Oh, Lenora should be here soon," she told the couple.

"We have to get ready?" Castle asked.

"Soon," Skye said. "I thought you didn't mind dressing up," she said teasingly.

"Did she tell you that?" Castle said in surprise.

"No, I can tell by how you are," Skye said, shrugging her shoulders,

"Oh… I forgot you need to be observant," Castle told her.

"Yes," Skye said with a wide smile. She scratched her cheek and then said, "Don't cook tonight," to her wife.

"No?" Mary said in surprise.

"No, grab something but don't cook," Skye told her. "I don't want you to feel like you need to cook… any of you," she said, looking at Castle and Beckett.

"We wouldn't mind," the former said.

"No, not tonight," Skye said.

"What're you in the mood for?" Beckett asked, watching her friend.

"I suppose Greek," Skye said, looking at her wife.

"That's fine, you didn't think I'd agree to it?" Mary asked her with a smile. She laughed when Skye shrugged and then hugged her with one arm before they left the patio to go to their kids who were calling to them.

"She's nervous," Castle commented.

"Of course, but Mary's good for that," Beckett said.

"She is," Castle said with a nod. He then said, "We should get her ready."

"I know," Beckett said, standing before him. She waved to their daughters and once she was sure the two saw them they went inside. He was about to walk to the stairs when she placed her hand on his shoulder, making him turn around to look at her. She wrapped her arm around his neck and they kissed soon after before they were holding hands and making their way up together to get everything ready for their evening.

* * *

"I'm not sure I'm really all that necessary here," Beckett commented to Mary.

"I'm not even sure if I should be here," the doctor replied.

"That's horrible to say," Skye called from behind the changing screen.

"It's true, you don't need me for help," Mary called to her.

"Or me for anything," Beckett said.

"Bugger it all, I just want you two here for support!" Skye said though she was laughing soon after so there wasn't any sting to her words.

"Should have just said _grá_ ," Mary said.

"You two don't want to see what I'm wearing?" Skye said.

"We do, but we don't want to receive special treatment," Beckett replied.

"Which you aren't," Skye commented as she stepped around the screen. "Ta-da," she said simply as the two women studied her.

"Minor fanfare? You look great," Mary said as she walked up to her wife.

"Thanks," Skye said.

"I'm surprised," Beckett said as her friend was looking at her. "Though I think it works."

"Good," Skye said as she looked down at her coat. She was wearing a black coat that had long sleeves and was form fitting to her waist. Below it the coat was cut in two places on the sides; more towards the back; and it ended above her ankles. She was also wearing black trousers and a white blouse under, though the latter couldn't be seen. She then said, "Watch what it does, this is why Stella is amazing," before she spun in front of the women.

"Interesting color," Mary said, holding up the bottom of the coat so she and Beckett could see the paler sky blue lining underneath.

"Her suggestion," Skye said, looking pointedly at her wife before she finally smiled and spoke.

"I thought it would bring out your eyes more," Mary said simply.

"It does look nice," Beckett said, unable to help smiling as the investigator groaned and leaned over slightly. "But you're lucky she didn't suggest a darker blue color."

Laughing Skye said, "My Ravenclaw robes; by Stella McCartney," as she then went over to grab her hair brush from the vanity.

While the investigator sat on the chair there and Mary began brushing her hair Beckett said, "No boots?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready to start dancing in those yet," Skye replied, looking at her dance shoes with the low heels. "And these'll help me move around better than those."

"Are you dancing the Paso at all _grá_?" Mary asked her teasingly.

"I'll try and use those then, better for stomping," Skye answered. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and once her wife had checked it she got down from the chair and headed to the door. "Time to prepare," she told the two before she stepped outside. "Derek," she called, seeing her partner.

"Hey, you look great," the dancer said with a smile as he continued down the hall towards them.

"You do too," Skye replied.

"Like George?" Derek asked.

"A lot like George," Mary said.

"She's right, but is anyone going to say anything about that?" Skye asked.

"I told you," Derek said reassuringly, since he was wearing a denim shirt, jeans and white tennis shoes as the singer was on the album cover. "We explained it in the opening, so they'll understand."

Nodding her head Skye said, "Good thing it was both of us."

"Okay," Derek said after he'd nodded. "We better go and get makeup done, they're about to start the music."

"Break a leg," Beckett said as Skye turned to her first. She embraced her friend tightly and then stepped back, watching Mary grab onto her wife.

"You're liable to cut off circulation _grá_ ," Skye told her teasingly.

"I won't," Mary said simply before she let her go. "I'll be waiting impatiently."

"I know, so will we," Skye said. They hugged one last time before they let go of each other and once they had she said, "Have fun dancing."

"We will," Beckett said before she and Mary walked back out to the ballroom together.

"She's ready?" Castle asked once his wife was with him and the others at their seats. That time they were sitting to the right of the judge's table, between it and the stage, and he had been watching the kids to make sure they wouldn't run up onto it.

"Almost, they went to get their makeup done," Beckett said as he took her hand.

"What're they wearing?" Julia asked, having been waiting for her mother to be able to ask her that.

"You'll see," Beckett said. She smiled at the slight frown on her daughter's face and told her, "It's better if you see them; I can't describe them exactly."

"Oh, I thought Skye told you not to," Clive said as he and the other kids had all been listening.

"No," Beckett was able to say before the first song started. "Don't go on the stage you guys," she told the kids before she went with Castle onto the floor. She moved close to him before he was speaking, placing his hand on her back so she could hear him.

"They were dancing already," he told her. "And they kept teasing me about the stairs."

"They know they can," Beckett said with a smile before she kissed his cheek and they turned their attention to the song. When it finished and the next one started she went to Eliza with him and they grabbed her so they could dance together.

Jumping up and down with her parents, the little girl started to move back and forth until the song ended and she groaned saying, "I wanna dance more!"

"We need to sit sweetie," Beckett told her, urging her over to the seats.

"Is it gonna start?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"I think so," Castle said as the cameras were moving and shortly after they were watching the intro to the episode on the screen.

With the quick previews from some of the pairs, Julia smiled at Mari when there was footage of Skye and Derek before the screen switched to the cameras on the ballroom. She watched out for the pair as the couples were stepping out onto the dance floor from the stage, and soon saw them, looking at her friend again with wide eyes as she wasn't expecting the investigator to be wearing what she was.

"It's cool," Mari said, looking at Julia to see if she liked it herself.

"It is," the girl breathed as Tom and Erin were speaking about that week. Julia then sighed in slight annoyance as the model and Tristan were going next before she settled back to wait for Skye and Derek's turn. She suddenly realized; after the pair had danced their Cha-Cha; that her mother or Mary would know, and she tried her best to wait patiently until she could ask.

"What?" Castle said to Julia as soon as the show had gone to commercial.

"What?" the little girl asked in surprise.

"What did you want to ask," Castle explained to her. "I had a feeling seeing the look on your face."

Julia wrinkled her nose for a moment and then laughed before she said to her mother, "Do you know when Skye and Derek are going to dance?"

"Third," Beckett replied. She jumped slightly when she heard groans to the left of them and looked over at them seeing it was the McDouglas girls.

"Your mum can't go first all the time," Mary told them.

"She's right, but at least she isn't last," Castle pointed out.

"I guess that's alright…" Marie said first, slowly.

Beckett bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as the girls looked at each other before they were nodding. She luckily had the distraction of the show starting up again and she watched while Oliver and Peta danced. While it was on commercial she looked down the seats at Mary as she was whistling when her wife walked down from the Sky Box with Derek.

"Calm down," the investigator said, walking over to them. "Quickly _grá_ ," she told her before they shared just a quick embrace as she was wearing lipstick. She did the same with their daughters before giving her father a brief hug saying, "Everything's ready."

"It better be," Liam told her.

Smiling, Skye squeezed his arm before she hurried back to her partner so they could talk about the steps one last time.

"What is it Grandda?" Kathleen asked Liam.

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head before he then smiled. "You'll find out very soon though," Liam added.

"Grandda!" the girls said, almost at the same time.

Since one of the crew was counting down, Castle smiled at Liam putting his finger to his lips before they were all looking back at Tom.

"Welcome back," the co-host said. "Next is our singer and investigator who with Derek took a personal path with their Viennese Waltz."

Beckett turned her attention to the screen; though she couldn't help noticing the crew setting up a microphone and speaking with the pair on the dance floor when they approached it; as their intro package began.

"This week we have the Viennese Waltz to _Behind That Locked Door_ ," Derek was shown saying the Monday the week before. The footage went to him teaching Skye the basic steps and his voice saying over that, "This song is important to Skye, not just because it was written by George Harrison for Bob Dylan to get him to perform again, which is what we're going to play a bit with, with her being uncertain. But because she likes to think of it as applying to her wife singing it to her after her own hesitation."

The screen then changed to the two standing together and Derek saying, "So you want me to dress like George and you'll be…"

"Not Bob Dylan," Skye said quickly. "I couldn't do that. But I like to think George would be alright with an artist taking this song as encouragement to just perform."

"Mary," Derek said.

"You're not dressing like me," the doctor said as she was there with them in the room. Her tone was so firm that the audience laughed before on the screen Mary was saying, "And it's George's song."

"I wasn't always eager to perform," Skye said, the footage going to the pair dancing in the old ticket room at Union Station. "But practicing with Mary I realized it was quite a lot of fun. And that's why we're here at Union Station, practicing. I'm with the band Mary and I are part of to film some music videos. I am practicing as much as possible with Derek when we can, and I'm letting him join in with the others."

Julia wasn't surprised when the other footage showed the pair practicing at the Promenade, but it then went back to them in the dance studios they had been to the week before. She was startled when Derek stopped them suddenly and walked away from her saying, "It's a little hard to get this started."

"I know, but remember, this is a song of support," Skye told her. "You can perform for me so let everyone be able to see your artistry."

"Alright," Derek said after a moment of obviously thinking that over before he got back into hold with her and they began to dance once more.

"Skye's determined," Derek said in a voiceover with them dancing repeatedly. "And I think she's determined to honor this song for both her wife and George. With that, I think the sky's the limit."

With the footage over, Skye stepped close to the mic, waiting for the announcer to say, "Dancing the Viennese Waltz, Skye McDouglas and her partner, Derek Hough." She took a deep breath and as the spotlight focused on the microphone she stepped up to it, holding it with her hands before the opening music started. She started to open her mouth but then stopped, doing her best to look uncertain, stepping back into Derek's arms as the first lyric began and at the second they dipped and moved around together.

 _Why are you still crying?  
Your pain is now through_

Turning around, Skye got into hold with her partner and they began their basic steps until they stopped after the next two lines

 _Please forget these teardrops  
Let me take them for you_

Spinning Skye, Derek held her as she leaned away from him and when she spun back to him he was ready to take her into his arms before they danced again until they reached the second to last line.

 _The love you are blessed with  
This world's waiting for_

At the next line, Derek spun Skye at the two instances of the word please before they were dancing together again at a short instrumental.

 _So let out your heart please, please  
From behind that locked door_

Beckett took the moment to look at Julia, not surprised at the admiration on her face before she turned her attention back to the pair, seeing them gliding almost over the floor. When they reached the microphone, she wasn't surprised when they went to the last verse of the song before Derek brought Skye in front of him. She was startled when; at the second lyric; the pro spun her in front of him as it could have become a lift. But the coat was short enough that it wasn't hard to see her right foot was still firmly on the floor. After that they danced a few more basic steps again before Derek was spinning Skye, leaving her at the microphone at the very last line.

 _And if ever my love goes  
If I'm rich or I'm poor  
Please let out my heart please, please  
From behind that locked door  
From behind that locked door_

As the very last of the music played, Skye stepped up to the microphone and closed her eyes before she then began to sing the second verse, the band behind her playing for her. She looked around, though with the spotlight on her again she couldn't see anyone, and she just hoped the audience would enjoy it as she had decided to repeat the last line twice unlike in the original recording of the song.

 _It's time we start smiling  
What else should we do?  
With only this short time  
I'm gonna be here with you  
And the tales you have taught me  
From the things that you saw  
Makes me want out your heart please, please  
From behind that locked door  
From behind that locked door_

As soon as Skye stopped and started to bow, her family and friends were applauding, and she could see them standing as more lights were brought up. She smiled and blew kisses at her family, waving at her friends before she turned to Derek and hugged him tightly.

"I think they liked it," the dancer said to his partner with a laugh.

"Let's hope," Skye said before they went hand in hand to where Tom was standing.

"Alright, let's see what the judges say after your performance tonight," the co-host said. "Very nice singing; George Harrison would be proud."

"I'm hoping," Skye said.

"Len let's hear from you first," Tom told the judge.

"Well that was a very nice, simple waltz," Len began. "No playing around-"

"You didn't think the microphone was?" Bruno asked.

"No, no," Len said quickly. "You mentioned it in the opening that this was the purpose of the story. And your dance was over before you sang; that's what I'm judging. Thank you for keeping in hold long enough and your extensions and posture have improved. Well done."

Mouthing the words thank you to the man, Skye looked to Bruno who Tom called on to speak next.

"I agree with Len, you were very happy dancing that," the man said. "And you have taken our advice which helped you by leaps and bounds. I can see you're becoming more comfortable and hopefully that will help you next week." With the audience applauding he then added, "Wonderful performance! Both of them."

Laughing, as the judge had said the last a little exuberantly, Skye looked over at Carrie-Ann who was waiting for the applause to die down so she could talk. She had to wonder what the woman would say but waited as patiently as she could to hear what she'd thought about what they'd done.

"I can tell you enjoy that song a lot," the female judge said. "And you were able to tell the story of the song through that. I'm glad to see you listened to us concerning your posture and extension, and it was just a fantastic performance." She waited for the applause to die down before she told Skye, "Thank you for keeping your foot down or else I'd have to call you out for a lift." Carrie-Ann laughed with the pair who were nodding, and she then said, "Great job."

"Sounds like you'll have some good scores," Tom told them. "Head on up to the Sky Box."

"You did fantastic," Derek was telling Skye as they went over to the stairs.

"Thanks, great choreography," the investigator replied with a smile.

"Come on over you two," Erin said to the pair as they reached the box. "This seemed to be a very personal song for you."

"A bit personal, and something I admire," Skye said with a nod. "Can I get a quick cheer for George?" she then called to the audience behind them. She laughed when they quickly did so and she called a quick, "Thank you!" before she turned back to the co-host.

"You were filming this week in LA," Erin said. "We saw you practicing at Union Station, you mentioned two music videos, when can the public see them?"

"Not just yet," Skye replied. "We'll have them soon though."

"Derek, how has it been dancing with Skye so far?" Erin then asked the pro. "You seem to be doing well together."

"We are," Derek replied. "She does her best to learn and it helps that she enjoys the songs so much, they help my choreography." He looked at Skye and they gave each other a high five before Erin was speaking.

"Alright, let's get your scores," the co-host said.

Turning her attention from the screen where she and the others had been watching what was going on in the Sky Box, Beckett looked at the judges as the announcer said, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Nine," the judge said.

Crying out with joy, Skye hugged Derek; though Gerry and Tristan had already gotten the first nine of the season for their Jive. She turned with him to see what they'd get next, her arm wrapped around him tightly.

"Len Goodman," the announcer then said.

"Eight," the British judge announced.

Nodding her head, Skye gave Derek a high five before they waited to see their last score as the announcer said, "Bruno Tonioli."

"Nine!" the judge said.

"That gives you a score of twenty-six," Erin said as the pair were hugging one another tightly.

"I think we're very pleased with that," Derek said.

"It's fab, thank you judges!" Skye said, knowing they were in first place so far that night.

As Erin spoke about voting and Tom talked about Eddie and Jonathan going after the break, Castle looked at Mary and said, "You're lucky."

Her cheeks slightly red, the doctor said, "I'm aware," since she knew he was talking about how Skye had been making sure people knew her role in the investigator's life. "So now we wait," she said to get the subject off that.

"Mum will be alright," Marie said firmly. "They'll want to see her dance again, maybe sing too."

"And you Mommy!" Iris said, wrapping her arms around the doctor.

"I'm sure they will," Mary said, smiling at Liam. "But for now, we have to be fair and watch the others."

"I want to see Eddie dance," Peter said.

Beckett quieted the kids down as they were all agreeing with the boy and she said, "I do too but I think the basketball player is first." She shared a smile with the other adults when the kids all groaned in disappointment, but they stayed quiet as the crew was calling they would be back from commercial shortly. She felt her husband taking her hand and she looked at him, entwining their fingers before he smiled at her and they looked back to the dance floor as the countdown from the crew member began.


	16. This World's Waiting For (Part 2)

"Tonight, in jeopardy," Tom was saying after the last dance and all the pairs were together on the stage, stairs and dance floor. The intense music played and continued until he said, "Daisy and Sasha."

Since they were next to the pair, Skye took the photojournalist's hand and squeezed it before Tom was announcing the next pair.

"Lisa and Keo," he announced.

"What?" Skye asked in surprise though she couldn't be heard as the audience was protesting that announcement.

"And last," Tom eventually said when the reaction of the audience died down enough. "Wade and Jenna. The rest of you are safe."

Skye breathed out and shared a hug with Derek before they remained where they were to let the announcement of the elimination begin.

"After three weeks of competition," Tom began. "The couple going home tonight is…"

"I hate this part," Beckett murmured to her husband as the music started up again.

"Me too," Castle said with a nod and quickly as he knew the co-host would speak shortly.

The music played for a little more before Tom said, "Wade and Jenna."

As the audience was reacting, Skye started to applaud with the other stars and dancers. She waited for them to speak with Tom and Erin briefly before they went together to the pair and hugged them in turn. She could just barely hear Tom when he was talking about the next episode, thinking he'd said something about memorable year. But she had to turn her attention to her family, smiling as her daughters were the first to reach her and embrace her.

"I knew you were gonna stay Mum!" Kathleen said.

"Thank you," Skye said with a laugh. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"We didn't say we did," Ivy told her.

"I knew," Skye told them before turning her attention to her wife. She stepped to her and embraced her, sharing a brief kiss before saying, "Good?"

"Fantastic," Mary replied. "Are you heading out?"

"We have to," Skye said with a sigh. She hugged Beckett and did the same with Castle briefly before telling them, "We'll see you at the studio."

"I guess that means we head home," Martha said, smiling at her granddaughters when they looked at her.

"Do you want to come with us Gram?" Julia asked.

"Oh no, but promise you'll tell us what they have for next week," Castle's mother said.

"We always do," Eliza said.

"We're looking forward to that," Jim said.

Saying goodbye to the two and Liam; Castle, Beckett and Mary gathered the kids and made their way over to the building where the studios were. They were directed to the one that Skye and Derek were assigned; not surprised to see it was their usual one on Monday nights with the stairs for them to sit on.

While they were waiting, Julia and her friends danced together in front of the mirror to be able to watch their reflection.

"You should dance your dance for the song," Mari eventually said. "The song for tonight," she quickly corrected herself.

"That's okay," Julia said. "We-"

"Hullo everyone," Skye said as she and Derek walked inside. "We have the song and dance."

"What are they?" Julia said eagerly.

"It is…" Derek began as he then opened the envelope he had. He reached inside for the paper and said, "It's the… uh-oh, Mary will have to dance with you," he said as he looked over at the woman.

"The Rumba?" Mary asked.

"Yeah," Derek said. "To _Someplace Else_ ," he told everyone, looking at the investigator.

"My choice," Skye said with a smile.

"Did Tom say it was Most Memorable Year?" Castle asked.

"It is," Skye replied. She then said, "And I chose the year 2009, the year Mary and I had our first date."

"Not the first time you met?" Beckett asked her.

"It wouldn't sound right," Skye said slowly, looking at her wife.

"I leave that up to you," Mary told her.

"You'll have to explain that," Derek said, since the cameras had come in after him and Skye.

"I know," Skye said. "Should we listen to the song?"

Derek played it, listening to the lyrics and frowning as they went on before it finished. "Why that one?" he asked.

"Not the song in its entirety, but lyrics here and there," Skye explained. "But it is a beautiful song and deals with the need for two people to be with one another. It's from the movie _Shanghai Surprise_ , but it can apply to anyone I think."

"Now," Derek said. "Wait," he said, turning. "Have you danced this?"

Shaking her head, along with the others, Julia said, "We're too young."

"Yeah, Ms. Grey said we have to be in high school," Clive added.

"And we need to get permission from our parents before that," Mari added.

"Okay, so you guys will be learning this time," Derek said. "Along with you."

"Yipee," Skye said sarcastically before she smiled. "I just hope this works out."

"It will," Derek said. "Let me show you some of the basic moves and we'll see what we can do if you have problems dancing with a man."

"A little more closely," Skye commented, walking over to him. When he looked at her she held up her hands and said playfully, "I knew I might have to dance this when I agreed to the season."

"Alright," Derek said in amusement.

Julia, watching the pair, stared in rapt attention as she hadn't had much experience with the dance. She took in every step and saw why her dance teacher didn't want to teach the kids it since Derek was instructing Skye to dance as if she wanted to get as close to him as she could.

"This is where the acting comes in," the pro told her. "You really have to sell it, you have to imagine that the song and the dance is for the two of us. You like me…"

"Not love?" Skye asked with a smile on her face, putting her hands on her hips.

"That might be asking way too much," Derek replied with a returning smile. "But if we can get a like that's perfect."  
"Let's hope," Skye said, breathing out heavily.

Watching the woman as they were practicing more, Beckett had a feeling that she was having trouble with the connection she needed to have with Derek. And when the investigator stopped suddenly and turned away with a groan, she wasn't surprised when Mary jumped up and went to the pro.

Castle wondered what the doctor was talking to Derek about, but did his best not to say anything to ask before he was nodding and he and Skye went back to dancing. He looked down at Julia eventually, not surprised to find her watching closely along with her other classmates. He glanced at Eliza, seeing she was leaning back against her mother, and realized she was bored. But taking a quick look at his watch he knew they weren't going to be there for much longer, relieved as he knew that dance that week was something Skye and Derek needed to take care of themselves.

* * *

"I'm worried," Skye said to Beckett, leaning against the counter next to her.

"I noticed," she replied, looking over at the investigator while washing the plate in her hand. "But there has to be something you can do. _Your wife_?" she asked, saying the last in Russian.

" _She has something up her sleeve… but I'm worried about that_ ," Skye admitted.

" _Why would you be_?" Beckett asked her. She smiled when her friend looked at her and she said, " _It could be sexual_."

Skye thought about that and then sighed saying, " _You're probably right_."

" _Again, why would you be worried about that_?" Beckett said.

" _She's passionate_ ," Skye said before they were laughing together. "Okay, _I'm not worried about that, just that she might be too much so and I'm exhausted tomorrow. Which I'm realizing I shouldn't have told you_."

" _I guessed_ ," Beckett replied with a quick laugh. " _But she'll take care of you_." She watched the investigator nod and then turned her attention to the cleaning she was doing as Skye left to go back with everyone else. It was later in the night; after Skye and Derek had been shown on TV; so most of the kids were in bed. They'd had dessert after their dinner, _baklava_ , and she'd cleaned the plates from that. "Hey," she said to her husband as he walked up to her.

"Hey, what were you talking about?" Castle asked.

Beckett smiled as she turned off the water and said, "You don't need to know." When he let out an annoyed sound she lightly flicked her wet fingers at him telling him, "You don't, I was able to guess. Not details," she said, adding the last as he looked at her with wide eyes. "But an idea."

"I'll figure it out," Castle said firmly. When he felt his wife's dried hand he looked at her and said, "What?"

"I don't want you thinking about another woman," Beckett said teasingly but a little firmly.

"Oh… sorry," Castle said when he realized it sounded like he was.

"It's okay," Beckett reassured him.

" _Do I owe you something_?" Castle asked in Irish.

"No," Beckett said with a soft laugh, shaking her head. "Let's go."

"Oh, true," Castle said, walking with her over the family room.

"Pipe down kids," Skye said jokingly. "You all need to go to bed, it's time."

"But…" Julia started to say before she trailed off. She groaned and then told the others, "We're later."

"Yes, come on, upstairs and change," Beckett told them. She wasn't surprised when they went but were complaining the entire way. Finally, they were upstairs and she stayed with Skye, Castle and Mary in the hallway while the kids went to their rooms.

"How're you doing?" Castle asked the investigator.

"Okay, I had an easier dance today luckily," Skye asked, knowing he was asking if she was tried. "And next week should be nice too."

Beckett did her best to hide a smile at the way Mary took her wife's hand and distracted herself from that telling the two, "We're going to have school tomorrow. I'm assuming we'll be doing that every day except for Wednesday."

"Right," Skye replied. "Derek thinks we might need to practice every day."

"Even at the Queen Mary?" Castle asked in surprise.

"Even there," Skye said. "But… I need to learn."

Looking at her husband, Beckett was afraid for a moment he was going to ask about how she would learn exactly when the kids were all calling out to them from their rooms. She smiled at the others and she went first to Julia and Mari's room, seeing her daughter was waiting for her with her hairbrush. She was about to ask if they both wanted her to brush their hair when her daughter was talking first.

"We're ready Mom," Julia said.

"Did you brush your hair?" Beckett asked both girls in slight surprise.

"No, I mean besides that we're ready," Julia said quickly.

"The boys are ready," Castle said, coming up behind his wife.

"Come in," Beckett said. She went over to the bed and took Mari's hairbrush to comb it out before doing the same with Julia. She could see the two boys out of the corner of her eye while she was doing that, and she tried her best not to smile as they were yawning. After the girls had put their brushes away she stood up and told her husband, "Say goodnight to them before you take these two."

"Sure," Castle replied before he waited for the girls to come out.

"Night," Mari said with a smile at Castle.

"Goodnight Mari, we'll see you in the morning," he replied before reaching to Julia.

Hugging her father tightly Julia said, "Night Dad, love you."

"Before I say that, are you okay with not going in to watch their practice this week?" Castle asked her.

Julia pretended to think that over before she nodded and said, "I am, I know we can't help her and Derek will do that a lot better."

"Good, I was worried you'd be upset," Castle said. When she looked at him questioningly he smiled and told her, "Just making sure." He laughed when she hugged him tightly and then told her, "I love you too Julia, night."

"Goodnight Peter, Clive," Beckett told to two as they went over to her. She hugged them briefly in turn and then said, "We'll see you in the morning."

"Night," the boys said before they went with Castle out of the room.

Turning to the girls Beckett hugged Mari, telling her goodnight, before her daughter was throwing her arms around her tightly. She wondered what the reason for that was; knowing there was; when the girl was telling her.

"Sorry Mom, I'm excited about Wednesday," Julia said.

Beckett laughed softly and said, "I know, but I hope you'll pay attention to the classes you have tomorrow."

"I will," Julia promised. "But I'm excited… are you sure I can't go on the lockdown?"

"I'm sure," Beckett said firmly. She smiled when the girl sighed, and she hugged her again saying, "I love you sweetie, goodnight."

"Night Mom, I love you too," Julia told her. Sharing a quick kiss with her she said, "At least I can meet everyone."

"Exactly," Beckett said with a smile before she let her go and had the girls climb up onto the bed. She kissed her daughter's forehead before she tucked the two in and said goodnight to them before she pet Macca and JoJo. She stood in the doorway for a moment to watch them, to make sure they weren't talking, and then turned to the hallway to find her husband at the stairs down to the kitchen.

"They're making some coffee," Castle told her once she was near enough for her to hear him whispering. "For themselves; tea for us."

"Why coffee?" Beckett said in surprise as they were going down the stairs.

"I have no idea, they wouldn't tell me," Castle said with a shrug before they stepped off the staircase.

"Hey, just in time, the water's ready," Skye said.

"You're having coffee?" Beckett asked the investigator.

Smiling Skye said, "It's early yet. And Corey brought this."

"How is he?" Beckett asked.

"Good, he and his family just returned from Hawaii," Skye said.

"They brought us this bag from there," Mary said. "Small but it smells amazing."

"It does," Beckett said.

"Sorry we didn't wait until-" Skye began.

"Don't worry," Beckett said rapidly. "I can't blame you because she's right, it smells great." She then turned to her husband and said, "Have some."

"I-" Castle started to say.

Shaking her head Beckett told him, "Have a cup," urging him. "You never had to stop drinking for my sake."

"It was my choice," Castle reminded her.

"Here," Mary said, putting a mug in front of him.

"Thank you," Castle said though he still felt bad. But with the way his wife was looking at him he knew he couldn't say no and he picked up the cup. He inhaled the aroma before sipping and he said, "Yeah… nice."

Beckett immediately laughed and said, "He likes it, he's trying to suppress that."

"I gathered," Skye said, Mary nodding behind her. "Isn't it hard to stop drinking?"

"Not really," Beckett said. "At least not for me. But I did miss it of course and I've ended up getting a taste for tea."

"She did that before when she was nursing Eliza," Castle said.

Smiling, Beckett squeezed her husband's arm before turning her attention to Skye saying, "You looked more comfortable with the dance as your practice went on you know."

"Comfortable? I was like a bloody board, stiff and…" Skye started to say before shaking her head. "I really did try and relax but being that close to a man…"

"What exactly are you feeling _grá_?" Mary asked her.

"His hips," Skye said simply.

"What… is wrong with that?" Castle said slowly.

"They're not like her hips," Skye said, nodding to her wife.

"When have you guys been d- never mind," Castle started to say before he realized what exactly he was going to say.

"No, you're right," Mary said. She couldn't help laughing briefly at the way the writer's eyes went wide and she told him, "But that doesn't apply to just two women together, that's the missionary position whoever's going through it."

"To change the subject," Beckett said, watching Skye who looked uncomfortable.

"No, no," Mary said. "We need to address this Skye."

"With them here?" the investigator asked doubtfully, glancing at the couple across from them.

"They might be able to help," Mary said, though she sounded doubtful herself. She shook her head and said, "Sorry."

"It's alright, I'm not surprised you're a little desperate to help her," Beckett said.

"I thought the same," Castle added. "And I wasn't going to dance with her." He wasn't surprised when the women laughed at that and he smiled himself, his words meant to do that to lighten the mood a bit.

"Okay, now it's time for that subject change," Skye told them.

"Julia mentioned Wednesday," Beckett said suddenly.

"Did she?" Skye asked. When her friend nodded she said, "I think the question is what are you feeling about that?"

"I'm not really sure how I should feel," Beckett said. "Though I would like to see the ship."

"It's beautiful," Mary told them.

"Have you stayed there before?" Castle asked. "The hotel, not the lockdown."

"We did; our third anniversary," Skye said. "I have no idea why we chose that…"

"We wanted to try it," Mary said, looking unsure too. She then laughed and said, "I don't think it matters now. But we should try to head back."

"Hopefully it won't be too difficult after the lockdowns you've done," Castle commented.

"I don't know," Skye said to her wife when Mary looked at her. "We'll have to see."

With a brief nod, the doctor said, "We will."

"Let me take those," Skye said, seeing the mugs the couple had were empty.

"We can-" Castle started to say.

"We're fine, you can head to the guest house," Mary said.

Beckett saw her husband was about to speak; knowing he was going to offer to clean himself; and she touched his arm, squeezing a little hard. "We'll take care of breakfast," she told the two women.

"Or help me," Mary said.

"I'd like you to come with me _grá_ ," Skye said quietly.

"Oh… alright," Mary said in surprise.

Turning to Beckett who'd walked over to her, Skye hugged her friend tightly saying, "I can't really have the kids there this week."

"We know but you're not surprising her?" Beckett asked as they let go of each other.

"After tomorrow, she's only staying until lunch," Skye said, glancing at her.

"I thought you might do that," Mary said wryly. She embraced Beckett briefly and she and her wife did the same with Castle and they walked the two to the sliding door. Saying goodnight to them she smiled when the pair walking to the guest house was congratulating Skye on her score.

"Well, let's hope I can do as well next time," the investigator told her wife as she turned to her.

"You will," Mary said firmly, leaning over and kissing her on the lips briefly. "Now come on, you need to get some extra practice done."

Breathing out, since it wasn't the first time her wife had told her that, Skye followed her to the kitchen sink and watched her washing the mugs. "Any chance you'll tell me what's going on in that head?" she eventually asked her.

"Not yet," Mary said. "But soon."

Skye did her best not to roll her eyes, but her wife was finally washing her hands and she let her take her hand. Following Mary up to their room, she waited for her to say something as she closed and locked the door.

"Okay, I was watching Derek," the doctor said as she went to her wife. "Closely because I had a feeling you'd have this trouble."

"You wouldn't?" Skye asked.

"I never said I wouldn't," Mary replied easily. "And I'm interested in seeing how two women can do this… Standing up."

Breathing out a little Skye then said, "Okay." She was expecting her wife to come up to her and start them dancing, but when she tugged the bottom of her workout shirt she looked at her with wide eyes.

"Come on, off," Mary said simply, unable to help smiling at her wife's expression.

Though she wanted to protest, Skye reached for it and pulled it off before she looked at her. When Mary reached over to slide her finger under her bra strap she said, "Do you really-" before she was pressing her fingers to her lips.

"You don't know what I have in mind," the doctor said simply. Mary watched as her wife disrobed and when she was naked she smiled and said, "Good."

Skye's breathing became a little rougher as her wife undressed, her hands suddenly not knowing what to do since Mary was going slowly; for her benefit she knew. " _Grá_ -" she started to say as her wife walked up to her.

"Shh, we'll take it easy," Mary told her before she pressed her body close against hers. "Now, it's all about the hips again. You remember that right?"

"Yeah," Skye gasped out, reacting to her wife's skin flush against hers.

"Well?" Mary asked her after they were both quiet for a moment.

Skye looked at her in surprise, but then had to move as her wife was doing the same which made her say, "Do we really need to do this naked?"

"Do you see any other way?" Mary replied easily. She laughed when her wife gave her a look and pressed closer telling her, "Really Skye, just move with me. Move with me and remember this when you're practicing."

"That might make things a lot more difficult," the investigator replied.

"No, it won't," Mary said, wrapping her arms around her wife's neck. "Just move with me."

Though Skye still wasn't sure, she started to move her hips and groaned in pleasure with her wife as they could feel their skin sliding together. "Okay! Okay, that's enough," she said suddenly.

Smiling, Mary cupped her wife's face with her hands and leaned into her, kissing her gently on her lips. When she moved away she told her, "I think you're right."

"What… what do we do now?" Skye asked her. She let her wife pull her to the bed and laid on it first, waiting for Mary to get on top of her before they were kissing deeply. She wrapped herself around her wife the best she could, and she and Mary were working to come together until they could lose themselves to everything they made one another feel.

* * *

"What are you going to do?" Castle asked his wife after they were inside the house.

"I'm not sure," Beckett replied. "Do you mean now?"

"Why did you ask that second?" Castle asked in amusement though he knew the answer to that already. He squeezed her hand and then said, "Although I should ask what you're going to do now."

"I was just going to change," Beckett said simply. "I did take a shower earlier."  
"Ah, then it's my turn," Castle said.

"Come on," Beckett said with a slight laugh before they were going upstairs together. She watched him going over to the bathroom and when the door was closed behind him she quickly changed before she went to the bed. Grabbing her book she had there, she settled against her pillows behind her but didn't open the tome yet. She became a little thoughtful before she set it aside and reached for her husband's phone. She began to play one of the new games he'd gotten, hoping he wouldn't mind since he hadn't had the chance to start it either.

Coming out of the bathroom a while later, Castle paused when he spotted what she was doing and was about to speak when he hesitated. He looked at her, and then smiled as he realized what she was doing. "Kate," he said.

Nearly jumping, Beckett looked up at him and said, "Where're your clothes?"

"I think the question is, what're you doing?" Castle asked.

"I'm playing your new Street Race game," Beckett said, smirking. "Before you."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Castle replied, reaching the bed and sitting on his side. He knew he should be worried about the towel wrapped around his waist but decided it didn't matter as she was glancing down at his lap. While she was distracted he carefully took his phone out of her hand saying, "I've been waiting years to be able to do that."

Beckett gave him a look and said, "Congratulations, now what?"

"How was it?" Castle asked in response.

"What about your shower?" Beckett said.

"My shower was a shower," Castle said. When he saw her studying his erection he said, "It was, with you out here? Why would I bother?"

"You couldn't wait," Beckett told him.

Laughing briefly Castle said as he stood, "I could, my hand only does so much."

"Mine does a lot more," Beckett said. When her husband reached for her she allowed him to pull her off the bed so she was standing in front of him. "What?"

"You expect me to believe you touched yourself?" Castle asked her.

It took Beckett a moment to answer before she smiled slightly and said, "I don't know… I had your phone."

"I have no photos of myself," Castle said firmly. When she then laughed he embraced her tightly and told her, "I adore you Kate."  
"I was distracted," Beckett replied, holding him as well. Kissing his chest a few times she then told him, "Or else you would have found me playing with myself."

Kissing her briefly Castle said, "Would it have been enough?"

"Of course not," Beckett replied. She let go of him and after he'd done the same to her she tugged his towel, pleased when it fell off him easily. She bit her lower lip considering the extent of his arousal and was about to tell him she had changed her mind when her husband was suddenly grabbing her by her arms firmly and she gasped for a moment before he murmured to her huskily.

"I want you," Castle said. He forced himself to let her go and pulled away saying, "But-"

"Don't worry," Beckett said, reaching for the bottom of her NYPD shirt she'd been wearing. "I do too."

Nodding, though saying something about how she wanted herself was niggling at the back of his mind, Castle shoved it aside and just watched her undress. When she was stepping out of the last of her clothes he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and kissing her as hard as he could. He groaned into her mouth while she was moaning, feeling each other's bodies as they held onto each other at the same time. After they stopped he pressed his forehead against hers and said, "I should still punish you."  
"You should," Beckett replied. When her husband moved away from her she smiled and said, "Really."

Castle found he couldn't really speak at how serious she was though she was smiling, and he ushered her to the bed to get her onto it. He wasn't sure how he was able to get her onto her hands and knees but got the feeling it was what she wanted. He cupped her ass with his hand and was about to slap her but then paused saying, "What do you want?"

Beckett bit at her lower lip a little hard before she looked back at him over her shoulder and told him, "You can make me faint." She then paused and said, "If you'll be okay waiting for me."

"I always am," Castle replied, moving down to her so they could kiss. He slipped his tongue quickly into her mouth and teased hers with it until they were rubbing together. He wished he could let that last for a lot longer, but he knew she was in an uncomfortable position so he ended it but moved to her back, kissing down it until he reached the small of it. He breathed a little heavier as he had a sudden idea but didn't linger before he was going to her skin, kissing the small expanse of it he loved the way it reacted to him. He then moved, sitting up on his knees before he cupped her ass and felt his wife moving back against him to his surprise.

"You're teasing me with that," Beckett said in slight frustration.

Castle opened his mouth to reply but then nodded before he swung his hand back and slapped her, watching her go down onto her arms but remain on her knees. He did it a second time and shuddered when she cried out a second time while her hands were clutching at the sheets underneath her. "Kate…" he began before he cut himself off as he wasn't sure he could ask her.

"What?" Beckett asked, looking over at him. She saw the hesitation on his face and said, "Tell me, I'll do it."

"You… you're that trusting," Castle said, stating it instead of asking since he was aware already she was. He expected her to respond verbally to him, but when she just nodded her head he breathed out hard and leaned over to whisper into her ear.

When her husband began to nibble at her earlobe Beckett shuddered in joy and whispered, "I'll do it." She waited for him to move away before she did as he'd requested, reaching for her clit after pushing herself up on her left arm. She moaned in pleasure as she had already been aroused and did that for a little longer until he was touching her hip. She lowered herself down on her arms and looked at him saying, "I'm ready for you."

"That's not why I asked you to do that," Castle said, moving. "Fast?"

"For this? Extremely?" Beckett replied. She caught the slight frown on her husband's face and then told him, "Just for this."

"Good," Castle replied before he then began to move so he could enter her. He saw the way his wife was looking back at him and knew she wanted to touch him, but he just said, "Later," before sliding inside her. He kept himself still after he had just gotten the tip of himself in and as he knew she wanted him to thrust hard, hearing her cry his name before their skin slapped together intensely. He was breathing a little faster already at the sensation himself and he leaned onto his hands so he could reach her back. Kissing over it a few times he then moved his hips, a careful thrust that would let him test and see what he could do.

Beckett couldn't help feeling frustrated again at that single thrust, but she was aware of why her husband was doing that. A part of her knew she should tell him she wanted him to begin but she kept quiet, waiting for him to move himself as she wanted to leave it to him. Luckily, he was starting up shortly after as she found herself holding onto the bed underneath her again. She thought at first; as his beginning thrusts were a bit dodgy; that he was having trouble finding her g-spot but a second later he slid directly against it and she was screaming shortly at the surprise and pleasure of it. His lips were on her back and she told him, "Don't stop… I… that feels so good!" as he was trying to move away from it.

"I'll fuck you better after this love," Castle groaned as he wasn't being unaffected. Her sex was tight around him as it wanted him to remain in her and the sensation of her constantly trying was pleasurable. But knowing she'd gotten a taste of what he could do to her he sought out the right spot and finding it quickly he moved rapidly again.

Beckett closed her eyes as tightly as she could with the way her husband was building up so much within her and she knew she wasn't going to last. She took the chance to enjoy every time he thrust in her and finally it was too much. "Rick!" she was able to cry before her orgasm seemed to explode within her sex. She knew he had stopped moving immediately but she wasn't, writhing and just trying to handle everything he made her feel until it was too much. All her ecstasy roared through her body and she was calling his name one more time before she let everything overwhelm her and she passed out.

Castle, feeling his wife go limp, moved to get her onto her back, holding her tightly before he laid his hand on her sex. "I just want to feel Kate… I'm sorry," he breathed out to her though she was still unconscious. He kept his hand still, to feel as he'd told her, but as soon as her folds stopped twitching he removed it and just watched her to wait and see the second she'd rouse which wasn't too long after.

"Rick?" Beckett breathed out when she was a little more awake.

"Hey, are you okay?" Castle asked, watching her closely.

"Yeah that was…" Beckett started to say before she turned onto her side slightly and brought him down to her for a kiss. She was pleased when he responded to her and their tongues were very quickly tangling around each other until they needed to breathe. "I love when you do that," she told him, kissing around his jaw that she could reach in between her words.

"I'm glad you do," Castle said. "It scares me seeing you collapse like you do."

Beckett, cupping underneath his erection, smiled and said, "I should make it up to you," as she watched him close his eyes.

"Wait," Castle told her, taking her wrist gently. "I should tell you while you were still coming I did this."

Gasping briefly when her husband cupped her sex Beckett smiled and then said, "So?"

"You don't mind?" Castle replied, slightly surprised.

"Why would I? You just did that didn't you?" Beckett said. When he nodded she kissed him and said, "Then I don't. But what I mind is you not having your turn."

Castle moved hurriedly to pull her up with him and he wrapped his arms around her while she was straddling his legs. They were kissing frantically at first before he took her tongue and they calmed down though they were very passionate until they were parting to breathe. "Like this?" he breathed to her.

"To start," Beckett said with a smile. She wasn't surprised when he kissed her for that and she was doing the same to him while she was running her fingers through his hair. After they parted to breathe she smiled again and told him, "To start."

Taking that as a hint immediately, Castle took her by her hips and helped her raise her body above before he held himself. He watched her closely as she lowered herself on him, holding onto his arms before he was inside her and their hips were meeting as she hadn't hesitated or stopped the second he'd slipped inside her. "Did I tell you I adore you?" he breathed out to her.

"Hmm, you have," Beckett said. "I feel the same about you… you're… perfect inside me."

"You're perfect holding… me," Castle started to say before he was trailing off into a groan, just barely able to say the last word as he was groaning in his pleasure so heavily. He held onto her more tightly when she pushed herself up and they were kissing each other while he was doing his best to move with her since he was on his knees as well.

Beckett was doing her best to move while still kissing her husband, but she soon found it too difficult and they parted before she was tilting her head back. She was pleased her husband took her hint, leaning up and kissing at her neck. Eventually he stopped and she bowed her head down to him before he was tilting his head to her. Their lips brushed together and they could feel each other's breath until she stopped moving.

"My love," Castle said, his voice husky with his desire. He flipped her around onto her back and then started to thrust instantly. While he'd moved at her pace he'd been driven crazy not having any set end as she'd already had. He kissed her deeply as soon as he'd started his own rhythm, rough and fast, and he hoped she would be able to join him once he was climaxing.

"Please! Harder Rick… I want to feel you come in me this time!" Beckett was crying out to him in joy as his length in her was working her up. She was pleased as she wanted to be with him when he got to his peak, though she realized a part of her wanted to not be. She bit her lower lip and said, "W-will you make me come again?"

"Of course," Castle groaned, trying to handle the friction that was between them. He was moving harder and was suddenly tensing for a second before he was calling her name. So involved with his pure delight he was startled when he realized his wife wasn't throbbing around his still rigid erection as she would have been had she joined him. "Kate?" he asked her.

"Move," Beckett told him firmly. She gasped when he pulled out of her, but she knew what he wanted and she reached down, grasping her hand around his length. "You're going to make me come fast," she told him.

"Yes," Castle said. When her response was to pull him to her he didn't stop and entered her again. They were kissing as he fucked her as hard as he could, feeling his muscles screaming in risk of being overused. But he wanted to feel them literally exploding together and he found that as they were climaxing nearly at the same time shortly after.

Crying her husband's name repeatedly, Beckett dug her nails into his back a little hard as she felt him with her and she felt filled again. She had no idea how long it took them both to stop and once they had she held him to her, arms and legs wrapped around him as they'd been since he'd set her on her back. "Thank you so much love," she breathed against his ear, nibbling at his lobe.

"You're welcome," Castle said. He had spoken into her neck and then moved away to tell her, "And you wanted to feel me?"

"Of course," Beckett said with a smile. She studied her husband as he looked suddenly uncertain and she said, "Do you want to do this again?"

"You don't?" Castle asked though it wasn't that much of a question. When she slowly shook her head he said, "I know, we have things to do tomorrow." He knew he needed to leave her but found it difficult to do so until he finally forced himself and withdrew carefully from her. "Think we could take a shower?" he said as she sat up, cupping his face with her hands.

"You already took one," Beckett said though she was smiling. She leaned over and kissed him lovingly before they parted, and she got off the bed, pulling him after her. She wasn't surprised when he followed her in a rush and they were soon inside the shower stall with the water pouring down on them. She wrapped her arms around him as they were kissing again but they were sensuous instead of passionate and they didn't let it last for long. She was relieved that he was alright with their shower as they were only touching one another while they were washing each other off.

"Best shower ever," Castle told his wife as he turned off the water once they'd finished.

"Pervert," Beckett told him teasingly. "But I am surprised you think that," she said while she waited for him to step out first.

"We don't have to make love," Castle replied as he grabbed her towel and held it out to her. "Not all the time. And we just did that out on the bed."

Beckett laughed softly and waited for her husband to dry her off before she wrapped herself in her towel and she asked him, "Do you have a towel?"

"Yeah, oh mine is out on the floor," Castle said as he recalled the other one. He let his wife dry him with another towel and then put it around himself as he followed her to the bedroom. They were dressing together, quickly, and he grabbed his first towel of the night before he followed Beckett back into the bathroom. "I didn't really follow through with that punishment," he said suddenly while he joined her at the sinks to brush his teeth.

Glancing at him, Beckett didn't say anything before she was finishing and rinsing out her mouth. "How much punishment would you have really done?" she asked him as she turned to him.

"Good point," Castle said after thinking about that for a moment. He then smiled at her and said, "But you enjoyed yourself."

Beckett pushed him away from her playfully before she let him wrap his arm around her. "I did, and you did too," she pointed out to him.

"Yes," Castle said quickly. He smiled when she laughed, and they walked out together to the bed before she got under the sheet first. Following her rapidly he laid on his side before she got onto hers while watching him. "Still early," he told her rapidly.

"I noticed," Beckett said in amusement. "But we do need to rest."

"We do but do you mind holding off for a s- not a second," Castle said. "But for a story; that's better."

Laughing softly for a moment Beckett said, "Alright. Are you telling it?"

"Yes," Castle assured her. "It's in 1936 and we were in San Francisco on April eighteenth with our girls; since it was a Saturday. Your mother and sister were there as well as Patrick and Mary."

"They met us," Beckett replied.

"Here," Castle said, moving to lay down and then taking her in his arms. "They were painting the fire hydrant that saved that side of the city."

Beckett nodded and waited with her cheek pressed to his shoulder as she recalled them at the little fire hydrant painted gold.

* * *

 _"Ma, why can't we go to the park?" Alexandra asked as Kate was holding her hand._

 _"Shh, we're going to see something very important," Kate told her as they walked through Dolores Park to 20_ _th_ _street. She spotted the people crowding near the corner of the intersection between it and Church and she said, "There it is."_

 _"We're not late, are we?" Rick asked his wife._

 _"No, I think we've made it," Kate replied before they managed to reach it in time to find the rest of their family._

 _"I was afraid you'd be lost," Rose said to her sister as they embraced._

 _"We wouldn't miss it," Kate said firmly before she embraced her mother and brother in law. They didn't have much time to talk together as the mayor was speaking about the devastating earthquake and how the fire hydrant they were surrounding had managed to save so much of the western part of the city. She was holding her husband's hand by then, squeezing it tightly as they smiled at one another, recalling how they had met thirty years before in the midst of so much chaos._

* * *

"We always felt guilty," Castle told his wife, gently rubbing her upper arm.

"But we didn't fall in love because of the earthquake," Beckett reminded him.

"True," Castle replied. "But after the ceremony at the fire hydrant we made our way over to Golden Gate Park."

"I remember too," Beckett replied. "Tell me," she urged him, smiling when he kissed her forehead. She settled against him again, listening to him recalling their trip with their four children and family to the park they had met at when they were children.

* * *

 _"Here Ma?" Elizabeth asked as her parents had stopped._

 _"It is," Rose said before her sister could._

 _"Why did you run into Da?" Julia asked._

 _"We were playing catch," Kate replied. "Your uncle had brought his baseball with us from our home and we were playing with that. I was running so he would throw it to me and ran into your da instead," she finished, smiling at her husband._

 _"Did you fall in love with Ma?" Alexandra asked._

 _"No, I was starving and a little hurt," Rick replied. "But your grandparents took me in, so I had a chance for that later."_

 _"I'm glad you did," Josephine said, wrapping her arms around him._

 _"Girls," Johanna told them with a smile. "Let's keep goin' to the Japanese Gardens."_

 _"We'll meet you there," Patrick told the couple before they were ushering the kids further into the park._

 _Turning to her husband Kate said, "I didn't really want another brother you know."_

 _"Junior told me," Rick said with a smile. "Luckily your parents told you I wasn't going to be."_

 _"I know, but I would still have fallen for you," Kate replied as she slipped her arm through his. They began walking in the direction of where their tent had been thirty years before and she said, "And I'm glad I ran into you."_

 _"So am I," Rick replied. He glanced around them and when he saw they weren't surrounded by people he stopped his wife. "It's funny how happy I was even with the destruction, even after losing my ma."_

 _"She would have wanted you to be," Kate said, embracing him. When she let him go she said, "We were too but we felt horrible about it. We were all together, you were safe and the fires were out soon after."_

 _Rick nodded and said, "At least I had you."_

 _Kate smiled, since she knew that hadn't been on his mind when they'd been so young, but she let him kiss her swiftly on the lips before they continued after their family to the gardens._

* * *

"It's not much but we were feeling a lot of mixed emotions," Castle said.

"I remember," Beckett said. She then sighed and said, "I really wish we could have met in better circumstances… both times."

"Well… we had a slight improvement this time around," Castle said. "At least the city wasn't burning." He smiled when she laughed softly, and he then asked her, "Are you thinking of the song they have for the Rumba?"

"Yeah," Beckett said. "Though I understand why Skye picked it still."

"Did you ever see the movie?" Castle said.

"I did, but a long time ago and that's not what I'm thinking about," Beckett said.

"I know," Castle said quickly. "I was just wondering. And I was going to tell you I understand why Skye picked it too."

Beckett nodded and then told her husband, "We'll have to tell the girls about that day, next time we're talking to Alexis."

"Hopefully tomorrow," Castle said. "Wednesday we'll be busy."

"We will," Beckett said simply. She then sighed and said, "I'll still go but I'm not doing so too comfortably."

"I think we all know," Castle replied. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and told her, "Just the fact that you're going to talk to the guys makes me love you more."

With a soft laugh Beckett kissed his collarbone through his pajama shirt and said, "Luckily. Will you take it easy when we're there at night though?"

"How do you even know they'll let me out to wherever you guys are investigating?" Castle asked.

"Or me for that matter," Beckett said, feeling a slight sense of hope.

"I think Skye would have you go," Castle said slowly. He wasn't surprised when she breathed out hard and he held her close saying, "If you don't want-"

"I need to," Beckett said, raising her head. "We talked after she told me, and she said it'll be better for her."

"The twin thing? But what about Mary?" Castle asked.

"I asked her that too, but she couldn't explain it to me," Beckett said. "And I wasn't surprised. But… I also pointed out to her my skepticism and she retorted it hasn't stopped activity happening before."

"You're hoping," Castle said. When his wife just nodded he couldn't help kissing her forehead again saying, "I said this before, but I love you more for doing this."

"Then you'll owe me," Beckett said half-jokingly, wondering what he would say.

"Sure, just let me know," Castle said hurriedly.

"Pervert," Beckett said in amusement. She then raised her head so they could kiss and deeply. When they parted she murmured, "I love you Rick."

"I love you too Kate," Castle replied. He embraced her tightly and then said, "You're an amazing woman."

"And you're an understanding man," Beckett said. She smiled when she saw the way he was looking at her and told him, "I'm not tired yet."

"Oh, I know I'm good at understanding," Castle said as he knew what she meant.

The pair began to kiss again and that time they continued, not stopping until they knew they needed to get some rest. They were wrapped up tight in each other's arms as they lay in the dark. They murmured to one another lovingly until they slept, sated and content to reach their dreams of each other until they would awaken the next morning.


	17. The Dead Start To Walk

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: Great to get the feedback for the last chapter that I did so I'll get straight to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Glad you thought it was great writing for them and that you thought that for Skye and Mary it was very good!),

Mb (It was really nice to see that you thought the first half of the chapter was a great update. And not surprised you loved how Beckett could get Skye to relax with their lunch. I was really happy that you enjoyed the way Beckett was able to do that as a sister would. And great you loved seeing them relaxing with their families before needing to go to the filming of the show. I'm so happy that you could see Mary getting Skye to relax in the tub, and I wasn't surprised you compared it to Castle and Beckett relaxing in a tub together either, lol. I've seen the giant games they played on TV, usually at bars but I think kids should be able to play too! Lol. So I'm pleased you thought that sounded fun. It was great that you thought the song and dance Skye and Derek had was great, also I wasn't surprised that you mentioned their scores are steadily going up with her getting more comfortable. And I'd thought the same that her keeping the correct form is getting to be muscle memory for her since if you repeat that that's what happens, lol. You're welcome for the first half of the chapter! It was nice that you loved how Mary was able to help Skye with getting into character for the Rumba that's next. And I wasn't surprised that you thought Castle and Beckett were hot, sensual and intense with the love scene at the end. Really pleased that you thought the flashback to their past life was good. It was so, so nice to read you're wondering how their trip to the Queen Mary will go and think already it'll be interesting to see what may happen in it. Great you thought it was a fantastic update and story! Definitely Caskett always!) and

Guest (Great to see you're loving this story! And I'm not surprised you find the private and emotional moment a great way to develop the characters. You also got what I was doing with the bath scene, I wanted Skye and Mary to be intimate without a love scene there).

Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Thriller_ written by Rod Temperton, from Michael Jackson's album of the same name.

The Dead Start To Walk

Looking up at the large ship, Julia's mouth dropped open before she hurried to step out of the car. Staring up at the three funnels at the very top she then smiled before she turned to Mari who had hurried over to her. "She's here," she told her friend.

"Where?" Mari asked.

"Wherever we're going to start," Julia said after she frowned slightly.

"Julia, Mari," Beckett called to them. When the two girls hurried over to them she said, "Stay with us okay? Especially on the ship."

"We will," Julia said. "Sorry Mom, I…"

"What is it?" Beckett asked her. She wasn't surprised when her daughter shrugged and said, "Is it your grandmama?"

"Yeah," Julia said with a heavy sigh. "She wants to be here… for me."

"I'm glad to hear that," Beckett told her daughter firmly. When Julia looked at her with wide eyes she couldn't help smiling a little and said, "You're not going on the lockdown, but I still don't want anything to happen to you."

Nodding, Julia was about to speak when she saw a large car driving to where they were standing near the ship and she asked, "Is that them?"

"It is," Skye said, since they were close enough for her to hear. She walked over to the car, smiling when the first man to come out of it was Zak Bagans. "We're ready to go," she told him.

"Nice to see you again," Zak replied, sharing a quick hug with her. "Mary," he said to the doctor, hugging her as well. "Is this everyone?"

"Yeah, but you'll want to meet-" Skye started to say before Zak was interrupting her though she wasn't surprised when she heard the reason why.

"Who's the girl in the blue shirt?" the man asked.

"That's one of the two people I wanted you to meet," Skye said with a slight smile. "Julia," she called.

"Hi," the girl said a little shyly, amazed she was meeting the man she'd watched on the show.

"This is Julia Castle," Skye said. "These are her parents Rick Castle and Kate Beckett."

"Nice to meet you," Zak said, shaking all their hands. "I noticed something about you when we were out of the car. But I remember Skye's told me about you, what you're able to do."

Nodding, Julia was about to speak before she paused and then said, "I think you noticed my grandmama."

Glancing over at Martha, Zak said, "She's your grandmother?"

"Oh, yeah she is," Julia said as she realized who he was talking about. "But that's my gram. My grandmama is…" she started to say before pausing and looking at her mother.

"She was killed," Beckett said softly.

"She's here," Julia then quickly, hoping her mother wouldn't be sad at the reminder. "Well… she's over there now," she said, gesturing to the ship. "She wants to be here while we go through everything."  
"Will you lead us? You and Skye?" Zak asked her.

Smiling Julia was about to say yes when she paused and then looked at her parents who nodded to her. "Sure," she told him. "But… I've never been here before."

"I think that's where I come in," Skye said with a smile. "But I should introduce you to the others."

Julia smiled widely at Aaron Goodwin when she shook his hand and she suddenly blurted out, "The kids weren't making fun of you," though she wasn't sure why that had come to her as the others were looking at her questioningly.

"Are there kids here?" Aaron asked her.

"No, the place in Arizona where you were… all by yourself," Julia said, trying to remember the name.

"Vulture Mine?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Julia said quickly. "It just came to me."

"That's a good sign for the tour," Zak said. "Speaking of which we better go, we have a couple people to talk to after we take a look at the boat again."

Skye hurriedly introduced Billy Tolley and Jay Wasley, along with some of the others of the crew before they entered the ship on the lowest level, the cameras filming behind them.

Turning around as she was walking with Skye and Zak, Julia looked at everything she could see of everything there was in the exhibit hall they'd come straight into. She looked at the investigator and said, "What's downstairs?"

"This way," Skye said after studying her for a moment.

"What're you thinking?" Zak asked the girl.

"There's something down there but I can't tell… I want to see," Julia said.

"What about your grandmother?" Zak said.

"Here," Julia said, walking down the ship suddenly when they'd reached some stairs. She went hurriedly over to a doorway and she froze there before she backed away slowly, gasping as she ran into someone.

"What is it?" Zak said as she'd run into him.

"There's something… not good there but something wrong…" Julia said slowly. "Is it because of the collision that happened before?"

"More than likely," Skye said as Zak turned to her. "But odd you wouldn't even go in. I did last time." She started to step forward but paused and then said, "Now I see."

"See what?" Castle couldn't help asking.

"It's her grandmother," Skye said. "She's blocking Julia but it's extending to me."

"So we can't go in at all?" Billy asked.

"No, Julia, do you mind heading back over to the entrance?" Skye asked her.

"Are you alright?" Beckett asked her daughter as soon as they were by the opening in the side of the ship.

"Yeah, are you?" Julia asked her.

"I'm fine," Beckett said. "I'll stop asking."

"No, it's okay, I'm glad you're here," Julia said with a smile up at her.

"We did want to see the ship," Castle commented.

"But it would be nice if we can continue," Martha said.

Beckett looked at her mother in law in surprise when she heard Josie starting to fuss in her carrier. She was about to grab the baby when Julia beat her over there and she watched as the girl took her sister out to carry her.

Pressing her forehead to Josie's, Julia said softly, "Don't worry, Gram is there." She looked down at Eliza as the little girl had rushed to them and wrapped her arms around her. She smiled when the baby then cooed, and she said, "I guess we have to stay together." She then frowned and looked up at their parents saying, "We have to go upstairs, outside. It's too much here with that room."

"I'll tell them," Castle told his wife.

"I don't get it, what's wrong with that room?" Derek asked.

"There was a collision with the ship _Curacoa_ ," Julia said. "It's okay," she told Josie quickly as the baby whimpered. "That was a long time ago. But it was cut in half and there are propellers in there," she said quickly, though the two halves didn't really fit together, as her father was coming back to them.

"We can keep going," Castle said. "Skye and Mary said there are exhibits as we go up and there's a timeline over here."

"We'll go fast," Beckett said as he looked at her. "Come on," she said to the other kids.

"Even us?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, your moms don't want you to stay down here," Castle told them. "So let's go."

The group walked through the timeline, Beckett and Castle conducting an impromptu history lesson about the eras the ship was active during.

"They really called it the Grey Ghost?" Peter asked.

"They did," Skye said, coming up as they had finished walking around the room.

"Where are you going now?" Julia asked, glancing at Josie who was in her carrier.

"Up three decks," Skye said.

"But we'll walk with you guys," Zak said.

"Are you filming still?" Clive asked.

"No, we're going to take a break," Aaron said. He saw the boy was watching him and he said, "Want to try?"

"Could I?" Clive asked eagerly.

"It's not too heavy for him?" Jim asked as they went up the stairs to the next deck.

"We'll see," Aaron replied as he took his camera off his shoulder. He helped Clive take it on his and laughed when the boy looked at him with wide eyes. "If you want to be a cameraman you gotta eat your Wheaties."

Laughing with the others Skye said as Zak was shaking his head, "He has to be able to work that in somehow."

Making their way up to A deck, they were met by Martha and Josie in the stroller before they made their way around until they came to the aft of the ship.

Beckett paused at a doorway before she looked at Julia and Mari, with the two girls and first in the group as Skye was talking to Jay behind them. "Sweetie…" she said to her daughter.

"I'm okay, it's not too bad here," Julia said slowly. She looked behind them at Skye, waiting for Zak to join them before the investigator was stepping into the room, taking her hand and pulling her after her while she spoke.

"There was a young man here," Skye was saying. "When we were last here you might remember Julia." Seeing the girl nodding her head she then told the others, "And I did my best to help him on. We burned sage and told him the war was over, but I haven't been back since then."

"Does anyone else smell lavender?" Aaron asked.

"I do," one of the other cameramen, Dakota, said.

"Yeah, I started smelling it once we came inside," Zak said. He looked at the women of their group and was about to ask if anyone had put on more perfume for some reason when he spotted the slight smile on Julia's face. "Your grandmother?" he asked.

Nodding slightly the girl said softly, "That's how I know she's near me. She's here to look to make sure the man you were talking about isn't here and he isn't. This room feels… normal."

"It worked," Skye said with a nod. "Okay, let's keep going."

"Wait," Peter said, raising his hand. "What is this room?"

"The Isolation Ward," Castle said. When he saw the others looking at him he said, "That's a guess but the beds and sinks kind of clued me in."

"Good guess," Aaron said.

"He's right," Skye said. "The man I was talking about was an American soldier who had to stay here because he fell ill and unfortunately he wasn't able to reach the Front."

"Did he die here on the ship?" Eliza asked.

"Yes but not at sea, they were docked he said," Skye replied. "And now we can go."

When they were up at the next deck Julia looked down the promenade they'd reached, and she smiled before she hurried to a window. When she found she was looking out on the parking lot she frowned a little before her mother was calling to her and she gasped as she hadn't been expecting it, looking back to see the group watching her.

"Julia?" Beckett said.

"I… there was something outside," Julia said slowly, not sure why she'd said that. She looked back out the window and then turned her attention to Skye, hoping the investigator would back her up.

"Yeah, there's something weird about this promenade," Zak said. "The atmosphere. Nothing negative I'm guessing."

Shaking her head quickly Julia said, "It was a girl," Julia said hurriedly as she was suddenly realizing that. "She looked out this window when she was on the boat in… the forties… after the war," she said, speaking slowly. "Her parents were bringing her here to America, her father was a soldier and her parents got married right before the war started but he couldn't bring her here until after." She smiled and said, "It was after all the war brides went."

"She's right," Jay said when Zak looked at him. "After the war brides they made the ship fit for passengers again. It sailed again in 1947."

"Do you know her name? Or how old she was?" Zak asked her.

Looking around, Julia smiled after hearing something and then said, "Her name is Amber, and she was born in 1937. She didn't die here but she was happy here because she finally got to be with her papa."

"Is she happy here now?" Zak asked.

"Yeah," Julia said before she looked around in surprise at the sudden blast of cold air around them.

"Does anyone have a Mel-meter?" Zak called as he had felt it as well.

"Here," Billy said, taking one from another crew member.

"Let me hold it," Julia said, holding her hand out to him. She was relieved when Zak nodded to the man and she held the object turning to the cold air she'd felt before. She looked down at the temperature and said, "Did you see what it was here already?"

"Bring the camera," Zak said to Aaron. "Billy?"

"It said seventy-seven," he replied. "What does it say now?"

"Seventy-two," Julia replied. "You feel the cold right?"

"I do, right here," Zak replied.

"It's low," Skye then told them, walking around so she was in front of the two. "Like a child that age."

"Can you see her?" Aaron asked the girl.

Shaking her head Julia said, "There's too many of us here but I can hear her."

"Are you able to communicate with spirits?" Billy asked as the girl had pointed to her head.

"Yeah…" Julia said shyly.

"Go ahead and talk to her," Zak said.

Nodding, Julia turned her attention ahead of her and said, "Yeah, it's okay to talk to her too," gesturing her head towards Skye. "She's talked to spirits before."

"Ah, there you are," the investigator said a second later. She then said, "You still can't see her?" to Julia. She wasn't surprised when the girl shook her head and told the others, "Head down and we'll talk with her."

Julia was uncertain of what her mother would do but watched in surprise as everyone else walked down the promenade except for her parents and Mary. She wanted to ask her mother why she'd done that when she turned and saw a young girl wearing a dress with a lot of ruffles on it and a large bow in her hair. She waved at her and then gasped when her image disappeared, looking at Skye next to her who was pursing her lips.

"Hmm… I think she was lonely," Skye said. "But since you weren't alone I suppose she just wanted you to see her."

"Yeah, she stopped talking to me," Julia said. She then looked at the others from the show and said, "Did you see her?"

"No, but there was a chill for a second again," Aaron said.

"What about a mist?" Skye said.

"It's hard to see anything," Zak replied, indicating the daylight. "Well, we did get some evidence at least," he said to Julia while taking the meter from her. "Great job."

"Thanks," Julia replied with a smile. "That was cool." She looked down at the rest of their group; since Castle had waved to Derek for them to turn around and come back; and then asked, "Are we going to keep walking around?"

Zak studied her and asked, "Where do you think we should go?"

Beckett smiled slightly when she saw the way her daughter's eyes widened in surprise and said, "Is there anywhere left?"

"Mom, where should we go?" Julia asked her suddenly.

Castle looked at his wife, wondering if she would answer as he saw the slightly uncertain expression on her face. He was about to ask their daughter why she'd asked that when Beckett was starting to speak.

"There isn't really anywhere we would need to go for this," she said, gesturing to the cameras.

"She's right, I think we can let you go to your next interview," Skye said.

"Alright, be here at seven and we'll fill you in on everything," Zak said to the four adults. He then turned to Julia and said, "It was great to meet you. When you're older I hope we're still doing the show, we'd love to have you investigate with us."

"I hope you are," Julia said, shaking his hand. She did the same with the three other investigators and said goodbye to them before they went to the elevator to meet the rest of their family and friends. Going up to the very top of the ship, she looked over the side to see the water and then looked at Mari when she walked up to her.

"What's wrong?" the girl asked softly.

"I'm going," Julia said firmly. "Amber said she wanted me to come back to see her. I need to come back now to see her or I won't be able to again."

"How are you going to?" Mari asked softly, looking back at her friend's parents to make sure.

"I'll figure out a way," Julia said with a determined look on her face. She then turned to her friend and said, "Will you help me?" She wasn't surprised at the hesitant look on Mari's face and then said, "Don't worry, my mom won't get mad at you. She'll know right away it was my idea."

Though she wasn't sure still, Mari nodded and said, "Okay, should we tell the others?"

Julia started to speak, to say no, when she hesitated and told her, "Just Peter and Clive. I don't want everyone to know or else they'll tell someone grown up."

"Okay," Mari said, squeezing her hand before they turned as Martha was calling to them.

Julia was relieved when her friend smiled at her and they rushed together to go with everyone else through the rest of the sports deck before her father was talking about a surprise. She was smiling again though they were leaving, glancing back at the ship while they walked to the cars and telling Amber in her mind that she would be back that night.

* * *

"What do you think?" Skye said to Beckett.

"It almost looks like Seaport Village," Castle said first as he was standing just behind her.

"I'm not surprised," Beckett then said with a smile. "But it looks nice."

"Where are we eating?" Kathleen asked.

"This way," Skye said with a smile. She led them by the stores until they reached a structure that looked like it had a lighthouse on the top of it. " _Parkers' Lighthouse_ ," she told them. "What do you think? Not you three," she said to hers and Mary's three oldest daughters as they were opening their mouths.

"You didn't come here before?" Eliza asked Ivy and Iris.

The two shook their heads before the older twin said, "We haven't been here for that long."

"Here is fine," Derek said. He smiled when the adults looked at him and said, "We're just standing here."

"Okay, we can go," Mary said with a slight laugh.

Walking inside the restaurant, Skye spoke to the host at the front for a moment before they were led to the outside seating are. "I figured this part would be empty," she told the others. "Any objections?" she asked.

"No way! This is cool," Clive exclaimed.

"I think he speaks for us all," Castle said in amusement as they were waiting for the workers to push enough tables together for all of them.

Sitting down together once they all had a place to sit, Beckett looked over at Josie since the baby was in between herself and Derek. "Are you sure you want to sit there?" she asked.

"Why?" the dancer replied with a smile.

"Just making sure," Beckett said. "But you won't need to take care of her." She wasn't surprised when he nodded, and she checked on the baby before she turned to her husband.

"Are you okay?" Castle was asking Julia who was to his left.

"Yeah," the girl said quickly, looking away from the ship they could see across the water the restaurant was on.

"I wish I could film for you while we're over there," Castle told her.

Smiling a little Julia said, "It's okay Dad, there are going to be cameras there. And we can see the episode too. Hey Mom."

"Yes?" Beckett said, leaning over and looking at her.

"We can go to the stores, right?" Julia asked. Before her mother could respond she had to order her drink and then looked expectantly at her.

"We can, don't worry," Beckett replied. "But we won't go to all of them."

"What about dessert?" Iris asked shyly.

"We'll see lass," Skye told her with a smile.

Julia looked at Mari with a smile as the adults talked together and then leaned back in her seat to look at the ship again before they were ordering their food. When they were left alone again she realized her mother was watching her. She looked over at her friends and then started talking to them, hoping she wouldn't ask her what was wrong.

"What is it?" Castle murmured to his wife.

"Nothing," Beckett said quickly. She then smiled and said, "I think she's still a little angry about not going. Especially now."

"I am," Julia said, giggling when her parents jumped slightly in front of her. She hugged her mother from behind and said, "Sorry, I did want to go but that propeller room is really scary." She leaned over her mother's shoulder so she could press her cheek against hers saying, "If you go there you'll be careful right?"

"Of course, but after today I don't think Zak would want me to do much," Beckett replied.

"I wouldn't sell yourself short love," Castle said. When his wife and their daughter looked at him he frowned and said, "About paranormal investigation," shaking his head. "I mean it as a compliment," he then told her.

"I know," Beckett said with a smile.

"He's right, you should do well," Skye commented after their food was brought.

"I have no choice, do I?" Beckett said wryly.

"Choice for what?" Peter asked.

"To go with her," Castle said in amusement.

"Zak wouldn't let you say no," Mary commented. "I got the same thing when she went to the propeller room a second time remember."

"Aaron had your back," Skye said.

"And you," Marie said hurriedly.

"We'll see what happens tonight," Skye said. "For now, we have our wonderful food and shopping."

Beckett urged Julia to head back to her chair, after she'd shared a kiss with her and Castle, and then turned to her food. She heard Josie cooing while she started to eat and checked on her quickly. The baby was starting to chew on the ear of her Tigger doll and she leaned over, running her hand over Josie's hair to pull it away carefully.

"Is she alright?" Derek asked, watching her.

"She is," Beckett replied, smiling at the way Josie was yawning.

"Derek?" Fleur asked shyly. "When are you going to practice with Mummy?"

"Soon, after we've eaten," Derek said. "But it's not going to be that much."

"Why not?" Ivy asked in protest.

"We've practiced enough already," Skye said, since she'd gone to a two-hour rehearsal from eight to ten before they'd gone to the ship.

"Your mum needs a rest," Mary said, squeezing her wife's arm.

Beckett smiled as the investigator was squeezing her wife's hand a moment later, recalling the day before when the two of them had sat in on part of the rehearsal. She hadn't expected to be there, but Skye had asked her to go specifically and she had watched the pair to see if her friend had managed to get over her issues the night before.

* * *

 _"Why exactly did you ask me here?" Beckett asked Skye._

 _"You heard me," the investigator replied. "I wanted you to take shots."_

 _"But why this one?" Beckett replied._

 _"I finally managed to get the show to allow you to," Skye replied. "Remember I mentioned this to you before?" When her friend nodded she said, "I told them that they'd agreed already and they wanted the pictures. The fact that it was this week…"_

 _Beckett couldn't help laughing as her friend shrugged and she said, "I guess I should feel honored you suggested me."_

 _"I wish you would," Skye told her._

 _"Skye," Derek called to his partner. "Are you ready to start again?"_

 _"Yeah," the investigator replied before she went to her partner._

 _Getting her camera ready, Beckett sat on the bottom step in the studio to wait for a shot of the two. Looking at Mary as she was sitting next to her she started to ask if the two had practiced at all before that day to help the investigator when the doctor was answering her in Irish quickly._

 _"_ I did my best to help her _," Mary said. "_ But whether it works… _"_

 _Studying the woman and seeing the way her cheeks were slightly red Beckett decided their conversation about that didn't need to continue so she just smiled and nodded. She took a quick picture as Derek was showing Skye the way he wanted her to look at one point in the dance. She then stood up and went to the wall that was across from the mirrored wall and leaned against it as the two began to dance together._

 _"Argh," Skye said with a sigh as she started on the right foot. "Sorry, left lead, left lead," she reminded herself._

 _"Do you think you can do that?" Derek asked._

 _"Sure, it's just I want to start with my right," Skye replied, smiling at Beckett as she'd lowered her camera._

 _"I thought you were left handed," Derek said._

 _"Both," Skye reminded him. "So I'm okay with both but living in a world with largely right-handed people…" She shrugged and then said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'll get it."_

 _"Okay, should we start again from the top?" Derek asked her._

 _"Yeah," Skye said. "Are you getting pictures?" she said to Beckett quickly._

 _"I am," she replied. "Keep practicing and I'll get more."_

 _"Wise ass," Skye told her teasingly._

 _"It's what you asked me to do," Beckett said simply. She wasn't surprised when her friend laughed before she turned back to Derek so they could start again. She stayed where she was against the wall, impressed to find that Skye was able to press close to the dancer when they needed to move. But she didn't say anything to the pair, deciding her friend didn't really need it after she'd had so much trouble the night before._

 _"Okay," Derek said. "We should try that split," he told her._

 _"I'm ready," Skye replied. She then looked at Beckett and said, "We'd appreciate it if you don't really tell the kids about this."_

 _"Why direct that only to me?" Beckett asked teasingly._

 _"Just because," Skye replied with a shrug. She laughed and then said, "Mary knows not to. But we'll have them come back next week if we're back."_

 _"You will be," Mary and Beckett said firmly at the same time._

 _Laughing with Derek as the two women looked at each other in surprise, Skye said, "Okay, back to work."_

 _Calming down, Beckett prepared her camera again and proceeded to walk around the room while the two were dancing together. As she could take in what they were doing though she was setting up shots she knew the dance would be a good one. And as long as Skye was thinking of her wife through all her steps, as she knew the investigator was doing while she watched, it would be on Monday night when she would see it in full._

* * *

"Hey," Castle said, walking up to Julia.

"Hi," the girl said, smiling up at her father briefly. Julia then turned her attention to the marbles that were in compartments in front of her and she studied them until she started to pick out some of them.

"What're you doing?" Castle asked as he watched her in confusion. When she didn't answer him, he was about to say it again when he hesitated. She was placing marbles in the cloth pouch that came with the display in the souvenir store they'd gone into after lunch. But he then noticed which of the marbles she was picking out and he frowned saying, "What kind are you getting?"

Shrugging Julia said, "Just marbles." She then smiled up at her father and said, "I'll pay for these Dad."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"Yeah," Julia replied, still smiling.

Though he wasn't sure he was really that comfortable with her picking out marbles that were in reds and purples, Castle knew she wasn't going to tell him anything she hadn't said already. He then went over to his wife, turning to look back at their daughter before he jumped at feeling hands on his back, turning again to see it was Beckett.

"What're you looking at?" Beckett said to her husband.

"Nothing," Castle said quickly. "Eliza?"

"She's looking at all the pirate themed stuff," Beckett said. "Julia," she said as their second oldest walked over to them.

"Hi, I'm gonna go pay for these," the girl said, holding up the cloth pouch with a smile. "Ava loves marbles."

"So that's why she was picking them," Castle said to himself though he soon realized his wife was looking at him questioningly. "She was picking the marbles that were reds and purples, it was confusing."

"I remember her saying Ava loves those colors," Beckett said with a smile. "What did you think she was going to do with them."

"I don't know," Castle said with a shrug. "I guess I was expecting her to get some greens and cat's eyes, I know Mari likes those. But since she's here…"

Beckett squeezed her husband's arm and then told him, "We need to get dessert. Your mom and my dad are treating us to ice cream."

"Oh… wait, all of us?" Castle asked.

"We're paying the other half," Beckett assured him.

"Oh… sure," Castle said before he took her hand and they walked together to join the rest of their group that was gathering outside.

Skye and Mary led the way to the ice cream shop and as they were eating their desserts the investigator went over to Beckett telling her, "We'll eat with everyone at home, but as soon as we finish we'll be head to the ship."

Nodding Beckett said, "I figured. But at least I can say goodnight to the girls."

"And we can say that to ours," Skye said after hurriedly licking her mint chip ice cream so it wouldn't drip on her hand. "Excuse me," she said with a smile as she walked over to her youngest who was calling to her.

"Kate?" Castle said, coming up to her.

"What?" Beckett asked, shaking herself to look at him.

"Josie's fussing," Castle replied as he had the stroller with him as well.

Beckett looked down at the baby and she handed her husband her cup of strawberry and chocolate ice cream before taking Josie out. "Just fussing," she told him as he was watching her.

"Should I feed you your ice cream?" Castle asked. When his wife gave him a look he said, "How else are you going to eat it."

Beckett tried to think of a way, but she finally sighed and said, "Fine, but don't say anything while you're doing it."

"Anything stupid?" Castle asked as he was getting some of both flavors onto her spoon. He was holding it up to her and after she had eaten it he said, "The kids almost wanted caramel apples at that place we passed by."

"Why didn't we stop there?" Beckett asked.

"Because Skye said she had an announcement," Castle said. When his wife looked at him questioningly; as she was eating her ice cream; he shrugged and told her, "She didn't say what yet."

"I'll say it now, thanks for reminding me," Skye herself said as she walked over to them with Iris. "Okay, everyone. Including you Derek," she told her partner. "Next week we're heading somewhere but I just need to know what day will be better?"

"Wednesday again," Derek replied.

"Okay, then next Wednesday we're going to the apples," Skye said.

"The apples!" Marie and Kathleen said at the same time with a gasp. "Really?"

"It'll be October tomorrow," Mary commented. "We'll miss apple season if we don't go now."

"Is it that place you said is like Apple Canyon in New York?" Castle asked the investigator.

"Yeah, I almost forgot about it, but those apples reminded me of it," Skye said. "We can always practice there."

"Where is there?" Derek asked, throwing his cup to the recycling bin as he and the investigator had had smoothies.

"Oak Glen, up in the mountains in San Bernardino County," Skye said. "My father took me there when I was a kid and my dad continued."

"A very nice place with very good apples," Liam said himself. "You'll enjoy it."  
"Yeah, they have the best apple pie and caramel apples," Kathleen said eagerly.

"Are you excited to go?" Mari asked Julia as they were throwing away their napkins or cups.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" the girl asked.

"You've been to a place like that before," Mari replied.

"Oh, I don't care," Julia said. "If it's like the place at home it'll be a lot of fun. I'm glad you'll be able to see it too."

"Yeah, that way I can get my parents to go with you guys," Mari said before they started to laugh together.

"Mommy can we get apples?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"You should," Mary said. "With so many kids…"

"We will," Beckett said with a slight laugh. " _What happened to going to Universal_?"

Since Beckett had said that in Irish, Skye smiled and said, " _The next week_."

" _Is he coming too_?" Castle asked.

" _He will, though we won't be filming there… not sure about practicing either_ ," Skye said slowly. She then shook her head and said, "I'll ask him another time. We should keep going."

Left behind with the others, Beckett reached for her husband's hand and said, still speaking in Irish, " _It should be fun_."

" _It should_ ," Castle replied with a nod. He slipped his hand from hers and then wrapped his arm around her, holding her a little against him while she pushed the stroller as they continued to make their way through the shops by the water.

"Sweet dreams Julia," Beckett said as she hugged her daughter after hugging Eliza wrapped in her right arm. "Please listen to your grandparents," she told her firmly.

"I will," the girl said firmly. "But are you sure I can't go?" Julia asked hopefully.

"Yes, I'm sorry but you're too young and I worry about you there," Beckett said. She smiled when her daughter crossed her eyes and pressed her lips to her forehead telling her, "Maybe when you're older like Zak said."

Nodding Julia hugged her mother tightly and told her, "Okay but I still want to go."

"I'd be very surprised if you didn't," Beckett told her, kissing her forehead. She shared a kiss with her and said to her daughters, "I love you girls, we'll tell you what happens; if anything; tomorrow."

"Love you Mommy," Eliza said embracing her again. "Be careful."

"We will," Beckett reassured her.

"Love you Mom," Julia said, kissing her mother quickly. She hugged her again and let go with her sister, so they could go with the others out to the patio to say goodbye to them.

"We'll likely be late," Skye was saying to her father. "I'll see you on Monday?"

"Of course, but please take care lass," Liam told her, hugging her with one arm tightly. "You'll stay with her right?" he then directed to his daughter in law.

"Like I did last time," Mary said reassuringly.

"Love you Dad," Skye said, letting go of him. "We'll see you. Bye, goodnight!" she said to the others.

"Bye!" the kids were saying along with Jim and Martha.

"Okay," Beckett's father said as he turned to look at the kids. "Are we ready to play?"

"I am!" Eliza said eagerly. "What can we play?" she asked Fleur and Ivy.

"Do you need our permission?" Martha asked with a smile.

"No, could we play in the house?" Marie asked.

"I think you'll need to," Jim said. "It's almost dark now after all. What should we do?"

"Let's play the bowling game we have," Ivy said quickly. "That way we all can play."

Jim and Martha got the kids inside the house and helped them get their game ready so they could play.

Looking around at them all gathered there some time later, Jim frowned and said, "W-" before he heard his phone ringing and he took it out of his pocket to find it was a text from his daughter.

* * *

"Okay," Skye said. "Please tell me this looks creepy at night."

"It does," Castle said first and rapidly. When his wife looked at him he shrugged and said, "I can't lie, it does."

"Let's go," Beckett said, shaking her head. She got out of the couple's car first, smiling back at her husband before they looked down the parking lot to see that Zak was walking over to them.

"We're just about ready in there," the man said after he had greeted the four. "And once we are we'll brief- Bless you," he said to Castle.

"That… wasn't me," he said in confusion at the sound of the sneeze behind him.

"Julia Claire Castle," Beckett said, striding to the car where her daughter was trying to slip out through the open door though she was frozen in place, her eyes wide.

"Just your name?" Skye asked, fighting her smile.

"Yeah, she's in trouble," Castle said, nodding his head before he went over to his wife and daughter, wondering what the latter would want to do with that development.

"Why are you here? How did you get here?" Beckett asked while her husband was walking up to them.

"I needed to come Mom," Julia said earnestly, her eyes welling with tears before she could stop them. "Amber wanted me to come see her and I promised her I would," she told her. "Just let me see her Mom, please."

Beckett sighed as her daughter wrapped her arms around her and she held her saying, "I wish you would have told us that at least."

"But you wouldn't have let me come here," Julia said, looking up at her.

About to speak, Beckett looked at her husband when he handed her a handkerchief. "Then you should have told Skye that," she told her daughter as she was gently wiping away her tears. "She would have convinced me. I'm just glad you weren't locked in the car." She inhaled roughly and said, "I'm glad you weren't."

"I would have hit the windows before you went in," Julia whispered, pressing her cheek to her mother's stomach. "I'm sorry Mommy."

"It's okay," Beckett said, making her look up. She cupped her cheeks and said, "Next time don't do that."

"I won't," Julia said before her father told her to blow her nose. "Sorry Dad."

"Don't worry," Castle said. "You've learned your lesson."

"Do I have to go home?" Julia asked.

"I hope not," Aaron said behind them. "She's definitely GAC material."

"How?" Zak asked as Skye and Mary were snorting in their laughter.

"She snuck out here, how cool is that?" Aaron said.

"When have we ever needed to sneak like that?" Zak asked.

"Hey, one of us gets us to go places all alone," Aaron replied.

Julia couldn't help laughing and said, "Will you let me investigate too? Or do I need to stay with Jay?"

"You have watched the show," Zak said. "You can investigate if they say yes."

"She needs to be with someone," Beckett said firmly, relieved her husband was nodding next to her. "No leaving her alone to see what evidence you get."

"Alright, Aaron," Zak said.

"Sure," the cameraman said quickly.

"That's okay?" Julia asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, your grandmother will be around right?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah," Julia said with a soft giggle.

"Okay, then let me go ahead and introduce us," Zak said. "We're going in on the Sports Deck and we'll do it from there."

Heading up on the elevator Castle asked, "They shut this down right?"

"Right, once we're up there we are locked down," Zak said. "Oh, your phone-" he said to Beckett as she doing something on hers.

"I'm just texting my dad," she explained. "So they know where Julia is."

"How did that happen?" Mary asked. "Not seeing… the sheer amount of kids?"

"We thought that might work," Julia said sheepishly.

"How many of the kids were helping you?" Castle asked.

"Everyone but the youngest four," Julia said. "Are Marie and Kath in trouble?"

"No," Skye said. "But we'll talk with them about this." They were stepping out on the deck and Zak spoke to someone associated with the boat on the walkie-talkie they had. "Welcome to lockdown," she said as she heard the elevator going silent.

Beckett smiled when Julia jumped up and down and kept her close as Zak and the guys were giving their introduction to the lockdown. She let her go as they made their way down to the Promenade Deck and she asked, "Where's your base going to be?"

"Thanks for watching the show," Zak told her. "In the Queen's Salon."

"Really?" Skye said in surprise.

"They let us take that since they're going to remodel it soon," Zak replied. "And it helps since we can get around here. Do you know where Amber will be?"

Closing her eyes, Julia took a deep breath and waited until she felt a presence near her that wasn't the adults around her. "Do you know where she is Grandmama?" she said, turning away from everyone as she was suddenly embarrassed.

Beckett looked at Castle but didn't say anything as their daughter turned back to them. "Do you know?" she couldn't help asking.

"She's outside but she's hiding," Julia said. She remembered something and said, "You have to tell her Aaron's going to be with me, but he'll be nice."

"Definitely," the cameraman said.

"She'll go tell her," Julia said. "Oh!" she said eagerly. "I got these for Amber," she told Zak as she pulled a cloth pouch from her pocket. "Grandmama said that she loves playing marbles."

"Great, would you play with her?" Zak asked. When the girl nodded rapidly he looked at Billy and said, "Are the X-cameras ready?"

"All set up," the AV tech replied with a nod.

"Then you two can go. We're going to stay here," Zak said, pointing to a computer screen on a table. "And watch you. Aaron has a Spirit Box, voice recorder and Ovilus device if you want to use them. But be careful with questions you might ask, no taunting with Amber. You'll have a flashlight Julia, but once you find the right place turn it off and try to get your eyes used to what light there is."

Julia nodded and then hugged her parents in turn saying, "I'll be okay."

"I know, stay close to Aaron as much as you can and tell him if you need help," Beckett told her daughter sternly.

"I will," Julia said before she went over to Aaron and they walked together out onto the promenade. She shone her flashlight ahead of them as they walked to the aft of the ship before she suddenly stopped and the cameraman was speaking hurriedly.

"Are you alright?" Aaron said.

"Yeah, she's here," Julia said, smiling up at him though she couldn't really see him. "Could we try the Spirit Box?"

"Sure, you think she'll talk?" Aaron asked as he was reaching into the vest he was wearing.

"Maybe," Julia replied. She took the device and said, "Do I need to turn off the flashlight?"

"Yeah," Aaron said. "And ask questions when you're ready."

"Aaron," Zak said over his walkie-talkie, making Julia jump. "Sorry. Turn it on for her she doesn't know how."

"Sorry," the cameraman said, reaching for it and quickly teaching her how to turn it off and on. He turned it on and blinked a little as Julia had turned off the flashlight.

"…lia," cut through the static.

"Amber?" Julia said in surprise. "Amber do you like staying here?" she then said as she recalled that she needed to ask questions. She waited but there was no response and she said, "Sorry, I know that already but they haven't heard it before."

"Ask another question and walk a little," Aaron told her.

"Is there anyone else here with you on the promenade?" Julia said walking down the ship a little carefully since she couldn't see anything. There was no response and she then said, "How many spirits are here right now?"

"She learned from you," Skye said to Zak jokingly at their base.

"I guess so," the man said quickly.

Julia frowned when there was no response and she was just about to ask another question when, "Two," broke through the static. "My grandmama is here with her," she said quickly to Aaron.

"Hey Zak," the cameraman said. "Can she talk to her grandmother too?"

"Ask a question but if it's the little girl's voice go back to talking to Amber," Zak said over the walkie-talkie.

"Grandmama, do you want to talk with us at all?" Julia asked, wondering what her mother was thinking. She and Aaron waited for a couple minutes but when there was no reply she said, "Amber, I have marbles that I bought for you. Do you want to play?" When, "Cat," came through she smiled and said, "She knows I got some cat's eyes, she wants to play," turning off the device and handing it to Aaron before Zak was coming over the walkie-talkie again.

"Play with her Aaron," the man said.

"What if the girl doesn't want me to," the cameraman replied.

"She doesn't, not yet," Julia told him. "I'll tell you." Since her eyes were more adjusted to the darkness by then she took her pouch from her pocket again and then got down on the floor. She poured the marbles out and kept them from rolling away too far before she said, "I don't know how to play with these too good, but I hope you'll show me how." As Aaron was filming her she was rolling the marbles with one to the side, but she didn't get the feeling that Amber was going to move it. "Can I talk to her again?" she asked, sitting up on her knees.

"Yes, do you want to use something else?" Aaron asked.

"Give her the Ovilus," Zak said.

Taking it, Julia set the device on the floor next to the marble she'd set aside and moved so she could sit cross legged. "What was your favorite color Amber?" she asked.

"What did it say?" Billy asked as they heard the device speaking.

"Red," Julia said on the promenade. "Yeah, I thought it was, that's why I got you red and purple ones. Are you happy here?"

"Hold on," Zak said then.

"Zak, it just said peace," Aaron called as Julia held the device up so he could see.

"Okay, I'm going to send in Kate," Zak replied. "She's holding the paranormal puck. Let's do a quick session with that and then we'll head down the ship."

"Can you see Mom?" Julia asked, reaching for the flashlight which was near her.

"Yeah, just give me a second to get over there," Beckett said. She waited a bit to get used to the dark and once she was she walked to the two, sitting down with her daughter who immediately hugged her.

"Will you stay here with me?" Julia asked.

"Of course," Beckett replied, sitting cross legged next to her.

"Do you know how to use that?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, I've seen Billy do that before," Julia replied. She typed out on the tablet device _Is it better to talk with this?_ She waited for a response and smiled at her mother when the word YES appeared under her question. "I asked her if it was better to talk like this," she then told Aaron who was behind her. "And she said yes," she added as she was holding up the device.

"Ask her if there are any negative spirits," Billy said.

Julia typed that out and waited with her mother before she sucked in a breath of air. "It just says below," she said, holding up the tablet again so Aaron could get it on camera.

"Julia," Zak said next. "Ask if you should go there with Skye and your mom."

Typing out the question, _Should I go there with my mom and her friend_ Julia waited anxiously before the word BEWARE appeared shortly after. "She said beware," she then said as Aaron was filming. "Wait! It says Aaron too!" she cried in surprise as that suddenly appeared.

"Okay, come back in here," Zak said. "Leave the marbles out but spread apart, maybe she'll move them."

Julia gave her mother the device and focused on the marbles, putting them in random spots and a couple close together. "Amber," she said. "I have to go but I might come back for a little bit. I'll see what my parents say." She got up off the floor and held her mother's hand as they went back into the salon where she made a beeline for her father.

"You did great," Castle said. "You didn't mention it was cold."

"It was," Aaron said then. "But I just… got the feeling I shouldn't mention it."

"That was Amber, she didn't want us to say that," Julia said quickly. "But you shouldn't stay by yourself down on the bottom of the ship where that room is." She then turned her attention to Zak and said, "You won't make him, right?"

"No," the lead investigator replied. "I'm thinking of sending you two down there."

"Wait!" Julia said. "What about after we leave. 'Cause we're not staying all night, right?"

"I won't," Zak said after a moment of hesitation.

"Thanks," Aaron said, holding out his hand and fist bumping with Julia.

"Okay," Zak said, shaking his head as they were watching the two. "I'm going to take them down to the Propeller Room and make sure the X-camera there is set. I'll leave the Spirit Box and voice recorder with you Skye and we'll watch you from here."


	18. The Dead Start To Walk (Part 2)

Beckett looked at her husband; as Zak had already told herself and the investigator they would be going; and squeezed his hand before she went with the two out into the promenade, Skye speaking to her first.

"You okay?" the investigator said.

"Yeah," Beckett replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Just checking," Skye said quickly.

Beckett nodded and focused on getting down the staircase they'd come to and the others they made their way down so they could reach the Propeller room. When they were outside it she and Skye turned to Zak and she said, "What exactly am I going to be doing here?"

"Whatever you feel like you need to do," the lead investigator replied.

Not sure if there was anything she could say to that, Beckett was quiet before he handed the two devices to Skye. When he was gone she then said, "Let me hold that one," motioning to the recorder.

"Sure," the investigator said easily, handing it to her. "Better get it started once we head in. You said you watched the show, right?"

"I know they mark everything," Beckett assured her, hearing the hesitancy in her voice. "Go." Since she hadn't been in the room before she froze in the doorway to it, feeling like there was something pressing on her chest.

"Yeah… I should have brought you in here," Skye told her friend when she realized she wasn't following her.

"What's that smell?" Beckett asked.

"I'm guessing diesel but why that smell is here…" Skye said. She went over to her and held her arm out to her saying, "Hold onto me and we'll see if that helps."

Though she wasn't sure about that, Beckett looped her arm through her friend's and they stood together in the doorway. But for some reason; that she wouldn't be able to figure out later; they didn't move.

"What're they doing?" Jay said back in the salon.

"Yeah, they're… stuck," Zak said.

"Don't," Julia said, touching his arm when he picked up his walkie-talkie. "You can't," she said doubtfully when the men looked at her. She jumped when there was the sound of a loud bang and looking back at the screen she let out a scream when she saw both women on the floor.

"Oh god," Mary said, jumping up and grabbing a flashlight.

"Kate!" Skye said suddenly, her eyes flying open.

"W-what?" Beckett asked slowly.

"Are you okay?" Skye said.

"Yes, but what am I doing on the floor?" Beckett said in confusion.

"I'm here too," Skye said. "I can't get up." She swore in Italian and then said, "There's something here. I wish Julia were here, your mum could be a help."

"This is ridiculous," Beckett said angrily. "We can get up."

"Then get up," Skye said simply.

Beckett was swearing herself, in Irish, and she said, "This is… mass hysteria."

"For two people," Skye stated. She wasn't surprised to hear a near growl from her friend and told her, "Look, the skepticism isn't really going… to help," her voice becoming a whisper. "Do you see that?"

"Yes, it's smoke," Beckett said in slight concern as she could see it above.

"Smoke," Skye scoffed. "Guys," she said a little louder as she recalled the camera. "There's some kind of white mist above us and it looks like it's… studying us. And we can't push ourselves up…" She paused and then said, "I can move my fingers and toes… Kate?"

"Yeah, that's all I can move," Beckett replied. "Wait, do you hear that?"

"That's them," Skye said. "The smoke-" she began before she and Beckett were rolling onto their sides at nearly the same time, coughing heavily.

"Kate!" Castle called as he was first to the two women. He reached his wife first and helped her up while Mary was getting Skye. "Okay?" he asked her worriedly.

"Yeah," Beckett said, covering her mouth with her hand when she heard how raspy her voice was.

"Let's get them back up to base," Zak said. "And we'll regroup." He let the others go before he realized that someone was missing, and he ran from the stairs before he saw Julia was stepping into the propeller room. "Julia," he called to her.

"It's okay," the girl said, going to the nearest corner and pressing herself back. "Grandmama is here… and Amber too."

"What's in here?" Zak asked.

"It's a sailor, one that was on the _Curacoa_ ," Julia said. She sighed and said, "I'm sorry," looking at the water. "I'm sorry what happened to you. But I promise you that everyone knows what happened. What's your name?"

"Julia be careful," Zak said, seeing his breath in the air.

"He won't hurt me," Julia replied. Something seemed to change suddenly, and she straightened up before Zak grabbed her, carrying her out of the room before they turned and looked at it. "What… what was that?" she asked, surprised to find herself trembling.

"I think that's the dark energy that's here," Zak said. "You know Skye had to deal with it. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, they pushed us out of there," Julia breathed out in relief. "I have to see my mom."

"Can you walk?" Zak asked her.

"Yeah," Julia said.

"Come on," Zak replied, holding his hand out to her. "You know, I've never seen someone with abilities like yours."

"Me neither," Julia said with a slight smile. "But I didn't think anything would happen when we came."

"Sometimes you never know," Zak replied. When the girl nodded they continued up in silence for a bit before he asked, "Has your mother ever tried to stop you from sensing anything?"

"Oh no," Julia said rapidly. "She never would, she just doesn't believe. Ooh, I hope she's okay."

"She should be since she's away from the room now," Zak said.

"And she's with my dad," Julia replied. She smiled when she could just make out the lead investigator looking at her and said, "Grandmama has told me that it helps if your soulmate is with you."

"We'll see if she's right," Zak replied with a nod.

Knowing they were nearing the Promenade Deck Julia asked, "Do we need to leave?"

"Let me check on them," Zak said, not surprised she seemed to want to keep going with the investigation. "And ask what they'll want to do."

Julia nodded, before she was running down the deck with her flashlight and rushing into the salon. "Mom!" she cried, seeing Beckett was sitting on a chair behind Jay and Billy.

"I'm okay," she said quickly to her daughter, embracing her once Julia had reached her. Beckett kissed the top of her head and said, "I am, ask your dad."

"She is, Skye too," Castle said, watching Julia looking at the investigator. "Where were you?"

"I… went into the room," the girl said slowly, waiting for her mother to react.

"You-" Beckett started to say.

"I was with her," Zak was quick to tell her. "I noticed she wasn't coming with us."

"What happened?" Skye asked.

Though she was bracing herself at the same time, Julia told everyone what had happened, relieved when Zak spoke as well. But when she finished she wrapped her arms around her mother and said, "I shouldn't have gone but he was nice just… upset."

"I'm glad he didn't hurt you," Beckett said, though she winced inwardly at what she was saying. She pulled away from Julia and pressed her lips to her forehead telling her, "Stay with us from now on okay?"

"Yeah," Julia said, nodding her head rapidly.

"Are we staying?" Castle asked.

"Yes but… I'll pass on going anywhere near that room," Beckett replied.

"We'll go in there ourselves," Zak said. "No, where I'd like you two to go next is the Grand Salon."

"Us?" Castle said in surprise.

"We went there ourselves," Skye commented.

"You remember," Mary said. "You're hoping they'll have better luck than us?"

"That's the idea," Zak said. "And we haven't had any negative energy there."

"Good thing," Skye said wryly. "That's where they have the big Sunday brunch. Good luck."

Beckett was startled, but when her husband squeezed her shoulder she looked up at him with a smile before she stood up as Zak was speaking again.

"Aaron, we'll head over with them," he told the cameraman.

"Do you want me to take anything?" he asked.

"I have the spirit box," Zak replied.

"Great," Castle commented. He and Beckett followed Aaron out, waving to their daughter who did the same back to them. "She's going to be so tired tomorrow."

"We'll let her sleep in," Beckett said. "How do you guys handle being up all night?" she then asked Aaron.

Shrugging the cameraman said, "I'm used to it by now. You're not worried about your daughter sneaking out or anything?"

"To go back down to the room?" Castle asked. When Aaron nodded he shook his head telling him, "She knows not go down there."

"But she might go somewhere else, I really hope they'll watch her," Beckett said with a sigh.

* * *

"Stay here," Skye was telling Julia. "Your mom and dad would be very upset if you slipped out anywhere."

"I know, but I'm not gonna go back to the room," the girl replied. "I don't want to." Julia watched the two women leave with Billy; heading for B deck; and then said to Jay, "Could I go out to the promenade?"

"I think that's what she meant by not slipping out anywhere," the man replied with a slight smile.

"I know, but I would only get the marbles and sit outside the doorway right here," Julia said.

"Amber?" Jay asked her.

"Yeah," Julia said.

"Alright but let me go with you to get the marbles at least," Jay said, picking up his walkie-talkie.

Julia was relieved that he was agreeing, and she hurried to get a flashlight before they were walking together out into the promenade. She hurried ahead of him to the marbles and picked up all but two before Jay was suddenly speaking as she stood up straight.

"It just got really cold," the man said.

"Yeah, that's her," Julia said. "Amber, I'm gonna move over there by the door. But we can still play together."

"Head back," Jay told her. "Let me move the X-camera around so it's looking down this way."

Julia nodded and walked back to the salon's doorway, sitting a little outside the light that was shining out of the room. She set down the marbles and paused before she counted them out. "Jay!" she cried.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he ran to her.

"All the marbles are here, and I know I left two over there; I thought you were going to leave the camera there," Julia said, letting him count.

"Okay… let me tell Zak," Jay said. "He might want you to do something here."

Nodding her head Julia murmured, "Maybe we'll record your voice Amber, but I won't hear it until I play the tape so it's okay," while the man was talking to the lead investigator.

"He wants you to do an EVP session," Jay said after he'd finished talking on the walkie-talkie.

"Okay," Julia said with a nod. "Will you tell me when I need to stop?" she asked as she went after him to the table.

"Yeah, but wait to start recording once you're sitting down," Jay told her. "And then mark when you make a noise or the-"

"I remember you guys doing that," Julia interrupted. "I will." She went over to the marbles and sat down before she called, "Do I need to say anything at the start?"

"Just say your name, that it's nine-fifty and where you are," Jay said back.

Julia quickly did that before she set the recorder next to her and she took a deep breath, wondering about her parents before she focused on Amber and the marbles in front of her.

* * *

"We'll walk around here," Zak said to the three with him in the Grand Salon. "And get a feel for the room but I want you two to stay together."

"Wouldn't it be better if we were apart?" Beckett asked.

"I get the feeling you might get something if you're together," Zak replied.

"You've been talking to our daughter," Castle said.

"I may have," Zak said simply. "We'll just do that for a short while and we'll group together, see what we have."

After they'd separated from the lead investigator and Aaron, Castle took his wife's hand and went to the side of the room. Though he couldn't really see much he looked around and said, "We sailed on this ship."

"I know," Beckett replied. She knew her husband was looking at her and said, "I remembered just now. We were here one night when the seas were calm." She then said, "We were only going because of the stop in Cobh."

"Exactly," Castle said as he recalled them having to take a ferry from the ship to the city. "I don't remember hearing it did that."

"Maybe they were trying it out," Beckett said. "The Titanic did that."

"I guess," Castle said, thinking over that for a moment before he looked around in front of them. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure," Beckett said slowly as she glanced around. She was about to speak when she grabbed her husband's arm as they heard a sound to their left and they looked together.

"Zak," Castle called. "We just heard utensils hitting each other here."

Hurrying over the lead investigator said, "Right here?"

"Yeah, is that residual though?" Castle said.

Zak held up his finger and they were all silent, listening, before he said, "Is anyone here?" When there was no response or any kind of noise he said, "Did you sense anything?"

"Not really," Castle said first.

"Yeah, I got nothing in here," Aaron said. "It feels normal."

"I'm getting the same feeling. Why don't we leave a REM pod here and see if anything makes it light up," Zak told him.

"Can we head up to the promenade?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, go ahead," Zak replied. "But if you experience anything let us know by your walkie-talkie."

After they had said they would, Castle took his wife's hand again and they went out of the room so they could get to the stairs. "Okay?" he asked her.

"Thank you for not telling him about us," Beckett told him quietly.

Shaking his head Castle replied, "It didn't need to be said."

Squeezing his hand, Beckett walked with him in silence as they went up to the Promenade deck. She was surprised, when they turned the corner from the stairs, to find their daughter sitting on the floor holding a voice recorder. "Julia?" she said.

Looking up, the girl turned off the device and then said, "Hi Mom, Dad, did you get anything?"

"Not really, we heard sounds like people were eating dinner but not for very long," Castle said first.

"Oh, too bad," Julia said as she stood up. "We don't have to leave yet?"

"No," Beckett replied. "We'll stay a little longer but not as long as it would have been if it was just the four of us," watching her daughter and waiting for her to respond as she wrinkled her nose.

"Can we go somewhere together?" Julia asked.

"We'll wait to see what Zak says," Beckett said gently.

Julia nodded and left the marbles on the floor before she got up and went with her parents into the salon. "Here," she said to Jay.

"Did she talk to you?" the man asked.

"Yeah, I don't know if it'll be on there though," Julia said.

"Billy will take a look at it," Jay said before they looked over at the doorway as the others walked in. "Did you guys get anything?" he asked Skye and Mary as they walked in with the man he'd been talking about.

"Not really, seems like the ship's quite calm now," the former said.

"Does that mean were done?" Julia asked in disappointment.

"No," Zak said. "We're going to take a quick break and see if we get anything on the X-cameras."

"Wait," Jay said. "Julia did an EVP session out there."

"Yeah," the girl said, blushing deeply.

"Alright, Billy can you review that? See if there is anything," Zak said.

"Were there any noises? Were you talking to each other?" the AV tech asked Julia and Jay. When the latter said no, and the former shook her head Billy said, "I'll go through it as fast as I can."

Beckett pulled her daughter with her and Castle to the chairs that were set up and they sat with Skye and Mary while they waited. She wanted to talk, but with Billy listening to what Julia had recorded and the other three watching their cameras she merely wrapped her arm about her daughter's shoulders.

"Guys," Billy said after a while. "I got something, just one thing, towards the end." When the others gathered behind them he said, "It was right after your last question Julia."

Biting her lower lip, Julia tried not to blush too deeply as she heard her own voice asking, "Can you ever leave the ship Amber?"

"And you got this for a response," Billy said, going to some disturbance on the line of audio after Julia's speaking.

Leaning in close the girl listened closely before her eyes widened and she straightened up. "Did she say, 'I'm home'?"

"Play it again," Zak said.

Listening to it, Beckett looked at her daughter when she sighed and she placed her hand on her shoulder asking, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know… I guess she's happier here and I don't think she's bothering anyone," Julia replied slowly. "But what about her parents?"

"This is where she's happy," Zak said after a moment. "And if she wants to stay then we wouldn't be able to help her."

"No," Skye said as he was looking at her. "It's where she was happiest and what she wants to experience again. But I know a few of the workers after last time, I can check on her every so often to be sure."

"Alright," Zak said. "Let me look over the map and see where else you might be able to go Julia."

As they were watching the lead investigator Julia wrapped her arms around her mother tightly, deciding that wherever Zak found for her to go she would insist she went with her parents. She hoped that they would find out more for the episode and hoped her mother would be okay for the rest of their night investigating.

* * *

"It was great to see you again Julia," Zak said, shaking her hand. "You got us a class A EVP, you should be proud."

Watching as the girl yawned, Beckett smiled and said, "I think she will be more tomorrow once she's gotten some sleep."

"I am now," Julia said firmly though her tone was still tinged with exhaustion.

"And thank you both for participating too," Zak said, shaking Beckett's hand first before he did the same with Castle. "Are you okay now?"

"I am," Beckett said, glancing at the ship. "Be careful," she found herself saying, turning back to the four men. "Especially in the Propeller Room."

"She's right," Skye said. "You'll want to be careful in there after tonight."

"And don't let Aaron go in there, it doesn't like him," Julia blurted out. Her eyes widened at what she'd said, and she then told them, "I just… get the feeling."

"I'll keep that in mind," Zak said, not surprised when Aaron hugged Julia with one arm.

"You should come with us," the cameraman said as he let her go. "That way you can keep Zak from forcing me to stay by myself."

Julia laughed and said, "I don't think I could; just here."

"Well… I had to try," Aaron said before he held his fist out to her.

After she had bumped fists with the cameraman, Julia waved to the four men before they made their way down the ship to where they would be let out and they went to the car. She was yawning as she stepped up into the backseat after her mother and only just heard Skye telling her parents Zak would be let them know if they found anything else besides what they'd been aware of already before she was asleep.

"She's out?" Mary asked, looking back from the driver's seat briefly.

"She is," Beckett said, holding her close against her side and caressing her daughter's hair. "I was surprised she wasn't doing that walking down the promenade."

"She was excited to keep investigating," Castle commented.

Beckett looked at her husband, rolling her eyes before they fell silent, watching the freeway they were passing on the way back to Santa Monica.

* * *

Her eyes flying open, Julia looked around and was surprised to find herself in hers and Mari's room at the McDouglas home. She pushed down the sheet covering her and realized she was in her pajamas. Sighing she realized she could vaguely remember her mother having her brush her teeth and helping her change. She sat up then and looking at her friend she was relieved when Mari was asleep. She felt she was thirsty and got out of bed, only to find a glass of water on the nightstand. "Thanks Dad," she murmured.

"Julia?" Mari said, waking up as her friend was drinking. "You're back."

"I think a long time ago," Julia said, glancing at the clock on the nightstand.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Mari asked worriedly.

"No," Julia said before she started to walk to the window and stopped when she recalled the windows in their room looked out on the front yard and not the back. "But my mom did… or will," she said, trying to sense that. But when she only felt a pressure on her back she sighed in frustration and said, "Grandmama is telling me to go to bed."

"Your dad is with your mom," Mari said reassuringly.

"Yeah… good thing I told him she might have a nightmare," Julia said before she moved to climb on the bed. She smiled when Mari hugged her tightly and asked, "Want me to tell you what happened?"

"Tomorrow, I'm really sleepy," the girl told her.

"Night Mari," Julia said as she'd been yawning while her friend was talking.

"Night," the girl replied before they were laying down.

Julia closed her eyes the second her back hit the bed, and though she was worried about her mother, she was asleep very shortly after. She would remember her dream the next day, of a young blonde girl with a British accent, who played with her and Mari as their ship made their way through the Atlantic waters to reach America.

* * *

 _The bow of the ship was enormous, and she found herself frozen in fear as there was chaos around her. But there was no chance to get out of the way and the ship was sliced neatly in two before the explosions began._

 _She tried to scream as her body was vaulted into the air and she had only a moment to see the sky. She was plunging deep into the Atlantic and she couldn't get herself back up to the surface. The light was closing above her, and she reached up to the figure above her, staring at her. There was no assistance and she realized she couldn't breathe as the darkness fell around her as thick as the water above._

* * *

"Kate, Kate it's alright," Castle said, wrapping his arms around her as soon as she'd sat up, her eyes flying open. "You just had a nightmare," he said when she finally focused on him. "Were you on the ship?" he asked as he was rubbing her back gently.

"The other one," Beckett breathed out, covering her face with her hands. She felt her husband pressing his lips to the top of her head and she immediately felt warmth at the sensation. When he cupped her cheek, she turned to look up at him and wasn't surprised when he kissed her. It was very gentle and tender, and she stared into his eyes when he pulled away before he pressed his forehead to hers and murmured against her lips.

"Julia and Skye told me this might happen," Castle replied.

Wrapping her arms a little tighter around her husband Beckett said, "This happened before?"

"Yeah," Castle said before he carefully made her pull back so he could look at her. "Skye said it doesn't mean you've got an attachment, more the spirit left an impression of what they went through and you're seeing it now." He frowned when his wife shuddered visibly and he said, "She told me to hold onto you."

"Really?" Beckett asked, trying to be humorous though she could hear her tone was weak.

"She did," Castle replied, not surprised at the question. "And said it helps you shake off the rest of the night."

"She's probably having one right now," Beckett commented.

"Probably, but she does have Mary," Castle said. "Lay down," he then told her though he was doing that first. When she was pressed against him he held her close and said, "Julia?"

"She'll be alright," Beckett replied with a sigh as her husband was rubbing her upper arm and back. "I feel like I'm not going to be able to get back to sleep."

"No?" Castle asked gently.

"Not really," Beckett said. She could feel he was looking at her and she closed her eyes as she admitted, "I don't want to see that again."

"I don't blame you," Castle said. He could feel her head moving on his shoulder and he said, "I was watching you, you were… I could tell it was bad." He leaned down slightly and pressed his lips to the top of her head and he murmured into her hair, "I wanted to help you."

"You are," Beckett said reassuringly. She tilted her head back and said, "I feel better."

"But not fully," Castle pointed out. When he felt her pressing closer to him he said, "You do need to sleep."

"I know," Beckett replied softly. "Tell me something."

Castle was quiet for a moment before he said, "Can I tell you I love you first?"

"I love you Rick," Beckett told him.

"I love you too Kate," Castle was quick to respond. He leaned down, his thumb caressing her lower lip, so he could find it, and he kissed her. It was gentle at first, but something between them suddenly changed and they deepened it together. They weren't very rough but when they parted he could still feel his lips throbbing slightly. He remembered her request and then said, "I'm recalling something from the year 1933."

"Tell me," Beckett replied, though she was already aware of what he was recalling.

Nodding, Castle said, "It was April; a Saturday and the beginning of their Easter break; and we were on our own with our girls in the city at Golden Gate Park," knowing she was seeing it in her mind as he was.

* * *

 _"Here Ma?" Julia asked._

 _"No, more in the shade," Kate said. She smiled at her husband and said, "It's been a long time since we've needed to do that."_

 _"I know," Rick replied. "There girls," he said, setting Josephine down. "We'll eat here."_

 _Watching their three-year-old run to her sisters, Kate said, "I suppose we've all been cooped up for too long."_

 _"Of course," Rick replied. "Here," he said, taking the picnic basket she'd carried from the car. "After four days in the home I'm surprised Julia's not doing cartwheels."_

 _Kate couldn't help laughing and then told him, "Or you."_

 _"I'm no circus performer," Rick replied. "Girls," he then said to their daughters._

 _"The blanket's ready Da," eleven-year-old Julia said as she looked over the blanket she and her sisters had laid out._

 _"Is the food?" Elizabeth asked. When her mother glanced at her the five; soon to be six; year old smiled and was going to speak when her little sister did so first._

 _"I'm awful hungry Ma," Alexandra said._

 _Smiling at the four; soon to be five; year old, Kate said, "We'll eat now. Sit down," addressing the last to the girls. She took the picnic basket and opened it, looking at her family as they were leaning towards her. "Enough, you'll all get your food. But you can't crowd around."_

 _"She's right," Rick said, though he'd been joining the girls in that._

 _Kate passed out the plates of food she'd wrapped in wax paper and getting her own last she began to eat, smiling as the four girls were silent eating their meal. Looking to her husband she saw he was reaching into his vest and asked, "Do you have somewhere to go?"_

 _"No, just making sure we have time to play before we need to get the ferry," Rick replied easily as he'd been looking at his pocket watch._

 _"What can we play?" Julia asked, finishing her cucumber and ham sandwich._

 _"We'll see what your da has for us," Kate said, handing Josephine her second square sandwich._

 _"These are delicious Kate," Rick told his wife, finishing his deviled egg._

 _Smiling as their three oldest agreed, Kate nodded and said, "Thank my ma, she taught me."_

 _"These are special," Alexandra said._

 _"Thank you," Kate said, laughing softly. When they had finished eating, she was going to pack up the plates and paper before her husband was getting their three oldest to help. While she was waiting she pulled Josephine onto her lap but the three-year-old soon began to fidget and she let her go, not surprised when she got up and started to chase after a butterfly before her sisters were following. She glanced at her husband when he sat next to her and she held his hand before he called to their daughters._

 _"Girls, come back," Rick said. "You'll hurt the butterfly if you catch it."_

 _"Come here," Kate said as Josephine started to cry when her biggest sister picked her up._

 _"Ma," the toddler sobbed._

 _"It's alright, you wouldn't want to play with croquet, would you?" Kate asked her, holding her close._

 _"I can play?" Josephine asked._

 _"Yes, I'll need to help you but it's better since I would like to play with you," Kate said. She smiled when the toddler did as well and kissed her before she stood with Josephine on her hip so the others could get the blanket out of the way and they could begin their game._

* * *

"It was a beautiful day," Beckett murmured.

"It was," Castle said, rubbing her back a few times. "But that's not all."

"I know," Beckett said with a slight smile.

"Are you sleepy yet?" Castle asked her.

"No," Beckett said simply.

"Okay," Castle said, smiling. He couldn't help himself and kissed her forehead before he went back to the memory, jumping to when they had gotten on the ferry and were making their way home across the bay.

* * *

 _"Careful against the railing girls," Rick told the four as they stood against it. Though he and Kate hadn't wanted to let them out there, as they'd gotten halfway across the water the four had gotten antsy and they'd had no choice._

 _"We will Ma," Julia said quickly, smiling over her shoulder at them. She was relieved when they stood to her right and turned to look back at the water before her sister was crying out next to them._

 _"Ma, water!" Josephine squealed._

 _"It's the spray," Elizabeth said. "We're gonna get wet."_

 _"At least it's a nice day," Rick told his wife as he could see the doubt on her face. When she nodded he squeezed her arm before he saw the nearing hills of Marin which led him to say, "Could I take my girls and wife to dinner?"_

 _"No, I'll cook," Kate replied firmly._

 _"I'll help Ma," Julia said quickly._

 _Nodding to her daughter, Kate then turned her attention to the girls to make sure they were alright before they were getting closer to the docks. She and her husband were getting the girls to go to the car until they were inside, Rick driving them off once the ferry was stopped._

 _"What're we having for dinner Ma?" Alexandra asked._

 _"Your da's favorite," Kate said. "Pork chops and everything else."_

 _"Sounds smashing love," Rick said, focusing on getting through the streets of Sausalito. When he pulled into the driveway at home he parked the car in the garage and got out with his wife and daughters before they went inside the house. "Come on Josephine, Alexandra," he said to the two youngest. "We'll find something to do until dinner's ready."_

 _"What can I do Ma?" Elizabeth asked eagerly._

 _"You can help your sister with the potatoes," Kate told her. "Wash them and peel them so I can make potato cakes."_

 _"I can help you Ma," Julia replied._

 _"Alright, let's hurry," Kate replied with a smile before she got them all aprons so they could get started._

* * *

"You cooked very well then too," Castle said.

"You did too," Beckett said with a smile.

Nodding Castle said, "After we ate we all worked together to clean up-"

"Josie was hanging on to my apron strings," Beckett interrupted him.

"She was," Castle said in amusement. "But when we got everything we gathered together in the living room."

* * *

 _"I wonder what'll happen this time," Julia was saying as they were looking at the radio._

 _"I wonder if Wilma Deering will get to do something big with Buck Rodgers," Elizabeth said hopefully._

 _"We'll see," Kate said as the introduction to the show began. She was sewing, fixing one of her husband's shirts that he'd torn and checking on Julia next to her as the girl was practicing her stitches._

 _"How's this Ma?" the girl asked at one point, showing her what she'd done._

 _"Wonderful," Kate said with a smile. "You're learning very well."_

 _"Can't I learn Ma?" Elizabeth asked._

 _"When you're a bit older darling," Kate said with a smile. "Keep listening." At the end of the show she had the shirt finished and she looked at her husband, seeing that Josephine was fast asleep on his lap. "We'll be back girls, don't fight over the radio," she told them before she and Rick went up to their youngest's room, getting her to bed quickly._

 _When they went down the stairs Rick saw that the girls were sitting close to the radio still and he asked, "Did we miss anything?"_

 _"No!_ Charlie Chan _is starting right now!" Julia said eagerly._

 _"Wonderful," Rick said. He helped his wife over to the couch and they sat together to listen to the program. By the time it had ended Alexandra was sleeping and Elizabeth was blinking rapidly._

 _"Time for bed," Kate said as she saw the two. She took Elizabeth's hand and led her up the stairs as Castle followed with Alexandra. They split up as they were helping each girl and after they'd tucked both in and kissed both goodnight they went downstairs to find their oldest giggling as she was listening to_ The Fire Chief _with Ed Wynn. They listened with her and when it had finished she stood before Julia was protesting._

 _"Ma it's Saturday!" the girl replied._

 _"And you still need your sleep, come on," Kate said simply as her husband was turning off their Westinghouse._

 _"Aren't you going to listen to the radio?" Julia asked in surprise._

 _"Not tonight," Rick replied. "We're a bit tired, it's time to get to our bed too."_

 _Though she still didn't want to go, Julia nodded and they went to her room though she and her mother went inside. She changed into her pajamas and let her mother brush her hair before she went over to the doorway. "You can come in Da," she said with a smile._

 _"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Rick asked._

 _"Of course," Julia said. She then frowned and asked, "What are we doing?"_

 _"You'll see," Kate said with a smile. "Say goodnight to your da and we'll get you into bed."_

 _After she had hugged and kissed her father, Julia went to her mother and did the same. "I had an awful good time in the city Ma," she was saying as she climbed under her sheets on the bed. "Couldn't we go back?"_

 _"We are," Kate said, smiling at her husband._

 _"We need to visit the club for a bit," Rick told their daughter. "And you can take care of your sisters on the beach. And your grandma invited us to stay over."_

 _"Oh Da, really?" Julia asked eagerly._

 _"Really, but there's a surprise before that," Rick said._

 _"The movies!" Julia guessed. When her father smiled she hugged him quickly and said, "Thank you. Will we get to see_ King Kong _?"_

 _"We will, I just hope Josephine won't be scared," Kate said with a slight frown._

 _"We'll tell her all about it," Julia said earnestly. "And that it's just the silver screen."_

 _"Alright," Kate said slowly. "We'll take her, but she'll be with you in my room that night."_

 _"I'll take care of her Ma," Julia said earnestly as she knew her mother was talking about her baby sister having a nightmare. "Thank you," she felt she needed to say again._

 _"You're very welcome, come on, time for sleep," Kate told her, having her lay down._

 _Rick said goodnight with his wife to their oldest and once they saw she was closing her eyes he reached for Kate's hand and led her to their room. He closed the door and then locked it before he reached for her, pulling her against him._

 _"Is this why you didn't want to listen to anything else?" Kate asked with a slight smile._

 _"Ab-so-lute-ly," Rick told her huskily. He then leaned down and took her lips, kissing her gently before her tongue swept across his lips. He held her tightly with both hands and against him, reaching for the back of her dress._

 _Kate gasped as her husband's hand spanned her back as soon as he'd unzipped her pale blue dress. "Take it off," she murmured to him in pleasure. "There's no need for any of this," she then added._

 _"No," Rick replied in agreement before they raced to undress one another. He thought; when they had finished; that there would be a problem with their clothes so close to the door. But his wife was running her hands all over him and he decided he didn't need to worry until later. He picked her up, carrying her to their bed where he laid her down and kissed her hungrily as he laid on top of her. After they'd parted he moved to grab a condom from his nightstand, not surprised when Kate touched him, running her hands over him as she always did while he was getting one. When he turned back to her he kissed her deeply and with her help got it onto his erection._

 _Kate placed her hand on the small of her husband's back while he was sliding into her. She moaned heavily when he moved shortly after and she wrapped her arms and legs around him so she could follow him in his thrusts. She was crying out when they weren't kissing, feeling him kissing all around her neck and chest for so long that it was a shock when she began to climax. After she stopped, and her husband had as well, she kissed him and they became involved in that for some time before he was drawing away from her. "I love you Rick," she told him when he was climbing back into bed with her._

 _"I love you too Kate," he replied quickly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him. He kissed at her lips, but very quick kisses before she was stopping him, and he said, "Time for repose?"_

 _"Of course," Kate replied, pulling him back to her before they were kissing._

* * *

"We were together a second time," Castle said. He expected his wife to say something to that, but she was silent for so long he thought he'd gotten her to sleep when she was speaking.

"I hated you having to wear those," Beckett said. "Now too."

Castle wasn't sure what he could say exactly to that, since he was aware of it already, so he instead said, "I do too."

Beckett pressed her cheek a little harder onto her husband's shoulder before she told him, "Will you make love to me in the morning?"

"Of course," Castle said. When she looked up at him he paused, wondering if that had sounded weird, before he told her, "If it's what you want." When she nodded he then said quickly, "I will too, you don't have to worry."

"I didn't," Beckett replied.

"What's wrong?" Castle asked, able to tell as she was shifting a bit against him.

"You were in my… nightmare," Beckett told him.

"You don't have to tell me," Castle said quickly. He felt her shaking her head and he listened as she told him what she had seen. He sighed as he could hear her voice growing strained at the end and said, "I should have tried harder to wake you up."

Shaking her head again Beckett told him, "At least you tried."

"Are you tired now?" Castle asked.

"Yes," Beckett said softly. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you too Kate," Castle said. "Remember that right now okay?"

Beckett couldn't help smiling before she looked up at him and said, "You're hoping I'll dream of you instead?"

"I would hope it'd be better," Castle replied seriously. He then smiled himself when his wife laughed softly and he kissed her again, gently so she could still go to sleep. When they parted he said, "I'll be doing that of you love."

Pressing a kiss to her husband's collarbone, Beckett murmured she would as well before she did her best to relax against him. Closing her eyes, her mind went to what she'd been able to recall of them making love together that night in April of 1933. It helped her to soon sleep and she did so as she felt his arms wrapped around her securely.

Watching his wife, Castle gently reached up and caressed her hair, careful not to wake her. He waited, making sure that she was fully asleep, and he moved to press his lips to her forehead. He murmured gently to her, and then reminded himself to make their intimacy the next morning as meaningful as possible, wanting to pleasure her desperately. But he finally allowed himself to follow her, finding his repose as he replayed their night together of their past lives in his mind while he was embracing her firmly to him.


	19. Hold Me For Some Time

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _Someplace Else_ by George Harrison, from his album _Cloud Nine_.

A/N #2: I loved getting the feedback for the last chapter I did so will go straight into my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Great to see you always like the back stories since I love writing them!),

Guest (I wasn't surprised that you had the question you did about Julia's abilities. And I can say that Johanna is blocking her birth mother but that's about all I can say without getting into spoiler alert territory for future stories!) and

Emma (Really nice to see you're loving the story still!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Someplace Else_ , the info on it in the A/N above.

Hold Me For Some Time

"Mary," Castle said. When the doctor looked over at him he nodded outside and told her, "Skye's here."

Beckett couldn't help smiling as the woman jumped up from the chair she was sitting on and rushed over to her wife. She glanced at her husband as the two embraced and Derek walked in after though he soon sidestepped them. "Hello," she said to the dancer, sharing a quick embrace with him. "How was everything?"

"Really great, I have a good feeling about tonight," Derek replied, sitting to Castle's right after shaking his hand. "She's improved."

"Immensely," Skye herself said as she walked over to them with Mary. "And thank you so much for coming." After she and her wife were sitting down she asked, "How're the kids?"

"Good, I'm surprised they went along with cooking classes," Castle said.

"Did you mention at all we were coming here?" Skye asked with her eyebrow slightly raised.

"I did _grá_ ," Mary said in amusement. "But the girls said we'd come back to get them sandwiches another day."

Laughing Skye nodded and said, "I'm not surprised." She was going to speak to the others but since their food was already there they began to eat. She then looked at Castle and Beckett across from herself and Mary and asked, "What do you think?"

"Good but how can you eat it that wet?" Castle asked the doctor.

"It's how I've always eaten it," Mary replied.

"You've been here," Beckett said to the dancer.

"Of course, this is a classic place," Derek said, wiping away the au jus from his French dip sandwich, what the restaurant was most known for.

"It's been on TV before," Skye said with a smile as they were eating in _Phillipe_ near Union Station.

"With this many people? I'm not surprised," Castle commented. He took another bite and said, "Yeah, not surprised."

The five ate in silence until they were nearly finished with their sandwiches Skye then asked Beckett something she'd been saying to her for nearly a week.

"How're you doing?" the investigator said.

"Good," Beckett said with a slight nod of her head. "And you can stop asking me now."

"I've been asking her since Wednesday," Mary said.

Smiling Castle said, "That long?"

"I've been busy lately," Skye commented. She then said to her partner, "Are you sure it's alright we're going to all these places?"

"You do check with me and while we used to practice every day that got harder for the stars so it was better to scale back," Derek replied. "Luckily you're alright with practicing while we are out. And I'm getting invitations to visit interesting places."

Laughing Skye said, "You're welcome, are we ready to go?"

"Yeah, we wanted to get some time in with Josie after we do some quick lessons for the kids," Castle said as they stood up quickly and walked out of the restaurant to let the crowd have a chance to sit.

"Do you think we can make it a day in Paris?" Beckett asked the investigator.

"Sure," Skye said. "But no verbs, straight talking because our oldest will riot," she added. When they were laughing she turned to her partner and said, "We'll be at the studio on time."

"I'll see you then," Derek replied. " _Au revoir_."

"Bye," Beckett said with a smile at his French. "Have you heard from Zak at all?" she asked Skye when they were walking to the car she and Castle had come in with Mary.

"Not yet, they have another episode to film later this week so it's taking them some time to review what we got," Skye replied.

"Did you ever tell him about the girl at Pico House?" Mary asked.

"I didn't, I decided that we'll head there ourselves," Skye replied. "She doesn't need to have cameras there."

"Hopefully you'll be able to help her," Beckett said.

"Julia's too young," Skye said, shaking her head. "She wouldn't know what to do, so I'll be doing this after you guys are back in New York." She hurriedly held up her hand and told the three as they'd been about to speak, "I know, you think we'll stay. I meant whenever that is."

"Let's get back to the house," Beckett said.

"Let's," Skye said in exaggerated agreement as she got into the back with her wife. She leaned against her wife and knowing the others wouldn't mind as she closed her eyes and got a quick nap before they reached home.

* * *

" _Maman_! _Pouvons-nous commencer_?" Fleur asked Skye eagerly as she and Mary were coming down the stairs.

" _Bien sûr_ ," Skye replied with a smile. "Alright," she then said to the kids that were behind hers and Mary's middle daughter. "Does anyone know what we were saying?"

"Um… can we start?" Julia said tentatively first.

"Exactly," Skye replied. "How'd you know?"

" _Commencer_ ," Julia said with more confidence. "It sounds like the word commence, begin or start."

"That's the writer in you," Skye said, smiling at Castle and Beckett. "And me?"

"Of course," all the kids but Josie chorused together.

" _Good_ ," Skye said with a smile and starting to speak in French. "We're ready to start today. We'll start with simple phrases and we'll go from there."

Going through conversation in full French as they were playing a simple memory game, Castle wasn't surprised when some of the kids became a little impatient and they had difficulty translating more words. "I think that's it for now, we better get back to English and let them start P.E.," he said.

"Okay, you've done very well," Skye said. "Go ahead with today's P.E. teachers." She watched them go with Jim and said, "Teacher," to the others.

"Are you going to take a nap?" Beckett asked her mother in law as she was getting up from the couch.

"No, no, I'll follow, but Jim will let them play their games," Martha said. "Will you be playing with Josie?"

"We will," Beckett said, watching her mother in law walking out after the others.

"What're you going to do?" Castle said to the two women.

"What do you want to do?" Beckett asked with a smile at them.

"Is it alright if we join you?" Skye asked. "We don't have to-"

"That's fine," Beckett said reassuringly after she interrupted her. "We spend time with her, but we don't have to be alone."

"And you two are family after all," Castle replied. "For a long time."

"I knew that was coming in somewhere," Mary told the other two women wryly.

"Come on," Beckett said. She was already carrying Josie, so she took the baby to the living room and waited for Castle to lay out the blanket they used for that before getting some of her toys as well. "Do you want to play with her?" she asked, turning and expecting to see both Skye and Mary, though only the doctor was there.

"I'd rather play my guitar," the investigator said as she was walking from the office to them. "If it's alright."

"What're you practicing for?" Castle asked.

"November," Skye said simply.

"Just that?" Castle said.

"Yeah, our song's going to be full electric," Skye replied. She began idly playing her guitar while Castle was handing Josie the foam shapes he had put on the blanket. Eventually she stopped and just watched the baby before she said, "Six months."

"I know," Beckett said, smiling at her friend. "It does go quickly."

"And she's getting better at holding onto objects," Mary said as the baby was clutching at the foam sphere.

"A lot better," Castle said. "And then putting them in her mouth. Josie," he said gently, making her let go of it. "Easy," he said as the baby started to cry. He picked her up off the floor and held her above him, making airplane noises that set Josie to laughing before he realized there was more than that.

"I'm sorry," Skye said, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "You're making very nice WWI airplane sounds."

"Oh, thank you," Castle said, turning his attention to Josie and holding her close to his chest as she was making an ah sound.

"When will you start giving her baby food?" Mary asked.

"Soon," Beckett said. "Maybe in a day or two, why?"

"So soon?" Mary said in surprise.

"We did the same with Eliza," Castle pointed out, setting Josie on her stomach and watching her pushing herself up slightly before she started to whimper. He picked her back up, helping her sit up before he kissed the top of her head. "We noticed she can move her tongue in the way she'll need to to swallow food. But why're you asking?"

"The girls have been wondering. Our girls," Skye said after her wife had looked at her and she smiled before Beckett was speaking.

"Did they want to feed her?" she asked the women.

"They might want to try it," Mary said first.

"But would that be a good idea? I would imagine that your girls want to feed her as well," Skye commented.

"You know we feed her more than once," Castle said.

" _Stop being a wise ass_ ," Skye said in Irish though she was smiling. "And if it's alright, but only when you say they can."

"Great to know," Castle said, moving so Beckett could sit with their baby. He was startled when the two women got up and he said, "Where-"

"We suddenly want to be with our daughters," Mary said first.

"And we should let you have some time alone with her," Skye added.

"Bye," Beckett said.

"Oh," Skye said as she paused on the step up to the entry. "Would you mind coming backstage again Kate?"

"No," Beckett said, knowing the woman was beginning to get nervous about her dance. She watched her go before she then looked down at Josie to make sure the baby was okay when she felt her husband's hand on her back. She smiled at him when she was looking up at him and was startled as he leaned over. But their kiss was very brief, and she said, "We don't do that very often."

"Yes… though those aren't any less enjoyable," Castle commented. When she smiled he kissed her and said, "I forgot to ask, is she changing in front of you two?"

"No," Beckett said with a smile and slight laugh. "She's done I think," she told her husband as she could feel Josie leaning against her and trying to grab at what she could feel. She picked up the baby and stood up, going to the couch with Castle saying, "You'll have to start making her food."

"I know, I forgot to tell them I was planning on doing that," he replied thoughtfully. Castle smiled as Josie was making an m sound and he leaned down, kissing her forehead before running his hand over her hair. "I wonder how P.E. is going?"

"We stopped," Julia said, suddenly walking into the entry with her sister.

"Oh really?" Beckett asked them.

"Yep, we don't have a lot of time," Julia said. "But we did exercise."

"Yeah, we played duck, duck, goose and I got to run around and I didn't have to go in the middle," Eliza said.

"Did you wash your hands?" Beckett asked them.

"Yep, first thing when we stopped Grandpapa told us to," Julia said with a smile. "How's Josa?"

"She's good," Castle said. "Having fun but she was saying she wanted to see her big sisters." He did his best not to laugh at the look Eliza gave him and said, "What?"

Just as the little girl was about to speak, Skye was coming inside and calling to everyone they needed to get ready to leave.

Hearing that Beckett told the girls, "I'm leaving with them so I have to get ready now."

"Go Mommy," Eliza said first.

"Yeah, we'll meet you on the dance floor," Julia added hurriedly as their mother had done that the week before.

Beckett kissed her two daughters in front of her and she handed Josie to her husband after kissing her cheek. She shared another brief kiss with Castle, forcing herself to get up though that hadn't been enough for her. She reminded herself they had that night and went out to the guest house so she could prepare for that evening's show.

* * *

"Okay," Skye said, looking down at herself. "I'll tell you right now," she said as she walked around the screen. "This is a mix of two things."

"Perfect," Mary said, jumping up from the chair she was sitting in next to Beckett. "It turned out great."

"Did you design that?" Beckett asked the doctor with a smile as she was running her hands down her wife's shoulders.

"She did," Skye replied as her wife wasn't speaking. " _Grá_."

"What?" Mary asked in surprise. She glanced behind her at Beckett and seemed startled the woman was in the room. "I did design it, with Stella's help over the phone. I wanted to go for a _cheongsam_ design but not a dress. So she suggested we go with a _salwar kameez_ type of deign with some light embroidery here at the neckline."

"Do you like it?" Beckett asked the investigator.

"I do," Skye said with a nod. "I don't look like I'm wearing a tent, do I?"

"No," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "Spin?"

Skye smiled and did so, not surprised the ends of her kameez floated out as it was made with diaphanous material. "Luckily they've let me wear a bra and camisole," she said as the slightly darker material of the latter blocked her body. " _Grá_ ," she then told her wife firmly, holding her wrists firmly.

"Should I go?" Beckett asked.

"No," Mary said with a sigh. "How does the _salwar_ feel?"

"Thin, very thin," Skye said, giving her a look. She then spoke to her in Japanese saying, " _Am I wearing this for you later_?"

Beckett, watching the way Mary was outright leering at her wife then, said, "I really should go."

"No," Skye said. "Mary, please sit, please."

Covering her mouth with her hand as the doctor brushed her lips to her wife's, Beckett then said, "Are you going to keep this?"

"I will," Skye said as she let her friend look over her costume for that night. "But the sequins or diamonds or whatever will be coming off once I'm finished with the show. I'll return them to the costuming department of course." Her _salwar kameez_ was slightly different in design in that the pants were a bit tighter than usual; to allow for her dancing. The _kameez_ was long, reaching just past her knees for her spinning and slit up the sides for that as well. Along with the embroidery at the short collar there were sequins along the sides of the buttons down the middle, but the shirt didn't open. She touched some of those sequins before she said, "At least it blends in enough with the color," not surprised when her wife and friend nodded. She glanced at it in the mirror once more, the color of everything the same pale blue, before she touched the darker blue embroidery. "Maybe…" she started to say to Beckett though she was staring at her wife.

"I'll be in the hallway, unless you don't need me to be near," she said.

"You can stay," Skye replied.

"Your hair?" Beckett asked with a smile. When the investigator nodded she then said, "I'll be out there."

When they were alone, Mary got up immediately and threw her arms around her wife so she could kiss her. She was relieved when her wife was kissing her back and they spent some time doing that until they were parting. "Promise me you'll wear this?" she asked her.

"I will," Skye said with a smile. She brushed her lips to her wife's and told her, "And specially for you."

"Thank you," Mary replied before they kissed again. She ran her hands around her wife as much as she could though she had to restrain herself in what she was touching. Studying her when they stopped she then said, "Come on, let's get your hair ready."

Skye nodded and led her wife to the vanity before she sat down, watching with wide eyes as Mary walked around to her front. "What?" she asked.

"I love you," the woman said earnestly. Mary took the kiss her wife leaned forward to give her and when they parted she said, "A lot."

"I can tell," Skye said in amusement. She then grew serious and said, "I love you too Mary." They kissed again, and she sat back as her wife walked behind her, gently combing her hair so they could agree on how it would be best styled for the dance.

* * *

"Rick?" Beckett said in surprise as her husband walked down the hall to her.

"Love," Castle said, stepping up to her and briefly kissing her cheek. When he pulled away he wasn't surprised to see the expression on her face and told her, "I was told to come back here. At first I thought it was you but didn't think you'd really ask me to come here, you'd meet us out in the ballroom."

"I asked you," a voice called, making Castle and Beckett look over to Derek who was walking to them.

"What's Skye wearing?" Castle said as he saw the short dark blue jacket the dancer was wearing with embroidery along the edges in a paler blue.

"You'll see," Beckett said before she turned to Skye's partner, hoping he would explain why her husband was there with them.

"I just got word," Derek began. "They'll have a spot for the kids to dance during the show next week. But we need permission from the parents, if you can contact the other three and let me know-"

"Julia can," Beckett said immediately. "I'm guessing there's something we need to sign."

"There is," Derek said. "But I wanted to let you know first."

"I'll text the others," Castle said, grabbing his phone. "What's the dance?"

Beckett wasn't surprised when the pro smiled, and she said, "I hope you'll tell them later."

"I will, once I hear from the other parents," Derek said. He glanced at the door to Skye's room and said, "She has put on the costume, right?"

"I don't know if you can call it a costume," Beckett said with a smile. "Since she's keeping it."

"What is it?" Castle asked.

"She is wearing it," Beckett told the dancer. They looked at her husband as his phone made its text alert noise and she asked, "Is that them?"

"Yeah, Isaac… there's Genevieve and David and Rebecca," Castle replied as two more messages came in. "They all agree, and they urge you to send whatever they need to sign."

"I'll let the show know," Derek said before he saw a crew member walking by and hurried to go talk to them.

"She's going to dance on TV," Castle said to his wife when they were along.

"They all are," Beckett replied, smiling. She watched him as he stepped forward to her and wasn't surprised when his arm wrapped around her waist a moment later. "Rick," she said simply as his hand was holding the small of her back firmly.

"Yes," Castle said simply.

"Let me go," Beckett said gently. She smiled when he groaned and then leaned over slightly to her making her say, "I'm not kidding love, they're going to come outside soon and people are walking around."

Groaning Castle gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he pulled away and he said, "You do look great."

"Thank you," Beckett said. "For saying that again," she added teasingly as he'd told her that already once he'd seen her at the house. "But we really need to focus on-"

Castle knew his wife was going to be annoyed that he'd kissed her, and fervently, but he'd been unable to keep away from her for long. She was wearing one of her suits and he had a hard time resisting her while she was in it. When they parted he said, "I see no need to apologize."

"I don't either," Beckett said. "And that was also enough."

"For now," Castle said.

Shaking her head, and smiling, Becket turned to the door to the changing room and watched Skye walk out with Mary just behind her. "Now you know," she told her husband. "He's been asking about you," she told Skye as the two women looked confused.

"My outfit?" the investigator said to make sure. When her friend nodded she smiled and said, "Ta-da."

"It looks nice," Castle said. "Simple, I hope no one gets offended by it."

"Hence my simplicity, and Derek's of course," Skye said, smiling at her partner who was walking up to them behind them.

"They're ready for makeup," Derek said once he was close enough. "Did they tell you?"

"Not a word," Skye said, looking over at the couple.

Derek quickly explained about the kids being asked to dance the next week and he wasn't surprised when Skye immediately started to smile. "And the parents all gave their permission," he added at the end.

"I would hope so, it's why they're there," Skye said.

"I did want to ask," Beckett said then. "Are the two pairs dancing together?"

"I'll figure that out when I speak with the kids," Derek said. "Later tonight."

"Speaking of that," Castle said as he heard the distant sound of music.

"We'll see you," Beckett said, hurrying to hug the investigator. "Break a leg."

"Thank you, if you were wondering I'm in the middle tonight," Skye told her hurriedly.

"They'll be glad to know," Beckett replied, letting her go and walking with Castle out to the dance floor where they saw their family and friends were already dancing together. She turned to her husband and they went onto the floor with them, dancing together to the fast-paced rhythm until it was stopping and they could go to their chairs.

"How's our mum?" Marie asked as another song was starting.

"She's doing well," Beckett said, not surprised the five girls looked at each other. "That's all I can tell you," she said. "But she did tell me she's dancing in the middle tonight."

"That's too long," Iris said.

"We have other dances to see before that," Mary said, not surprised when her daughters rushed to her and gathered around her, talking excitedly. "Easy girls," she said firmly. "Your mum is doing well and is ready to dance for all of us."

"Don't you mean you?" Julia asked the doctor.

"She has a point," Beckett said as her husband ushered their second oldest to the dance floor to dance with her and Eliza.

"Yes but…" Mary said.

" _Are you worried_?" Beckett asked in Irish.

" _No, I just hope no one says anything here_ ," Mary said.

" _They won't_ ," Beckett said, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly before the song was ending and they were being told to take their seats. She sat next to Marie; the five McDouglas girls surrounding Mary; and she looked down at the doctor, wondering what the intro to the dance would be once they finally reached Skye as the show began.

* * *

"She'll love it," Derek said to his partner.

"I would hope so, I'm bunking with her tonight," Skye said.

Laughing Derek said, "Then that's what we're hoping for."

Skye walked with him to the dance floor as a crew member let them know they were needed out in the ballroom. She felt Derek squeezing her hand and smiled at him before they were walking out onto the dance floor itself.

"And next tonight is NTSB investigator Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough," Tom was saying as the camera went to the two. "And her most memorable year is one in which she met one of the most important people in her life."

Beckett chanced a glance at Mary and saw she was watching the screen closely, turning her attention to it as well while the investigator was looking over to them all.

"This week is most memorable year," Derek was saying in the studio to Skye. "What is your most memorable year?"

"We're dancing the Rumba," Skye said in a voice over as she and Derek were practicing. "And my most memorable year is the year 2009, the year my wife and I went on our first date."

The screen changed to a picture of Skye and Mary together and Skye's voice said, "I returned to the NTSB after a hiatus from the job that year and there was some concern about my mental stability to handle my work. I was assigned a psychiatrist to determine if I could be allowed back and that was Mary."

"We first met at her first appointment," the doctor herself said as she was sitting in a chair in a room. "And we were… interested in one another but since she was my patient we kept everything to that appointment. But as I learned more about her I was fascinated by her, I could see she had something about her that I wanted to know more about."

"I was attracted to her," Skye said, sitting in the same room, on her own. "But because I suffered so much loss in my life I had become very guarded and I had never let myself get close to any woman before."

The footage went to Skye with Derek in another studio and she told him, "I was allowed to go back to work and didn't need to see Mary anymore."

"I get the feeling there's a however," Derek commented.

"Yeah, Mary was a friend of my dad which I hadn't known," Skye said. "And she came out to my home to see me and asked me out."

"And that was it?" Derek asked.

"That was it," Skye said. "Granted, it wasn't all roses and candy," she said, smiling as her partner laughed. "But here we are, married for nearly ten years and five wonderful children. And very much in love."

"I would definitely say she's made me happier than I've been in a long time," Skye was saying in the room from before, sitting next to her wife. "She's taught me to not let the past constrain me and shown me what it's like to be absolutely loved."

"You're welcome," Mary said, squeezing her wife's hand she was already holding tightly.

"The song I chose myself," Skye said, by herself in the room again. "And for this Rumba it's _Someplace Else_ by George Harrison. The lyrics don't apply to us fully but there are a few that do. Now the issue is, how am I going to dance so intimately with a man?"

"Skye's a little concerned this week," Derek said as the footage went back to them practicing. "Since the Rumba is a very sensual dance but I had the idea that she needed a little practice with someone else besides me."

"Are you sure?" Mary was saying in the dance studio.

"It would be better if you did," Derek assured her. "Just a few moves."

Beckett looked at the doctor as she and her wife were dancing then, and she smiled as she could tell the woman was embarrassed but still smiling. She looked back to the screen as Derek was talking again while he was moving with the two women.

"Luckily she's relaxed a little bit more dancing with her wife," the pro was saying. "But I have to see if that'll translate to dancing with me."

"This is weird," Skye was saying as it was showing her and Derek together again.

"Yes, but you're moving a lot better," he said. "I'm thanking Mary too."

Laughing Skye then said, "We all are," before they were dancing out of the shot.

"I want to dance the best I can for my wife," Skye said in a voice over as there were different shots of her and Derek dancing together. "As I wouldn't have been here on the show if it wasn't for her. Or have gotten this far. I'm dancing for Mary, and though every dance will in some way be for my wife, this is the one that means the most. I love you _grá_ and this is for us."

Beckett looked over at Mary and she wasn't surprised to see the tears on the woman's face. She watched the women smile at each other while Skye was leaning against a table. She watched as Derek stood on the other side, leaning over as well with their fingers just touching, and they listened to the announcer saying their names and their dance before the music began.

"Dancing the Rumba, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough," the man said before the music began and the investigator started to walk away.

At the first lyric sung by George, Derek was grabbing Skye's hand and pulling her to him before they danced together into the second one. At the third the investigator was walking away from him as the pro spun her before he was quickly following her.

 _You got into my life  
I don't know how you found me, but you did  
It stopped me heading someplace else_

On the first lyric of the second verse, Skye and Derek where embracing each other tightly before they were spinning away from each other. They came back together and danced simple steps of the Rumba though at the last line Skye was pulling away once again.

 _Took me a while to say  
Wish you belong to me  
But now I'm saddened like I've never been  
Regretting that we'll leave_

During the entire third verse, Skye and Derek were moving around together in sharper movements though they would slow down and come together at the end of each line. At the very last lyric, the investigator was going into a split with Derek holding her and leaning down to her as they were both moving slowly into it.

 _And for a while you could comfort me  
And hold me for some time  
I need you now to be beside me  
While all my world is so untidy_

Derek helped Skye back up and they danced slowly, their faces close while they were moving their hips together during the chorus. At the second to last lyric, the investigator was being dipped before the dancer brought her back up to spin her in anticipation for the next verse.

 _Loneliness (oh-o-oh)  
Empty faces (oh-o-oh)  
Wish I could leave them all  
In someplace else_

At the first lyric Skye was walking away a few steps from Derek before her partner caught her hand and she spun back into his arms. The second lyric he was dipping her again before she was swinging her leg to wrap it around his waist. Derek then dragged Skye during the third lyric and she was soon standing up so they danced slowly and closely for the last lyric.

 _I hope you won't let go  
Maybe you'll let me know  
That you'll be saddened like you've never been  
Regretting that we'll leave_

The final verse they were dancing to had Skye and Derek continuing to dance slowly together for the first two lyrics before she was moving away from him. She repeated the movement, the first time her partner was pulling her back and extending his leg. The second time on the last lyric she was making that move before they were walking together.

 _And for a while I could comfort you  
And hold you in my mind  
I need you now to be beside me  
While all my world is sad and crazy_

The very last lyrics they danced to were the final two of the song and at the start of them they stopped walking before Derek wrapped his arm around Skye's waist. They moved rapidly before they stopped and stared into each other's eyes. At the last line he dipped her once more, that time holding her in the position as she had her legs extended and her left hand reaching up so her fingertips were just brushing against his jaw.

 _I think I'm gonna leave them all  
In someplace else_

Once the music had finished, Beckett stood with the others, relieved when the audience was doing the same. She smiled as Skye, standing up again, hugged her partner tightly and she could feel the relief from the woman as far away from her as she was. She could also tell that the investigator wanted to go to her wife, but Tom was calling them over to the judges and they hurried to hear what the three would say.

"Easy," Liam said, squeezing his daughter in law's shoulder behind her.

"She did wonderful Mom," Kathleen said.

"I know," Mary said, drying the tears from her cheeks the best she could as she was listening to what Len had to say first.

"That was a very refined Rumba," the judge said. "You did well to not get all crazy with your steps. You kept it simple and despite your worries you two had fantastic chemistry. Good job."

Skye looked behind her to try and see her wife's reaction, but she had to face forward as Carrie-Ann was speaking next.

"I can see you want to get over to your wife badly," the woman said with a laugh. "But before that I think this Rumba was very connected. Connected to the music, you and Derek were connected and you were connected to your wife as well." She had to pause as the audience was reacting but shortly after they calmed down and she realized that the investigator was saying something so she waited to hear her better.

"There was no way I couldn't," Skye said.

"I could tell," Carrie-Ann said. "I'm surprised you said you had issues dancing this with Derek because you could have fooled me." She laughed and then said, "But I loved it, extensions, posture and your legs were all great."

"Thank you," Skye said though she wasn't sure the judge could hear her with the audience applauding.

"And last Bruno?" Tom directed to the Italian judge.

"I agree with Carrie-Ann, you were able to dance with Derek as if you really were in love with him. But this Rumba was full of passion and desire and that's what we want to see," Bruno said. "All your foot placement was spot on and I can't believe you're not married to him."

"Go ahead to the Sky Box," Tom said as they were all laughing. "You should get some very good scores."

Skye waved to her wife and daughters, wanting to go over to them but she knew she didn't have the time. So she focused on climbing up the stairs until they were in the box and she went over to Erin who led them to their marks.

"A very touching dance tonight," the co-host said with a smile. "You looked very relieved to be finished, was it that difficult dancing this with Derek?"

"Not as much as I had thought it would be," Skye said honestly.

"How did you do it after what we saw in that package?" Erin said.

"I thought of my wife, I'm so sorry Derek," Skye said, laughing and squeezing his hand. "But I couldn't help myself, I needed to."

"It speaks to how much you love your wife and-" Erin started to say before Mary was wrapping her arms around her wife from behind.

Beckett felt Castle taking her hand and she looked at him as they could see Skye turning around on the screen and embracing Mary tightly. "I'm glad I told her to go," she murmured.

"I'm glad they didn't stop her," Castle said quickly before Erin was speaking again.

"I have to ask," the co-host said. "What did you think of the dance."

"It was perfect, my wife is very determined sometimes," Mary said as she was standing to Skye's right while Derek was to the left of the investigator.

"And I've heard that you designed her outfit tonight," Erin said. "Is that true?"

"I worked with Stella McCartney in the design," Mary said, nodding.

"The costume department made it, and everyone did a great job," Skye said. She couldn't help it and after saying, "Thank you _grá_ ," while she kissed her cheek.

"Alright, let's get your score," Erin said.

Beckett looked across the dance floor at the judges as the familiar music started and she smiled as she could hear over the microphones Derek telling Skye, "We'll be okay," before the announcer was saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Nine," the woman said as she held up the paddle.

Skye hugged Derek and then her wife as the audience was cheering, and then turned back to the screen as the announcer was saying, "Len Goodman."

"Nine," Len said.

Kissing her wife's cheek, Mary turned with her to see what the last score would be as the announcer was saying, "Bruno Tonioli."

"Ten!" the judge said, standing up as he held up the paddle.

Skye was nearly screaming at the sight of the number and she hugged Mary tightly before she turned to Derek and did the same to him as she dimly could hear Erin saying, "First ten of the season." She straightened up so she could speak to the co-host with her partner, not surprised when the woman asked how she was feeling first. "I'm very happy… if you couldn't tell."

"We need to dance for Mary more," Derek said, making the two women laugh.

"Definitely," Skye said, smiling at her wife. She hugged her again while Erin was telling the viewers to vote for them. The show went to commercial and she turned back to Mary, kissing her briefly before they embraced, and she murmured, "I meant what I said."

"I know," the doctor said to her. She stepped back and said, "I need to go back to my seat."

"Not really," Skye said pleadingly, holding her hands.

"She does," Derek said. "Sorry," he said to the two women as they looked at him. "There isn't too much left though."

"I'll see you after the show," Mary said gently to her wife. They embraced tightly again and when they parted she told her, " _Non posso aspettare finché non siamo a casa_ ," speaking in Italian.

" _Anch'io_ ," Skye said, smiling at her wife telling her she couldn't wait until they were home. After she had told her me too, they kissed again, very briefly, before she reluctantly let go of her and watched as she went down the stairs until she was back at her seat.

"How is she?" Beckett said.

"Good, she's… she's good," Mary said, smiling at her briefly as she went to her chair,

" _Did_ -" Castle started to say in Irish.

Beckett cut off her husband by kissing his cheek, not surprised when Eliza giggled at them. They turned their attention to their daughters until the show was returning from commercial, and she hoped that Skye would be alright until the results at the end of the episode.

* * *

"Tonight," Tom was saying at the end of the episode, the couples standing on the stage or stairs. "First in jeopardy are Gerry and Tristan."

Beckett looked at Skye as audience groaned, seeing she was breathing out visibly before Tom was speaking again.

"Next are… Raul and Sharna," Tom said. He waited for the audience to stop reacting before he said, "And finally in jeopardy… Catalina and Val. The rest of you, you are safe."

Skye hugged Derek tightly before she said, "I'm really happy right now. But conflicted."

"I don't blame you," the pro replied before they turned to look at the three couples in front of them.

"On tonight, the fourth week of competition," Tom began. "The couple going home is…"

Julia held her breath, though she wasn't sure who exactly she was worried for most and smiled at her mother who squeezed her hand with the dramatic music playing.

"Catalina and Val," Tom said.

Reaching down to the model, Skye squeezed her shoulder while Derek was clapping his hand down on Val's shoulder. She watched the pair go down the stairs and speak to Tom and Erin before they were hurrying down the steps to say goodbye to the pair. When the show finished filming she squeezed Derek's hand telling him, "Get me when we need to talk to the media?" At his nod she was racing to her wife, relieved Mary had stepped up onto the dance floor so she wouldn't need to worry about the stage lights. She embraced her as hard as she could and murmured, "You're good luck."

"Oh, don't say that," Mary replied with a laugh as she pulled away from her. She cupped her face with her hands and then said, "I'm so happy you're continuing on."

"Me too," Skye said before she looked down at their daughters who had gathered around them and were hugging her tightly. "Thank you, girls," she said as she was able to discern they were congratulating her on making it to the next week. "Speaking of that," she added as she was hugging her dad. "I need to go but I'll see you at the studio."

"Who exactly?" Castle asked.

"The same as last Monday," Skye said with a smile. She kissed her wife on the cheek and then went over to Derek; who had been walking their way.

"Okay, are you guys ready to go?" Beckett asked her daughter and her friends.

"Yeah… but what about the girls?" Julia asked.

"There's too many of us," Marie said first.

"And you guys are the dancers," Ivy added.

"Come on, we need to get going," Mary said to the others. But before they were leaving she spoke to her daughters telling them, "Thank you for understanding."

"We know Mom, just as long as you go," Kathleen said.

Mary kissed them all; as she would be filming some of what their mother would be doing with her phone for them; and turned her attention to Castle and Beckett. "Let's go," she said simply but firmly.

"We'll follow you," Castle said first. He touched his wife's arm and said, " _She's showing her hand_ ," in Irish.

"She's not playing poker," Beckett said wryly.

"Still," Castle replied. "You agree with me though."

Beckett merely looked at him, not saying a word as they walked through the ballroom so they could reach their cars and finally tell the four kids the good news for the show next week.

* * *

"Why are there two envelopes?" Mari murmured to her friends.

"I don't know," Julia said first. "I wish they'd get here though." She wasn't surprised when the other three nodded and then looked with them over to the door as it was opening. "Finally!" she said at the same time as the three.

"I guess we're expected," Skye said jokingly to her partner.

"That and they saw the envelopes," Derek commented.

"Are you going to dance two next week?" Clive asked.

"No," Derek said simply. He knew the kids were watching him as he went over to where the envelopes were and handed one to Skye.

"What is it?" Peter said before the investigator could open it, making her pause and look over at him.

Smiling Skye said, "The Jive to the song _Goody Two Shoes_."

"But…" Julia said in confusion. "You already danced-"

Castle jumped with the others when the girl suddenly screamed, and he said, "Ouch."

"Are we dancing to that?" Julia asked as fast as she could.

"You are," Derek said with a smile when the other three kids looked at him and he glanced at his partner.

"But…" Clive said slowly. "We don't have our parents' permission for that."

Julia looked at her parents, hoping that they might have the permission already, she was tempted to ask them when her mother spoke first, making them all literally collapse in relief when they heard her answer to their unasked question.

"You can dance," Beckett said. She smiled at their reactions and then said, "We got in touch with your parents," to the three kids. "And they said it would be fine for you to dance on the show. You can go ahead and start."

"What about your dance?" Julia said to the two.

"It's the Samba," Derek said. "To the song _Waterspout_."

"I'm assuming you know this one?" Skye said to Julia and Peter when the two gasped.

"We danced to it," Peter said first.

"You'll have to make sure we don't copy you," Derek said.

Shrugging Julia said, "The basic steps are the same."

"What is it?" Skye said, seeing that Mari was raising her hand.

"Are you going to be able to choreograph our dance too?" the girl asked.

"I will," Derek said with a quick nod. "But for now I need to hear our song since that one I haven't heard."

Skye looked at Julia while the song was playing, and she smiled before saying, "They should choreograph ours," to her partner. When Derek looked at her she nodded towards the pair that had been dancing and she then said, "Show us what you guys did."

"Play it again, we didn't dance the whole thing though," Peter said.

"That's alright," Derek replied, starting the song over again. He watched the two and smiled at their Samba rolls until the song was over. "We may take the idea for the rolls; that spot in the song is the perfect place for them."

"Yeah, that's not copying," Julia said hurriedly as she nodded.

"Okay, now while I think what we'll do," Derek told Skye. "We'll go ahead and start on yours. Do you still bring your practice clothes?"

"Yeah, do we need to change?" Clive asked.

"Go ahead," Derek said.

"We'll be okay Mom," Julia said quickly as she'd seen that Beckett was standing up. "And we'll be back."

When the four children had left; with Skye at Beckett's insistence; Derek went over to Julia's parents and said, "I have an idea for them to have a story."

Castle opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself and then said, "Good thing they're not being judged."

"The audience will like that," Derek explained.

"What is the story that you waited to tell us now," Beckett stated simply, not surprised when the dancer laughed.

"I wanted to make sure it had parental approval," Derek said. "Basically, them at school. In the fifties, uniforms and I think Julia and Peter in glasses if they can dance with them on."

"Sounds interesting," Mary said. "Where will they be? Detention?"

Shaking his head Derek said, "A classroom, Skye and I should be teaching so we can be there with them if need be. Also, while the four will dance Julia and Peter will lead."

"You might want to tell them that," Castle said. When they looked at him he said, "I saw the look they exchanged with each other when you said they were going to have their own dance. They like dancing, they just don't see themselves at the same level as Julia and Peter."

"He's right," Beckett said, speaking quickly as the door to the room was opening. She looked with the others to it, expecting at least her daughter to be walking in first, but was startled to see it was Eddie.

"We found a few imps in the hall, do they belong to you by chance?" the actor said.

"Get out of the way," Skye said jokingly to him before she entered with the kids. "We were just telling him and Emma they were dancing."

"And we wished them all the best," Eddie said.

"Thanks for doing that," Castle said.

"And he's spying, get out of here," Skye told the man jokingly, poking his arm though she was barely touching him.

"Alright, alright, don't have to twist my arm," Eddie said before he told them all goodbye.

"Okay, I've got a story for your dance," Derek said to the four kids who were standing in front of him.

"Is that okay to do? Len…" Peter started to say before he trailed off. "Sorry, I forgot we're not being scored."

"No but they may want to speak to you," Derek said. He wasn't surprised when he saw the four looking at each other with slightly stricken expressions on their faces and told them, "He won't be that critical of you, he's aware you're kids."

"Plus, you lot aren't competing," Skye commented. "What've you got for them?"

As Derek explained how he wanted them to act during the dance, Julia couldn't help becoming excited. "I like it," she said as soon as the pro had finished.

"Oh good, since you two will be leading things," Derek said. "It's going to focus on you. But you'll be dancing with them as the song continues."

"Cool," Mari said, smiling at Julia.

"So… are we going to practice now?" Clive asked slowly.

"Yes, now," Derek replied.

Beckett took her husband's hand and their fingers entwined while they were watching their daughter and her friends following the dancer's lead. At first Julia and Peter were quiet, but as Derek urged them to suggest things too she smiled when the two shared a look and began to recommend things on their own.

"So far so good," Derek said, clapping his hands together briefly when he felt they'd practiced enough. "But they'll need to come every day Skye does," he directed to Castle and Beckett. "The paper you'll sign says they can only practice for a couple hours each day I ask them here. And since you haven't signed them yet I can only have them practice for fifteen minutes."

"That's fine, you have your Samba too," Beckett said.

"I suppose that's it for my break," Skye said jokingly as she'd been sitting with her wife. She squeezed Mary's hand and then stood up saying, "Are they allowed to help us here?"

"Of course," Derek said. "Are you guys ready?"

Beckett laughed with the others as Julia started to dance a few Samba steps and she squeezed her husband's hand. The responding squeeze she felt from him let her know that he could tell how happy their daughter was and she kept her eye on her for the rest of the practice. She was pleased seeing Julia's joy, having been waiting for her to get the chance to dance, and they all looked on as the group in front of them began to teach Skye the dance.


	20. Hold Me For Some Time (Part 2)

"Feeling better?" Beckett asked her friend.

"Yeah, I was starving," Skye replied as she was setting a kettle on the stove. "But this'll be an interesting dance."

"Are you trying to get a compliment about your idea?" Beckett asked her teasingly.

"No," Skye said, narrowing her eyes at her. She then smiled and said, "I've seen comments about the ballroom Samba versus the Brazilian Samba. I figured we should bring them together and hope we don't get criticized for that."

"I don't think so, you won't be dancing together at the start," Beckett pointed out to her.

"True… we'll see," Skye replied. She turned to her friend and leaned against the island saying, "So, your daughter is going to be on TV."

"Yes, for the second time," Beckett pointed out.

"Yes, but she'll be dancing more than the last time," Skye said. "A lot more." She looked past the island and said, "I'm surprised you enjoy the song choice."

"I knew the song already," Julia said as she'd been walking over to them. "Thanks," she said as her mother took her glass of milk that she'd been drinking and was bringing to rinse. "And that's a really good Jive song."

"Are you excited?" Skye asked her.

"Of course," Julia said. "Why?"

Shaking her head Skye then said, "You're dancing twice."

Julia smiled before she suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, "When are we going to dance?" She saw the investigator looked slightly confused and then added, "Before or after your Samba?"

"Before," Skye said with a smile. "If you keep dancing Derek wants you guys to dance before ours. Now will you have the stamina to be alright both dances?"

"That means energy, right?" Julia asked.

"It does," Beckett said as her daughter was looking at her.

"Yeah, as long as you're not dancing right away after," Julia said.

"I don't think so, Derek would have thought of that," Skye said with a smile. She then yawned and said, "Oh no, I was hoping that wasn't going to happen," with a sigh as she was also hurrying to take the kettle off the stove.

"You should go to bed soon," Beckett told her. "It's nearly time for the kids to go to bed anyway."

"Good thing…" Skye started to say before she looked at the kettle.

"We didn't want any," Beckett reminded her hurriedly. "And the mugs can go up to your room."

"Good point," Skye said with a smile. "Thank you," she told her friend before she poured out the tea inside into two mugs.

As the investigator was calling to the girls that they needed to go to bed, Julia sighed and asked her mother, "That means us too, doesn't it?"

"It does, come on," Beckett told her, putting her arm around her shoulders. "You need your sleep for practice." She smiled when her daughter hugged her tightly in her excitement and they headed to the stairs where everyone was walking up to get the rest of the kids to bed.

* * *

"Julia," Mari whispered.

"No, I forgot to write in my diary," the girl explained to her friend. "I'm going to do it really fast."

"How?" Mari whispered. "You haven't since we got here."

"It's going to be fast, I don't have a choice," Julia said hurriedly. She and Mari had been in bed for a half hour but recalling her diary she hadn't been able to stay in bed and was hurrying to the desk in the room. She got her diary out from a drawer and then started to write; with a regular pen as she hadn't been able to bring her fountain pen in her suitcases; trying to go as fast as she could under the date.

 _October 5_ _th_ _, 2020_

 _I'm sooo sorry that I haven't written to you in so long diary, but things have seen_ _so_ _busy that I'm getting the chance now… sorta (I'm supposed to be in bed so it'll be fast)._

 _We're here in LA and we've been doing so many things that I hope I can write down most of it here. First is we've been on the show! The four of us were there for the start of Skye and Derek's Salsa- only a little dancing but still it was a ton of fun to dress up. And we've been there for every episode and it's so so fun to watch everyone dancing. Skye has been doing really well and she's having fun too, tonight she was really happy her dance got a 10- the Rumba- because she was dancing it for Mary. It was Most Memorable Year Night on the show and everyone had really nice stories. Anyways, the biggest thing is next week we're all going to dance our own dance! Derek arranged it for us to have our own dance, a Jive to the song_ Goody Two Shoes _which is perfect. We started to practice, and I can't wait to get to learn everything Derek wants us to do. We're going to be dancing like we're at school and then Peter and I will be a little bad and dance together. Clive and Mari will dance with us but it's gonna be mostly the two of us. So I might be even busier so I'm not sure how much I can write. I'm excited but also scared, what if they boo us or we mess up or something? I know Mom and Dad would just say that I should do the best I can… so I will. I just want to dance on the show and now I can!_

 _That's everything with the show but we have been doing stuff outside the show. Oh, I should say we've been homeschooled while we're here and that's been interesting. Mom's been teaching me and Peter and it's cool, I just hope I get used to middle school quick once we go back!_

 _Anyways we've gone places too. Knott's- a theme park- and the Promenade and we're going to see the apples place they have here in a couple days. But the biggest thing was last week when we went to the Queen Mary. We went to the ship so Mom and Dad could be with Skye and Mary on the show_ Ghost Adventures _. I got to meet Zak, Aaron, Billy and Jay! They were really nice, and I actually got to go to lockdown too… Well, I kinda snuck into the car before they went back to the ship. Mom was mad, but I got to stay since they needed to start filming the show. And it was interesting, when we were walking around the ship in the daytime there was a girl there that I met. She liked me, and I snuck into the lockdown so I could see her again. It's better to see her at night and I got evidence in different ways (I would say more but I don't want someone to know I'm awake). The scariest thing though was Mom and Skye going to the Propeller Room and something happening there. I don't know what 'cause they lost time and were on the floor and the camera went out at the same time. But it was amazing, and I think that Zak wants me to investigate with them again someday… hopefully Mom will let me!_

 _Okay, I feel like I missed so much but there's too much and ack! Someone's coming! I'll write to you as soon as I can!_

Julia looked as her mother was walking in and she gulped saying, "Sorry Mom."

"Put it away and get into bed," Beckett said, though not unkindly. She made sure her daughter did that and they went together to the bed where she saw Mari was looking at them with wide eyes. "You two aren't in trouble, I've been waiting for you to do this sweetie. But let me ask you not to do this on show nights."

"Alright," Julia said. "I just needed to catch up."

"And now you have," Beckett said, sitting next to the girls as her daughter had gotten on the bed next to her friend. "But after this write on days that aren't Monday."

"I will," Julia said, smiling at her. She hugged her tightly around the neck and said, "You and Dad didn't go to bed?"

"Not just yet," Beckett replied. "I wanted to check on you."

"Me too," Castle said, walking into the room. "The boys are out love."

"Good," Beckett said.

"But not you guys," Castle then said.

"Dad," Julia said in a jokingly groaning tone. "We are right now."

"Her diary?" Castle asked his wife.

"It was," Beckett said.

"I can talk too!" Julia said in mock annoyance. She laughed softly when her mother hugged her tightly and told her, "Sorry but I guess I am tired."

"Which is why you should lay down," Beckett said, though she was watching as her husband hurried over to share a quick kiss with their daughter.

"Night you two," Castle said, squeezing Mari's shoulder. "Sleep. I'll be downstairs."

Beckett nodded; as he'd said the last to her; and once he'd left she turned to the girls saying, "Goodnight, go ahead and sleep."

"We will," Julia said, smiling at Mari who was nodding. She then turned her attention to her mother and shared a kiss with her and said, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Beckett said, knowing that was addressing both not getting mad about her getting up and letting her dance. She directed the girls to lay down and once they were she made sure they were tucked in. Certain they were set, she walked over to the doorway and turned off the light after one last check on the girls. They were quiet and their eyes were closed, so she stepped out into the hallway. She smiled when she was there in time to spot Skye and Mary stepping into their room and she headed for the stairs. She tried not to go down too fast or loudly, making her way to the sliding door that she locked with the key she had so she could hurry across the grass to reach her husband standing outside the guest house waiting for her.

* * *

" _Grá_?"

"Hmm?"

"Might I request something of you?"

"Of course."

"Sing for me?"

Skye laughed softly and then said, "I knew you were going to ask me. Although I am surprised no one asked earlier."

"I think they're aware this song is a little special for the two of us," Mary replied, running the brush through her wife's hair again.

Sighing in pleasure at the sensation, Skye then turned and said while her wife was putting the brush away in the bathroom, "You'll have to get the music ready for me."

"Just give me a second," Mary replied simply.

"Another thing," Skye said, waiting until her wife was back in the bedroom to speak. "Open your robe?"

" _Yancha_ ," Mary said wryly, calling her wife naughty in Japanese.

Skye merely smiled before she reached for her wife's hand, pulling her the rest of the way to the bed before she climbed on next to her. Their lips brushed together briefly before her wife was slapping away her hand from the tie of her robe. "Not even just a bit?" she asked in amusement.

"No," Mary replied, laughing softly as her wife was spreading apart the robe that she herself was wearing. "You can't tempt me."

"Not even a bit?" Skye said. Before her wife answered she was fixing her robe so it was closed fully and then told her, "I'll sing for you now."

Mary cupped her wife's cheek and they were kissing gently though they both lingered. When they parted she cupped her face in her hands and gently brushed her lips against Skye's saying, "Do you want me to join?" she wasn't surprised when her wife merely shook her head and she grabbed her phone though she was loath to let her go. She started the music for the song and waited for the investigator to begin, which she did at the first verse, singing as they had an arm wrapped around each other.

 _You got into my life  
I don't know how you found me, but you did  
It stopped me heading someplace else_

 _Took me a while to say  
Wish you belong to me  
But now I'm saddened like I've never been  
Regretting that we'll leave_

 _And for a while you could comfort me  
And hold me for some time  
I need you now to be beside me  
While all my world is so untidy_

 _Loneliness  
Empty faces  
Wish I could leave them all  
In someplace else_

 _I hope you won't let go  
Maybe you'll let me know  
That you'll be saddened like you've never been  
Regretting that we'll leave_

 _And for a while I could comfort you  
And hold you in my mind  
I need you now to be beside me  
While all my world is sad and crazy_

 _Loneliness  
Empty faces  
Wish I could leave them all  
In someplace else_

At the instrumental there Skye smiled at her wife in the pause she had before she leaned over, kissing at Mary's shoulder as her wife reached up to caress her hair. She didn't have time to do anything else and turned her attention to the music to know when she needed to sing again.

 _And for a while you could comfort me  
And hold me for some time  
I need you now to be beside me  
While all my world is so untidy_

 _Loneliness  
Empty faces  
Wish I could leave them all  
In someplace else_

 _I think I'm gonna leave them all  
In someplace else_

As the music was ending, Mary wrapped her arms around her wife and pulled her close. They kissed one another deeply before they parted and she said, "They're going to think that's our song."

"Hmm, that's alright," Skye said, nuzzling her wife's nose. "Not all of the country needs to be aware of it."

Mary smiled as she pulled away slightly and then reached down for the tie of Skye's robe, tugging on it gently. Once the bow she'd tied was loose she spread the silk apart until she could see her wife's body.

"Should I get up?" Skye asked her, watching her wife closely.

"Not yet," Mary said simply before she made her lay back on their bed. She paused for a moment so she could untie her own robe and moved to lay on top of Skye. They were meeting each other for a kiss and their lips soon pressed harder together after their first touch. She parted her own as her wife was pressing her tongue against them and after they had done that for some time she moved away saying, "Now you need to."

"Sure," Skye said with a smile, waiting for her wife to get off her. After Mary was sitting up she followed and then moved off the bed, knowing her wife was watching her.

"Where are you going?" the doctor asked, looking on while Skye was going into their closet.

"I hope you won't mind," Skye said with a light smile, walking out shortly after. She wasn't surprised at Mary's expression of confusion and got onto the bed again, kissing her before she reached into the pocket in the blue silk.

"I don't think so," Mary said as soon as she saw the vibrator in her wife's hand. She smiled at Skye's startled expression and she leaned over to take it from her, getting off the bed herself.

"I didn't-" Skye started to say with a slight frown before she cut herself off as her wife had removed her robe. Shuddering at the sight of her she then said, "So… I didn't want something too elaborate," as Mary turned back to her.

"Neither did I," the doctor replied simply. "But you are wearing clothes."

"Yeah," Skye said, scrambling to get off the bed before she was discarding her robe. She wasn't surprised when her wife wrapped her arms around her but was when Mary started to run her hands over her arms. "What is it?" she asked.

"I love your body," the doctor replied with a smile. Mary kissed at her wife's arms and murmured, "Show me."

Skye wanted to ask her wife what she wanted but decided they didn't need the delay and she undressed. She wrapped her arms around her wife and then lifted her up, though she was only able to step forward to the bed and set her down. "Good?" she asked.

"Yes, now we can start," Mary said before they were getting on the bed together. She reached up and fondled at Skye's breasts before she moved her wife onto her back, straddling her soon after. "And now you're ready," she told her, waiting for her to either agree with the position or protest.

"Are you?" Skye asked, reaching up to gently twist her left nipple.

Taking her wife's hand, Mary smiled down at her and said, "I think you can tell."

Skye moved her hand; that her wife let go of; and reached down in between her legs to let it run gently through her folds. "I did that to you?" she asked with a smile.

"Of course," Mary replied, moaning soon after as her wife wasn't stopping her movements. She then began to move her body at the same time, but slowly, until she reached down and gently pulled away Skye's hand. Bringing it up to her lips she kissed her palm quickly and they started to move together.

It took a little time, but the two women were pressing against one another, their mounds moving together as they were breathing a little hard from the effort. But they allowed themselves to calm down and as soon as they had, the investigator reached up to her wife to cup her breasts with both her hands.

"I should have done this before we started," Skye said, her breathing becoming a little rougher as her wife was leaning into her hands. They stared at one another for what felt like a while before she moved as her wife did. They were both on their knees, their arms wrapped tightly around each other as they kissed and she reached for her wife's ass, cupping it gently.

"Hmm, _grá_ ," Mary said with a smile when they parted. She leaned over and kissed her sensuously before they pulled away again and she said, "We have a problem now; you realize that."

Skye smirked and said, "Just move."

"Yes," Mary breathed happily before they rubbed their breasts together. It didn't last long; it never did for them; and she was touching her wife's chest before the investigator grabbed her wrists roughly to her surprise.

"We should start," Skye said to her wife's questioning look. She wasn't surprised when Mary kissed her, and she kissed her deeply in return before they stopped and she made her lay down. They spent some time at each other's breasts until she couldn't wait anymore and moved to turn so they could pleasure one another at the same time.

When the cries of their passion stopped echoing against the bedroom walls some time later, Mary was pulling Skye to her so they could lay wrapped up in each other's arms.

"I love you," the doctor was saying tenderly, caressing her hair. "And I didn't get the chance to tell you but I'm so happy you agreed to that first date."

Skye couldn't help laughing and she said, "I was too."

"Was it because of our first kiss?" Mary asked.

"That helped me to decide," Skye replied. She raised her leg, wrapping it around her wife's legs saying, "But I was falling in love with you already."

"So was I," Mary said, though they both knew already. She shared a kiss with her before she pulled away and moved to lay on her. "I feel like I should give you more."

"You don't need to," Skye replied, reaching up to run her fingers through her hair. "But if you let me do the same to you I'll be very happy." She wasn't surprised when her wife kissed her deeply at that point and she responded, wrapping her arms around her while they were losing themselves joyfully in their pleasure again.

* * *

Coming to the top of the stairs, Castle paused for a moment when he saw his wife was standing at the window that looked out on the pool. "Okay?" he asked her, getting the sense that something was on her mind with the way she was standing.

"Yeah," Beckett said, turning to him as he was walking over to her. She smiled briefly when his arm came around her waist and said, "I was thinking about the song." When he frowned slightly she said, "It applies to us as well."

"Kate-" Castle said as he knew what she was thinking about with that.

"You can't help thinking about it yourself," Beckett pointed out to him.

Castle sighed and said, "I have, but I really don't think about it that much. I'm happy with how things are now love."

Beckett turned to her husband as he pulled her into his arms and she embraced him tightly saying, "It's not just those years I pushed you away. It's more what if we had just been two normal people when we met."

"Like before?" Castle asked. He felt her nodding her head and he rubbed at her back gently saying, "I know but… we're two normal people now." He paused when he realized what he'd said and told her, "I swear that's not a pick-up line." He then became concerned for a moment as he felt her shaking before he quickly realized that she was laughing. "It's not that funny," he said.

"Don't pout," Beckett said, kissing his lower lip as she knew he was joking. "I know you're not serious."

"No but I should have thought that through," Castle commented. He looked down at her and said, "You're not still thinking about it are you?"

Shaking her head Beckett squeezed him harder and said, "What about you?"

"I saw what you meant," Castle said as he'd thought the same as her. "But it had to happen the way it did."

"Fate?" Beckett asked.

"Sure," Castle replied. He laughed when she playfully pushed him away; though not very hard; and he stepped back from her before he went back to her and took her hand saying, "You looked incredible tonight."

"I thought you might want me to wear this," Beckett said as he pulled her to him.

"I do, but not for l…" Castle said. "I'm going to stop there."

Beckett laughed that time and leaned into him so they could kiss briefly before she was stepping away from him. While he was watching her, she reached up to her head and removed the pins that were holding her hair up in a bun. As her hair fell past her shoulders she wasn't surprised when her husband walked up to her quickly to run his fingers through her locks. "And I was waiting to do that for you," she added.

"Thank you," Castle said sincerely before he forced himself to move away his hand. He then studied her and said, "What now?"

Beckett smiled at his leaving it to her and she moved to unbutton her blazer as she moved to the end of the bed. She removed it and tossed it to her husband saying, "I can do this myself, but I need you to hang this up. I'm sure I'll need it at some point."

"Of course," Castle said, hurrying to fold her blazer to put it on the dresser. He didn't think she'd want him to do the same with her blouse, but when he turned back to her he saw her holding it out to him. Trying his best not to stare at her breasts; still in her grey bra; he took the white fabric and put it neatly on top of her blazer. He turned to her rapidly; wanting to watch her remove her trousers; seeing that she'd waited for him. He was salivating at the sight of her panties; that matched her bra in color and lace; and then her legs. He was struggling with his arousal as he folded the black fabric and set it aside. About to turn around to his wife he froze for a moment when she grabbed him from behind making him say, "Kate…"

"What can I do right now?" Beckett asked. When her husband choked out, "Step away for a second," she smiled as she knew it had taken him a lot to say that. She moved around him and pushed herself up onto the top of the dresser, sitting next to her clothes while she watched him begin to undress.

Castle thought for a moment that his wife wasn't very affected as she looked on but then realized that the more he revealed of himself, the more her knuckles were turning white clinging to the furniture. He stopped when all he had left were his boxers and he went to her saying, "Mind if I take you to the bed?"

"It's either there or the bathroom," Beckett said, smiling though she swore she could feel the heat from his erection. She went into his arms and she cried out as he threw her onto the bed before getting on top of her as she wrapped her arms around him. She was going to speak, as she'd had more to add, when her husband was crushing his lips to hers. She was a little unsure how long their kiss was lasting, but finally he pulled away. She parted her lips when he was then speaking, surprising her by saying nearly exactly what she'd intended to herself.

"We can always take a shower later," Castle said. He was slightly startled when his wife kissed him but responded quickly to her until they needed to breathe and slowly parted. "I want you Kate."

"I want you," Beckett said simply. "Move," she told him. She smiled when he hurried to do so and she took off her bra, thanking herself to have the foresight to wear one of them with a clasp between her breasts. She reached out to brush her fingers against his cheek as Castle was holding the lingerie and said, "What is it?" as he was studying it closely.

"Do I need to take care of this?" he asked.

"I'm not wearing it until after it's been washed," Beckett said, unable to help speaking in amusement. She then noticed the way his fingers were running over the cups and told him, "It won't be much longer."

Shaking himself as he suddenly realized what he was doing, Castle discarded the bra and turned to her. He kissed her as hard as he could once he'd grabbed her, relieved that she was responding to him as hungrily. They were holding onto each other as tightly as they could, running their hands over what they could. When they could finally stop themselves he said, "I need to…"

"Go ahead," Beckett said with a slight smile, surprised she could do even that with how aroused she was. She pushed herself to the edge of the bed while he climbed off it, outright staring at him while he pulled off his boxers. She eyed his erection appreciatively before he was grabbing her hand and pulling her to stand with him. She bit her lower lip as he was slipping his hands underneath her panties, helping him in getting them off her legs though he got them past her hips. "Don't look at me like that," she said teasingly as he considered the grey fabric, knowing he saw the evidence of her desire darkening it.

"No, it's nice to know I can do that to you," Castle said.

"I know you want to feel that," Beckett said, reaching out to him and cupping his face in her hands. She drew him to her and they kissed gently before they parted, and she tugged him to the bed. Since she ran into it first she climbed on top and lay in the middle, reaching for him as he moved with her swiftly.

Once he was on top of her, Castle moved to kiss her and he ran his right hand down over her side until he was at the side of her thigh. When they stopped he moved carefully as she was reaching with her hand in between them. He allowed her to hold him so he could slide into her and didn't stop until their hips were flush together. "Kate…" he breathed out in joy at how wet she was.

"I know," Beckett moaned. "Don't… don't take too long… You're so hard…"

Castle kissed her, since he could hear the absolute joy in her voice at that fact, and then began to thrust. But he paused and then said, "Let me have your leg."

Beckett knew that was him asking permission, so she hurriedly raised her left leg and wasn't surprised when he placed it on his shoulder. Since she knew what he was doing she wrapped her right leg around his waist, tightly, so he would be aware that it was what she wanted too.

Getting that, Castle thrust firmly and they were groaning together in pleasure as he was able to get deep within her. He didn't stop, continuing to move and faster as she was begging him. He finally kissed her, not to stop her talking, but because her words were arousing him too much. "I want… try to tell me how you want me to move," he told her seriously, staring into her eyes.

"I… just like that now," Beckett gasped heavily as he wasn't stopping. "Just as fast as you… can." She threw her head back onto the pillow under her and clutched at her husband's arms since he was above her. "Rick… slower… like… yes," she moaned as he immediately followed her request. Feeling him moving so slowly she was closing her eyes tightly and arching her back. That led to her husband rubbing against her clit at his next thrust and she was nearly climaxing while her nails dug into his arms.

Feeling that, Castle immediately stopped and took her leg off his shoulder to wrap it around his waist with her other. "I didn't realize I would do that," he told her, nuzzling her jaw.

"Neither did I," Beckett said, caressing the back of his head since she could reach it. "I'll have to do it again. She gasped slightly when she felt her husband shudder and she said, "Move, please Rick."

"Hard?" Castle asked.

"Please," Beckett begged. When he did so she was letting out a loud cry of pleasure before he was moving steadily again. She tried raising her legs higher on his sides, wanting him to repeat his thrust previously against her. But he seemed to guess what she wanted, and she was digging her nails into his back as he was nearly pounding into her clit. "I… I'm going to come, stop!" she cried after only a few thrusts in that manner.

Nearly gasping for air, Castle said, "I didn't mean to do that," panting slightly.

"Don't worry," Beckett said when she felt she could speak. "I wanted it but… you should probably avoid my clit for now."

"Yeah," Castle said, nodding his head. He leaned down and kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth shortly after that and was overjoyed when she started to duel with him until he was slowly pulling away. Staring into her eyes he started to thrust, going slowly so she would feel him better though he soon began to move faster, still staring at her and urging her mentally to speak to him.

"I… slower…" Beckett began to say, steeling herself to be able to direct him better than she had before. "Just… twice… like that," she gasped as she was left to handle the sensation of feeling his length so distinctly. "Faster… fuck me now," she was able to say. "Just… a few times and then…" she started to say before she was nearly screaming as he was swift to do as she'd asked. She held onto him, with her legs wrapped tightly around his waist by then. She was doing her best to move with him and was relieved when he slowed down. "Rick…" she told him, reaching up to hold onto the back of his head.

"I know, I'll take care of you love," Castle said in a hurry. He then proceeded to vary his thrusts as he had the first time she'd directed him, and he kept that up until he stopped after moving slowly. Nuzzling her jaw, he murmured against her skin, "Are you close?" Feeling her nodding her head he told her, "So am I, you're too fucking amazing."

"Language," Beckett said, though nonchalantly while she was gently scraping her nails over his scalp. She turned her head slightly as she felt him raising his and they began to kiss deeply before she was throwing her head back with a short cry when he started to thrust. "Oh… Rick… please," she gasped out heavily as he was going hard. The friction in between her legs made her beat her heels against his ass in rhythm with him and she was doing her best to take what he was making her feel.

"Kate, love," Castle said roughly as he was going through the same as her. He had the idea of slowing down for just a few thrusts but decided that neither of them was going to want that. He watched his wife closely as he continued for a while, staying away from her clit deliberately to let them last. When he could see her inching closer he said, "Come for me now Kate, I'm close… I want to fuck you again…"

"I don't want you to… stop," Beckett moaned heavily to him. Shortly after that she felt her body snap and she was arching her back as she was calling out her husband's name in her ecstasy. The pleasure was intense running through her and she only just felt Castle joining her, able to hear the satisfaction of his orgasm when he was yelling her name. When she felt her body stop moving she held onto her husband, feeling him still thrusting before he gave a last one and was completely still above her. "Okay?" she asked after giving him some time to recover.

"Yeah," Castle breathed, raising his head. "Remind me to tell you how good you are."

Beckett, waiting for him to pull away from her, said slightly laughingly, "I will. Are we going into the shower?"

"You read my mind," Castle commented.

Beckett stopped him from picking her up and got off the bed, taking his hand to pull him over to the bathroom. She stepped into the shower first as he paused to set his glasses on the counter and turned on the water, wrapping her arms around him tightly before they were kissing deeply.

Castle held his wife against him, kissing her repeatedly until they needed to part so they could breathe. He was about to speak when she kissed him again and after they parted she pressed her finger to his lips before telling him what she wanted to do.

"Nothing here," Beckett said.

"At least let me touch," Castle said, moving her hand away.

"As long as you let me do the same," Beckett replied easily. She couldn't help laughing softly as he nodded, and they quickly began touching one another as much as they could until they forced themselves apart. Though she knew they were going to be making love again after she started washing her husband with soap until he was clean, and he repeated the process for her.

After he'd stepped outside the shower first, Castle grabbed a towel for his wife and began drying her off. "You don't need-" he started to say before she was taking another towel once she was out in the bathroom. "Kate," he said with a sigh. He wasn't surprised when she gave him a look and he didn't say anything else while she was drying him off. As soon as she was finished he took his towel and wrapped it around his waist, putting his glasses back on before he paused.

"What is it?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"My brace is wet," Castle said in annoyance. He then began to take it off before he said, "You don't need to wait for me," as she'd stayed in place.

"Just to see if you need help," Beckett explained to him.

Castle wanted to tell her she didn't need to before he nodded and got the brace off a moment later saying, "I'm good."

"I'm not leaving," Beckett said, starting to walk to him when she paused as he was squeezing out the brace in the shower. When he was finished she took the brace from him and set it where it could dry. "I'll get your other one," she told him, taking his hand.

"You can take that towel off," Castle commented. He wasn't surprised when his wife glanced back at him but was excited to see her reaching for the ends tucked in at the front of her body. He stepped back to watch it fall to the floor and looking at her body he couldn't stop himself, kneeling to grab her before he realized something was wrong with his knee.

"Rick?" Beckett asked worriedly as her husband groaned in pain.

"My knee," Castle said, swearing immediately after while she was helping him stand.

"Lay down," Beckett said to him in concern, leading him to the bed. She helped him lay down and asked, "Do you need a pill?"

Castle was tempted to say no but then hesitated and finally nodded slowly saying, "I better."

"I'll take care of it," Beckett replied, leaning over to press her lips to his forehead. She was about to turn and leave when her husband suddenly grabbing her, and she looked at him to see a stricken expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," Castle told her.

"You didn't plan for it," Beckett said. "Let me get you some water and ice first."

Letting her go, Castle watched her going to the armchair by the stairs where he'd thrown his clothes. He smiled briefly when she pulled on his dress shirt and then laid his head back, closing his eyes as he couldn't ignore the pain that was going through him from his knee. He could hear her moving around and was relieved it didn't take her long to come back up to him with a glass of water and bag of ice wrapped in a towel.

"Stay still," Becket admonished her husband after he was sitting up against the headboard and she had placed the ice on his knee. When her husband nodded she went to the bathroom, looking through his things in the drawer before she found the higher dosage aspirin he had for when the pain in his injured knee would flare up.

"I don't want to say sorry again but…" Castle said.

"You don't need to," Beckett said gently as she shook out a pill. She handed it to him and while he was drinking some water she gently ran her hand over the back of his head. "Okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Castle said, knowing she was asking about the ice. He let her take the glass and then reached for her to pull her against his side. "I'm sorry about what my cock is doing right now."

"I don't think you need to worry about it," Beckett commented while she was eyeing his erection. It had diminished with his pain, but not fully so it was half erect, sticking out.

"You're fascinated," Castle commented with a slight smile, watching her closely.

"Yes," Beckett said before she pulled away from him and then hurried over to the closet. "We're not going to do anything."

"For a while," Castle said. When his wife narrowed her eyes at him he smiled and said, "If I have to rub myself silly I'm getting myself back up for you."

"Don't do that," Beckett said, watching him for a moment. "Should I take this off?" she asked, touching the towel.

"Yeah, it's lessened," Castle said. When his wife paused he said reassuringly, "I need it off, it's starting to annoy me."

Beckett nodded and then hurried to the bathroom to get rid of the ice before she grabbed his spare brace. "I need to help you," she told him.

"I can stand," Castle replied as that was the important thing she needed him to do. He pushed himself, carefully, to the edge of the bed and put his legs over it as his wife knelt with his brace. He had to bite the side of his mouth as he didn't want her to have to do that but knew it was necessary. They managed to get it up to his knee together until he stood up to allow her to straighten the top of the brace.

"Good?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Castle replied before he was sitting back down. He then looked up at her and said, "That ruined the mood."

"It put things on pause," Beckett said, cupping his cheek. "Let the pill kick in and we'll go from there."

Castle nodded and then began to push himself back onto the bed, not surprised his wife was following him. He wrapped his arms around her once he was sitting up again and said, " _Is bean iontach duit_ ," telling her that she was an amazing woman.

" _Is breá liom mo fhear céile_ ," Beckett said easily, which meant that she loved her husband.

" _I would do the same for you_ ," Castle told her seriously, still speaking in Irish.

" _I know_ ," Beckett said. She watched him running his hand over the brace and leaned over, kissing at his temple before she said, " _You can do a lot still_."

"Yeah," Castle said in English. He then looked at his wife and said in Irish, " _You brought me to my knees_."

"I noticed," Beckett said, running her fingers through his hair. "Although I wonder what exactly made you do that." She wasn't surprised when his head jerked back, and he looked at her with a frown. "You've seen me so many times," she pointed out.

Castle knew his wife wasn't looking for a compliment, so he reached for his shirt and then pulled it off one of her shoulders before he went for the other. He was pleased when she removed it and he told her huskily, "It doesn't matter, you've got a body I want to worship and can't get enough of."

"I noticed," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband looked at her in confusion and she looked down at him in response.

Following her gaze, Castle cleared his throat for a moment as he considered his erection before he said, "So I didn't have to rub."

"Pervert," Beckett said, a smile on her face.

"Yes," Castle said simply. He laughed slightly when she pushed him gently and he said, "I meant what I said."

"I'm glad to know that," Beckett said seriously. When her husband grabbed for her she moved easily and then got onto his lap before they began to kiss. After they had parted she caressed his cheek for a moment and said, "Are you better?"

"Yeah, but… I won't be able to be on top the rest of the night," Castle said with a little regret. He was surprised when she smiled slowly, and he wasn't sure what she would say after they were kissing sensuously though briefly.

"You don't need to worry about that," Beckett told him reassuringly once they'd parted. She felt his hand slide over her sider and shivered briefly before saying, "I think we'll enjoy ourselves."

Castle leaned up and started to kiss at her jaw saying, "You don't sound too confident."

"Don't touch me like that and I will be," Beckett said with a brief smile.

"Huh," Castle replied.

Beckett looked down at him, about to ask why he only said that, but she considered his gaze on her and she smiled saying, "What would you like?"

Breathing out hard Castle said, "Turn?"

Knowing he'd said that so simply to test her reaction, Beckett was moving to straddle him and wasn't surprised when he was soon holding onto her hips as she raised herself above him. "Will you help me or am I on my own?" she asked him. She watched him take her hand and together they held his length before she lowered herself onto him. She did so slowly, closing her eyes tightly before she could press her hips against his and wrap her arms around his neck. "Okay?" she asked him.

"Yeah," Castle said, his voice strained. He put his hands on her back and pressed on the small of it gently saying, "I love you Kate."

"I love you too," Beckett said, leaning over to him and kissing him gently. When she looked at him again she said, "Do you want me to fuck you?"

At first Castle merely nodded his head rapidly and he groaned when his wife laughed softly as it was quick to affect him. When he'd recovered he said, "If you want me to do something for you…"

Brushing her lips against her husband's again Beckett said, "You are," before she started to move. They both reacted vocally immediately, and she leaned over, kissing him deeply while her husband was moving with her.

Castle was forgetting his knee in his pleasure with his wife and he reacted to her eagerly. He did his best to still satisfy her and since they never could be fully they were coming together repeatedly, forgetting everything but their desire as the night grew later in their intense intimacy with each other.


	21. Skies Of Azure Blue

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: It was great getting the feedback for the last chapter and the one before it as well so I'll go to my thanks for that. MsNYC (It was great to read that you were able to picture the whole scene and I was happy you thought it was beautiful too!),

Mb (Great you thought the chapter before the newest one was a fantastic update. And yeah, the Queen Mary has had a lot going on with it and I've been there and it definitely deserves being extremely haunted. The room where I had Skye and Beckett having their experience has something wrong with it when you go in there, I had to leave it when I first went so yeah, there is something going on there. I wasn't surprised you mentioned the eppy would be special since there were so many sensitives. I also wasn't surprised that you were glad about Johanna being there to protect and guide Julia, it helps to have one if you're a medium. And that you saw Beckett seeing that she and her kids have that gift though of course she's still skeptical about it. And I wasn't surprised either to see that you were wondering about Julia's birth mother's spirit coming to her. Or that you're expecting a confrontation to occur like Tyson reappearing, lol, that I expected readers to expect. I was wondering what readers would think of Julia sneaking to the lockdown and I'm not surprised that you mentioned it as Julia trying to sneak past her mother. And I really couldn't see Beckett not letting Julia participate a little in the lockdown as well. And don't worry about when you reviewed, I things can get very busy so it was great that you did come back and review this chapter. I also figured you were reading too so I had an idea! Great you thought the first half was a fantastic update and you're welcome for sharing it! And I'm glad you thought it was a good thing Julia was there with them during the lockdown. You make an interesting point about the more negative spirits going after Beckett and Skye since they're investigators or really authority figures, it might well be since those kinds of spirits don't like to be dominated they like having the power over people. And yeah, I though Johanna would really watch out for Skye too since she was her daughter in their past life. I'm glad you liked Julia sensing that her mother would have a nightmare after the lockdown and letting Castle know and telling him what to do for her, I figured that would really help. So happy reading you loved the flashback that was at the end! Great you thought the second half was a fantastic update and you're welcome for sharing the second half too!),

TORONTOSUN (Really nice to read that you like how everyone is for comfortable with each other! And happy to see you thought it was good writing as well!),

Emma (I was pleased to see first off in your review that you're enjoying the story. And I'm glad you like the dancing as well as the kids and nice to see you liked the spooky part too in the other chapter. Also very pleased that you enjoy the intimacy between both Castle and Beckett and Mary and Skye too! You're very welcome!) and

Mb (You're welcome for the spoiler alert, I needed to do that since I don't want to reveal anything too soon of course. Great to read that you thought the last chapter was a fantastic update. And I'm glad that you enjoyed seeing them at home with everyone. I wasn't surprised that you liked how Castle and Beckett make sure that Josie gets attention from them the same as her big sisters; it was hard no to see them doing that, lol. I was pleased to read you're happy that the kids'll have a segment on the show since I've been hoping readers would like them getting more involved on the show too. So happy that you could picture the Rumba in the chapter in your mind, lol, that's been my biggest worry to translate the dances I'm making up in my mind since I'm not a dancer, lol, so I'm glad it's working! And it was a great surprise to see that you thought what Skye and Mary said in their intro were beautiful words since it was about how they met and how Skye was having difficulties emotionally back then. It was nice to read that you loved how excited the kids were with their dance and that you loved the story Derek has for the dance too. It's fun to make up stories for dances so I enjoy doing that myself! Glad you thought the first half was a great update and you're welcome for it too! I was pleased to see of course that you thought the second half was a great update. I had to laugh at you saying you were waiting for Julia to get caught writing in her diary when she should have been in bed, lol. But I'm glad you say that she was able to highlight her time in LA so far, lol, I thought it should be fit in somehow. Really pleased you thought the love scene between Skye and Mary and that you can feel their passion and love for each other. It was also nice seeing that you feel their love is like Castle and Beckett's in the fact that it's always growing and getting stronger as you said. So happy you enjoyed the first part of the love scene between Castle and Beckett and that you thought it was hot and sensual. I wasn't surprised your mentioning Castle's knee giving out. But it was great that you mentioned how loving they were after that, I wanted to show both the intimacy and the loving sides of their relationship since I think they would have that. I had to laugh a bit at your wording of Castle and Beckett putting their minds together, but you're right that's what they did to be able to still make love. So I'm very happy that you thought they were still sensual and intimate as well as loving together. You're very welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate greatly the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _I Love You, California_ by Francis Beatty Silverwood.

Skies Of Azure Blue

"Look at all the trees!" Julia said eagerly as she stepped out of the car.

"They don't look like they do at home," Eliza said with a frown as she was looking around as well. "It's all green."

"Welcome to California," Skye said, getting out of the car next to them. "Luckily it's slightly cooler up here."

"Slightly," Castle said. "I like it," he said to his wife. "Though I know Alexis wouldn't."

"She prefers fall colors?" Mary asked, picking up Iris.

"She does," Martha said as they were all gathering together after taking separate cars. "What are we doing first?"

"Lunch," Skye said first. "We eat and then walk through everything."

"This looks like the place that we go to," Eliza said as her father picked her up.

"Except it's not in the mountains… hills?" Julia said to her mother.

"I think so," Beckett said, looking over at the kids to make sure they were all there before she saw Clive seemed to be having a problem. "What's wrong?" she asked, going to the boy as they were walking to the restaurant above some shops.

"My ear hurts," he replied, looking up at her.

"Stop," Beckett said, touching his shoulder. "Your ear didn't pop." When he shook his head she then told him, "Try yawning, as wide as you can and that might help."

"What's wrong?" Skye asked, having walked back to them.

"Oh, it popped," Clive said suddenly.

"Having trouble getting that set?" Skye asked. She smiled when the boy nodded and then said thanks to Beckett before he raced over to the restaurant.

"He has a crush on you I think," Beckett told her friend as they looked at one another.

"I believe so, but it's innocent," Skye said. She walked with her friend to the restaurant and said, "It's a bit country in décor," before they reached the door, waiting for her reaction.

"And you didn't think it was back in Apple Canyon?" Beckett asked with a smile. "But really, _Law's_?"

" _I know, it's a hell of a coincidence_ ," Skye said before they were going inside and speaking in Russian. " _But it's good_."

"I didn't doubt it," Beckett said before they went inside. "You're still here?" she said to her husband as they found their group crowding the entrance.

"They need to push a few tables together," Castle explained.

Beckett nodded and looked down the seating area before she saw the larger room with chairs. " _She warned me about the items here_ ," she then said in Irish.

"It's like at home," Castle said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I told her," Beckett said with a smile before the hostess was leading them further into the restaurant. "Though I didn't tell her- Skye, there's an orchard next to the restaurant we went to."

"It's needed," the investigator said before they were sitting at the tables.

"Are we going to be able to practice here?" Julia asked Derek as they were looking at the menus.

"I'm sure there's going to be a flat surface somewhere," the pro replied. "There is right?" he directed to his partner.

"Right outside," Skye said.

"But we're eating right now," Mari said.

"True, we'll wait a bit on that," Skye replied before they were laughing.

"There aren't any kids menus?" Beckett asked then.

"Our girls have gotten sandwiches and split them," Mary said. "But we're uneven _grá_ ," she told her wife.

"What're you thinking?" Skye asked her with a smile.

"I'll get one and share with Fleur; and a salad," Mary said.

"Okay," Skye said.

"I'll do the same with Eliza," Martha said.

"Can we split them?" Julia asked her mother.

Knowing her daughter was referencing the four of them Beckett said, "Go ahead, but agree with what you pick out."

"Are we all getting hot cider?" Skye asked, seeing that the waitress was coming.

"Cold," most of the kids said.

"Okay, raise your hand for cold cider," Skye said quickly. After she had seen the hands she told their waitress their orders for drinks and once they were alone again she said, "What're you getting?"

"Get whatever you'd like," Derek said with a smile as he knew the woman was watching what she ate during the show.

"No," Skye said before she then started to laugh. "I wanted to see if there was anything you liked."

"The meatloaf sandwich," Derek replied.

"That's what I'll get," Castle said.

"So will I," Jim said.

Beckett smiled at her husband and said, "I'm not surprised."

"We need something hearty for the mountains," Castle commented. He smiled when his wife put her hand on her face and then said, "Hopefully we're ready," as their waitress was coming with another and their drinks in cups or mugs.

"Is this fresh?" Peter asked the older McDouglas twins in a whisper while the adults were ordering their sandwiches for them.

"Yeah, why do you think there are apples out there?" Kathleen asked with a smile.

"Do they have fresh apple pie?" Eliza then asked.

"Yep, the best," Marie said.

"The one where we go is better," Eliza said immediately.

"Wait," Julia said hurriedly before the twins could say anything. "Lizzy we didn't eat the pie here yet, it might be better or as good as it is back home." She watched her little sister, waiting to see if she should wouldn't let go of the point, but when Eliza nodded she was relieved and turned her attention to her friends as they were talking together.

"I'll remind you," Skye was saying to Castle, Beckett and their parents. "There isn't that much."

"But you said there's a zoo," Castle commented.

Smiling Mary said, "There is and that does take up a lot of time. But we're going to the lower bit, right?" she asked her wife.

"We'll see," Skye replied. "There are things there, but we just go to a store for the apples. We might be alright getting that here; it depends on how the kids are."

"They might be a while showing the others the animals," Mary said.

"Is there a petting zoo?" Jim asked.

"There is," Skye replied. "How's the baby?"

"She's fine," Beckett said, looking down at Josie who was in between both her and her father.

"Mom, you're not going to feed her?" Julia asked.

"For dinner," Beckett said, not surprised at the question as the girls were eager to feed their sister since they'd started giving her baby food the day before. When Julia turned back to her friends she saw their food arriving and told her husband, "What do you want?"

Castle didn't say anything at first, laughing at her guessing before he said, "Did you want to go around to take pictures?"

"I did," Beckett admitted quickly after they'd gotten their food. "But if it doesn't work out then I'll just take pictures while we're walking."  
"You know you could do that," Skye said. "Like I said it won't take long to do everything."

"And the zoo?" Beckett asked. She shook her head and said, "We need to eat and then go."

"Why are you in a hurry?" Peter asked. "We're not… still having lessons, are we?"

"No, we'll probably get home too late," Castle said. "But that doesn't mean we're not going to be doing that tomorrow."

"Around practice?" Julia asked with a smile.

"Yes," Beckett answered before her husband did. She expected more questions from the kids but when they merely went back to their food she shared a glance with her husband. After they had eaten, they had their slices of apple pie and she said to Skye, "Are you going to get caramel apples?"

"As always," the investigator replied. "But we're not eating that until we have dinner later tonight." Skye paused and then looked at her partner saying, "It's tradition."

"Go ahead," Derek said. When she looked surprised he then said, "Your daughters."

Looking at them, Skye saw that hers and Mary's two oldest were tense and she said, "I don't know if I should thank you or tell you we shouldn't have so many sweets."

"Thank us," Marie quipped.

Laughing Skye shook her head and said, "Sure but we're not having sweets for a bit. Just fruits."

"Like now?" Fleur asked.

"Without being baked," Mary suggested.

"What do you think?" Kathleen then asked Eliza.

"It's good," the little girl said shyly. She giggled when her sister ruffled her hair and said, "Is it 'cause of the apples."

"Probably," Julia said before she finished the crust of her slice. She then got up with the others and whispered to as many of the other kids as she could reach.

"Hey, don't run…" Castle started to say watching the oldest kids walking fast.

"Hopefully…" Beckett started to say before it came to her what they were doing. She walked quickly after them and stepped out of the restaurant to find the four dancers were pairing up. "Guys," she said with a smile.

"Don't say we can't dance!" Mari said in protest.

"You just ate," Beckett said gently, not surprised when the kids looked at each other and sighed. "Wait until we've walked around okay?" At their obvious disappointment she smiled and said, "You're doing great with Derek's dance."

"You are," the pro said as he and Skye had exited the restaurant by then. "I'm really happy with your progress. Oh, and the costumes will be ready for you to try on tomorrow."

"Are we going to wear them to dance?" Clive asked.

"I think you'll be alright," Derek said. "But if you want to try some steps wearing them then I don't see why you shouldn't."

"Until then," Skye said, hearing the door open behind them and turning to find it was her wife and Castle.

"Is she alright?" Beckett said, going to her mother in law as Josie had started whimpering. She took her out of the carrier and then said, "I'll get her to sleep."

"Would you like us to wait for you somewhere?" Martha asked.

"While we're in the zoo," Beckett said as they were walking on the asphalt of the parking lot and going up a slight incline.

"Is this where you get your apples?" Castle asked Skye and Mary as they were going by a stall that had bags of the fruit in the front.

The investigator shook her head quickly and waited until they were past to say, "Usually we go to the second area, but we might grab them here or the stall."

"How's the selection at the stall?" Castle said.

"Good, we get our cider there," Skye replied before they were walking past a motel and then going through a gate. "The zoo is just up past these stores," she told the others. "And we'll get the tickets for us," she said to Castle and Beckett, waiting for their protests which were forthcoming.

"It's not that expensive," Mary commented after the two had stopped talking.

"Which means we can pay for our share," Castle pointed out.

"Our treat; you'll be getting your apples and everything else," Skye said. When the couple looked at each other she smiled and then said, "Thank you."

"Don't be so sure," Beckett said though she had already resigned herself.

"Is she asleep?" Castle asked his wife.

"Yeah, she is," Beckett said, going over to her father as he'd been pushing the stroller. She set Josie inside before they had reached the first of the stores and she let her father take the stroller over to a bench that was outside. " _I'm assuming we won't really like everything here_?" she asked Skye in Irish.

" _Not really, the kids enjoy looking_ ," the investigator explained as their kids had gone into a store of Native American themed items. "And we'll be back, we'll pick up the tickets now."

"What do you think?" Castle asked Derek when he realized the dancer was with them.

"It's interesting," the pro replied, looking around. "And you have great views here."

Beckett, who'd been taking a picture of the mountain they could see in the distance said, "I'll agree. Though it's a shame this doesn't have the same foliage as at home."

"Hey, I wasn't thinking that," Castle said defensively though he was soon smiling at her briefly. "And while Alexis loves the Adirondacks, she wouldn't mind this."

Seeing that Derek was looking at them Beckett said, "We went last autumn, and she loved the colors there." She glanced quickly at her husband and when he nodded at her she then said, "It's special also to her and her boyfriend, they said their first I love yous there."

"That would do it," Derek said before he saw Skye and Mary were coming over to them.

"Are you going to the zoo?" Castle asked him.

"Yeah, their oldest two seem to be really eager," Derek commented.

"Which is surprising," Mary said as she and her wife had been close enough to hear that. "They've been here since they were little."

"Kids never get tired of animals," Martha said, coming out of the store with the children. "And speaking of that…"

"We're ready," Skye said in amusement as she could see; looking at her daughters; they were.

Walking down the line of shops the group came to an incline that had asphalt over it and they made their way up before Jim and Martha stopped at some stalls that were selling items. They went to a picnic table in the shade of an oak tree and were soon sitting, watching their family and friends going up to the turnstile above where they were.

"You can feed some of the animals outside of the petting zoo part," Kathleen was telling the kids as they were making their way through the tall turnstile while their parents were buying feed corn to use.

"But there are a lot of squirrels too," Marie reminded her little sister. "So watch out for them even though they can be sneaky."

"And it's kinda dumb," Peter said. When the others looked at him he said, "There's acorns all over the place here."

"Yeah, but it's easier," Kathleen said.

"Keep going kids," Mary said to them.

"We're blocking the way," Julia whispered loudly to make everyone start laughing which they did before they came to coops for birds.

"Like at home?" Skye asked, seeing Beckett looking back at her.

"A lot like at home…" she said before she trailed off. "I guess that it makes sense, this is for kids."

"Mommy," Eliza said eagerly and trying not to be too loud. "There's a peacock here!"

Castle watched his wife step forward before he followed her, pausing when he heard Skye asking, "Should we now?"

"On this… sidewalk?" Derek said since the question had been directed to him.

"Just checking," Skye replied with a smile, as the asphalt covering the path wasn't all that even though they weren't walking on an incline.

"Man, I gotta tell my mom about Apple Canyon if it's like this there," Peter was saying to Julia.

"Yeah, not close but it's still nice," the girl said before she thought of something. "Are there horses here?"

"No, sorry about that," Skye said. "I should have told you about this before we started."

"I still want to see everything," Julia said quickly.

"To warn you," Skye said before they were walking past the rest of the birds in the coops before they came to the petting zoo. "Okay, no paper or anything the goats can get," she told the kids.

"Are you going in?" Peter asked Derek.

"I'll stay out here with the bags," the dancer said as he took the purse that Mary was holding.

"You should wear it over your shoulder," Clive commented.

"What do you think?" Derek asked jokingly as he'd done that.

"Clashes with your outfit a bit," Skye said with a smile, taking Ivy and Iris' hands. "Let's go."

Once they were through the gate and stepping down Beckett watched her husband; who was with Eliza; and took pictures of the little girl feeding goats before she did the same with Julia and the other three kids. She also managed to get a shot of Derek, trying to feed a goat with some of the corn that had ended up on the ground.

"Oh… can't we get more Daddy?" Eliza asked when her father ran out of food.

"No, we need to keep going," Castle said easily. "There's more to see. Let's get out of here and go clean our hands. That means you guys too," he directed to the boys.

Once the kids had their hands cleaned with sanitizer they continued down past other animals behind chain link fences. There were llamas, sheep and they eventually came to a paddock with miniature horses.

"You forgot about these Mum," Marie said.

"They didn't have these last year," Skye pointed out. "So great that they had them this time. They knew you were coming," she said jokingly to Julia and Eliza.

Beckett wasn't surprised when the girls weren't really reacting, trying to pet the horses through the fence. She was relieved when they were careful doing that and she got a couple pictures before they were continuing down to some large pigs and cows. She glanced at her husband when she felt him turn and saw he was looking above them. "What is it?" she asked him.

"Not sure… something red," Castle replied. "Is there a barn up there?" he asked Skye and Mary.

"We'll see it now," the latter said, reaching for their daughters.

It took a little time for the children to be convinced to leave the animals, but they were soon going up an incline before they came to a mill with water running over the wheel. The kids from the Hamptons were gasping at the sight of it, along with Fleur before the oldest McDouglas twins were pulling them over to see it closer when their parents were calling to them to their surprise as they turned back to them.

"I'm taking a group picture," Beckett explained to the kids. "Stand together."

"And stay still," Skye added as Iris and Fleur were hopping back and forth on their feet. She waited to see if she needed to say that again, but Beckett was able to take two pictures before she walked with the others to the mill.

Starting to walk after them, Beckett paused and she realized that her husband wasn't with her and she turned to see him looking around. "Are you okay?" she asked him as she went back to him.

"I- yeah," Castle said before he realized that she was asking about his knee. "It's fine."

"Even here?" Beckett asked, nodding to the incline they'd just walked up.

"Even here," Castle said reassuringly. "Let's keep going."

Taking his hand, Beckett walked with him after the others as Skye and Mary had urged the kids on and they were walking up another incline. She noticed something to their right and called to the investigator saying, "Is that a fishing pond?"

"Yeah, I told you Apple Canyon sounded really similar," Skye said.

"You can fish here?" Clive asked Julia.

"Yeah," Marie answered instead. "But we've never done that, people catch them and take them home."

"Oh… good thing no one's doing that now," Mari said.

"Yeah," Julia said as they made their way down to the pond. She sat on the edge and smiled up at her father who walked to her saying, "Did you want to fish?"

"Not really," Castle said. "We have dinner already set at home."

"Yeah," Julia said with a smile as Skye and Mary were going to be making a _paella_ outside that night. "It's weird it's a lot like back at home Dad," she suddenly said.

"Remember, mountains," Castle said, holding up his index finger. When his daughter rolled her eyes, he laughed and then hugged her before saying, "Let's keep-" he started to say before Fleur was letting out a squeal and pointing at something down by the steps they'd taken up to the pond.

"There's a river!" the little girl exclaimed.

"A stream," Kathleen corrected her. She then paused and asked their mothers, "Right?"

"Perhaps a brook, I don't know if it's natural," Skye said.

"It's pretty," Eliza said happily.

"Don't touch the water," Beckett said quickly.

"Let's go," Skye said as she glanced at the two boys.

"She's right let's keep going," Beckett said as she looked over at them and saw the expressions on their faces as well. She went to her husband as they made their way back to the main path and she looked ahead, seeing that they were walking toward another turnstile. "That's it?"

"Yeah, it's not a standard zoo," Skye said.

"Oh… Mom, Mum," Marie suddenly said. "They took out the pond here."

"It's alright," Mary said, looking at the empty pond that was being dug up. "They might have something else here next year."

"Is that all?" Peter said, looking back from where they were.

"It is," Skye replied. "Disappointed?"

"No," Clive said slowly. "But could we go back to the petting zoo?"

Laughing Castle said, "We need to keep going, but I don't blame you for wanting to go back."

"And we're going to get caramel apples now," Kathleen said.

"We will," Mary said. "Eventually."

"Why eventually?" Julia couldn't help asking.

"Up at the top of this hill," Skye said as they stepped out of the zoo. "There's a store but they also have a place where you can pan for gold."

"Oh cool!" Peter said. He then said, "Could we do that?"

"You all will," Beckett assured him before they focused their attention on getting to the top of the incline. Once there she could see the merchandise in the store and could quickly see why Skye hadn't mentioned that since it was more country themed items. They needed to pay for pans for the kids inside though and after they'd gotten them she took Eliza to help her.

"This is fun Mommy," the little girl eventually said as they were swirling the water around the pan they'd been given.

"I know," Beckett said with a smile. "Look at what you have," she told her.

"Oh… I got gold!" Eliza said eagerly.

"So did I, small pieces," Ivy commented.

Hearing the children saying the same Castle said, "You guys are a lot luckier than a lot of the miners in 1849."

"They didn't even find this much?" Clive asked.

"Usually they didn't, he's right," Skye said.

"Yeah, we learned about that too," Marie said. She then turned to her little sisters and said, "You'll get to learn about the Gold Rush soon."

"Neat," Ivy said before they were letting the employee who was there with them bottle their gold in small vials with water. When they were finished she hurried to her mother and took her hand tightly before she was telling them all where they were going next.

"We only have one more shop here to go to," Skye said. "And yes, it's where the caramel apples are. _We're just getting those as there are a lot of other candies there_."

"What'd she say?" Peter asked Marie and Kathleen as the investigator had spoken to Castle and Beckett.

Shaking her head, the older twin said, "I think that's Irish so we don't know."

"Not fair," Kathleen mumbled.

"Oh no, it's fair," Skye said in amusement before they walked together to where Martha and Jim were.

"How-" Jim started to say.

"I found gold!" Eliza said eagerly, showing him her vial of gold.

"At the zoo?" Martha asked in surprise as she was feeding Josie with a bottle.

"The store up there has a place to pan for gold outside," Castle explained, checking on the baby with his wife. "How's she been?"

"She woke up just now," Martha replied. "And is very hungry."

"I can see that," Beckett said in amusement. "We have just one more place here before we grab apples and cider," she told the two. She looked at the kids and seeing that they were talking or running around where they were together said, "But we can wait for her to finish."

"Which is a surprise," Castle said, watching the kids as well. "They forgot about the caramel apples."

"Don't remind them," Beckett said in amusement. She looked over at Josie and resisted the urge to take the baby to burp her, allowing her mother in law to do that since she didn't really have the chance to do that too often. "I hope you didn't mind staying here," she said to the two.

"No, it's nice," Martha said. "Though not very cold."

"I think it's still the Mediterranean climate even here," Jim said.

"It is," Skye said. "Don't expect it to cool down for winter here until next month."

"I don't think that's a problem, since you won't be having snow," Castle commented.

"I didn't think it would be," Skye said.

Seeing that Martha was standing with Josie, Mary turned to the kids and called, "Are you ready to go?"

"They didn't forget," Beckett said slightly wryly to her husband as the children were hurrying over to them. "Take it easy," she told them quickly. "We're going right now."

"What kinds of apples will they have?" Clive asked Julia once they were walking, heading to the walkway in front of a restaurant.

"I don't know, I've never been here before," the girl said, shrugging her shoulders.

"They're really good ones," Kathleen said.

"Stay together you guys," Skye told the kids as they were walking single file by the front of the restaurant. "Here we are," she said when they passed a green door and came to a second one. "It's a tight squeeze in here and stay together."

"If it's small won't we do that anyway?" Julia said.

"Go in smart aleck," Beckett told her teasingly. She followed in after and saw what Skye had meant as the store was long but didn't go back that far to the displays. She looked for Eliza and soon spotted the girl with her father, so she relaxed before she felt her husband touching her elbow behind her.

"I'm going to watch Josie so my mother can come in," Castle murmured to her. When his wife turned to him he said, "I'll come back, she just wants the chance to look around."

Smiling, as she knew her mother in law enjoyed chocolate chip fudge, Beckett nodded and then went over to her second oldest who was looking at some hot chocolate mixes for sale with Mari. "What do you think?" she asked the two girls.

"There aren't too many different flavors," Mari commented.

"I don't think it's too bad," Julia said, smiling at her.

"Yeah… are you going to buy any?" Mari asked.

"No, come and pick out your apples," Beckett said with a smile as the girl had directed that to Julia. She saw her daughter was about to speak when she quickly told her, "I'm sure Skye and Mary have hot chocolate at their home."

"Yeah," Julia said with a sigh. She then smiled at her mother before she then went over to the other end of the store to look at the apples.

"What're you gonna get?" Mari eventually asked.

"I think the one with sprinkles," Julia said. "What about you."

"I want to try that one too," Mari said with a nod before they both looked at Beckett.

"You're sure?" she asked them. When they nodded Beckett went to where her husband was standing with Eliza and Jim near the door. "Are you ready?" she asked them all.

"They are, I know what they want," Castle replied before they walked together to the register, standing behind Skye and Mary as the two women were ordering their apples. "Let me guess, sprinkles?" he asked.

"Wait, the boys-" Beckett said, looking around the store.

"I know what they want," Castle assured her quickly. "Clive wants the chocolate chip covered one and Peter the M&Ms one."

Beckett nodded and said, "You need to help me."

"It's why I'm here," Castle replied easily, squeezing her hand before they turned their attention to the employee as the couple ahead of them had finished. They ordered their apples; and the chocolate chip fudge for his mother; and after getting the bags with their items he said, "I'll get the boys," as the two were at the opposite end of the shop.

"Think we could take one?" Clive was murmuring to Peter.

"Yeah, I'm hungry again," the boy replied.

The two looked at each other before they were yelling as hands came down on their shoulders. They turned quickly and seeing it was Castle they calmed down before Peter was speaking first.

"Think we can take a sample?" he asked.

"I think we're about to have some apples now," Castle told them, looking at the different cheeses and crackers the two had spotted. "I'm sure Kate would want you to have that for a snack." He ushered them to the door and once they were outside let them go with their friends before they were leaving the shops. They headed to the stall they'd passed, and he was going to ask his wife what she wanted when she was going to Skye.

"How many should we get?" Beckett asked her friend.

"There are a lot of kids," Skye said first. "I suppose three or four bags at least… perhaps five."

"What if you have leftovers?" Iris asked.

"We make dried apples," Marie said.

"You do?" Ivy asked, her eyes wide.

"Of course, in the sun," Mary replied.

"We have to watch them 'cause of the flies and everything, but sometimes we cover them with another sheet," Kathleen added.

"We put them between two sheets," Skye corrected. "Do you mind if I pick?"

"Go ahead," Beckett said.

"You do know the varieties here," Castle said.

Beckett looked on while Skye was asking the stall owner which bags were the best and they soon had their apples. She was surprised when the man washed some, enough for them to split them and eat a few slices. "Nice," she said, smiling at her friend as she knew the two women were wondering what they thought. She looked at the kids and seeing they were nearly finished with the slices she said, "Well?"

"Well what?" Skye asked in surprise as Beckett was looking at her.

"We have some flat space," Castle said, knowing what his wife was thinking.

"We should wait until we head home," Skye said. "There's not a lot of space and there are more people waiting now."

"You're lucky," Beckett said teasingly.

"Let's head down to the stall and grab the cider so we can get back," Skye said.

"Why the need to head back?" Castle asked.

Beckett wasn't surprised when her friend merely smiled, and they walked down past the restaurant. When they'd reached the structure down the road a bit she stepped in and had to take a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness inside. When she saw the items on display she said to her husband, "Let them get anything for their home."

"Sure," Castle replied. When his wife looked at him he smiled and said, "Really, what would we do with anything from here?"

"And I think the girls are helping them pick out everything," Beckett said as she'd noticed their daughters doing that. She then stepped out so she could see where their parents were and found them by one of the stores they'd passed, sitting on a bench in the shade. She felt a hand taking hers and looked at Eliza asking, "What is it sweetie?"

"Daddy says we can get little pumpkins for our rooms," the little girl said. "But he says you have to say if it's kay too."

"It is," Beckett replied, turning to go back in with her. "Just pick one though," she told the kids who were looking at her. Watching them turning to the mini-pumpkins, she said to her husband, "Thank you for telling her to ask me for permission."

"It needed to be done," Castle said with a shrug. He saw the way his wife was looking at him and told her, "It was better to do that."

Beckett laughed softly before she was turning to the kids to find they were finished and looking at their pumpkins. "Are you ready?" she asked them to make sure.

"Yeah," Julia said first before she, her sister and friends all gave the pumpkins to her father. She then went over to Derek who was holding an ear of dried corn and said, "Are you going to get one? You could make some popcorn with it."

Laughing briefly, Derek set it down and said, "I don't really think it's one of those kinds… but if it was I'd grab one. I do love popcorn."

"Me too," Julia replied.

"Was there something you wanted to ask me?" Derek asked her.

"Can we practice at home?" Julia said.

"Of course," Derek said. "But are you the only one who wants to?"

"No," Julia told him quickly as she looked to see that Skye and Mary had bought their items and her parents were nearly finished as well.

"Let's go everyone," Skye said when she and the other parents were standing at the entrance. "We have a lot of practicing to do."

With that the kids hurried out and they gathered at the cars and put away their purchases before they split up and drove down the mountain to head west and return to the McDouglas home.

* * *

"Is there any reason why this pan is so big?" Derek inquired, walking up to where the two couples were.

"There are a lot of us here," Mary said simply.

"It still seems to be really big," Castle said, making sure the burner was correctly hooked up.

"We're having extra guests over," Skye said finally. When the three looked at her and her wife she merely smiled and said, "You'll see soon enough."

"It's Zak," Julia said, walking over to them with Mari suddenly. She wasn't surprised when the adults looked at her; mostly in surprise though the investigator was smiling again at her; and told them, "Who else would really come over?" She then thought of something and asked Skye, "Is it the others too?"

"All four of them," the investigator replied. "I extended the invitation to the rest of the crew, but Zak let me know they're on their way back to Vegas already."

"They did their lockdown?" Castle asked.

Nodding Skye said, "Monday night."

"That means they missed the show," Mari commented.

"They don't really watch it," Skye said laughingly. "But they've checked out my dances on YouTube," she said before she looked at the burner. "Alright, this is ready to begin so go ahead and have fun before we need to eat."

"Mind if we watch?" Castle asked.

"Not at all," Skye replied. She paused and said, "You're going to Spain you said next summer?"

"We are," Beckett said, smiling at her father as he was walking by with Josie. "Sorry we didn't tell you before Dad."

"The full summer?" Jim asked. When his daughter nodded he smiled and said, "I'll have to contact Xavi."

"Do that, we'll start out in Madrid and if we could we'd love to go back to Carbajales," Beckett told him.

"I'll let them know, but I'm sure they'll offer the house again," Jim replied before he continued to the kids, leaving the five behind him to talk again.

"Have you ever been?" Skye asked her partner.

"I have," Derek replied. "But not for a number of years. Where's that place you mentioned?" he then asked Castle and Beckett.

Since she knew he wasn't talking about Madrid, Beckett said, "It's in the northeastern section of the country." She paused and said, "I think my father said it's close to the border of Portugal."

"Ever think of going there?" Skye asked.

"Thinking about your dance?" Castle responded with quickly.

"Wrong country," Skye said jokingly. "But if you ever went there I could help out with translations."

"We'll keep that in mind," Beckett said with a smile.

"Don't look at me," Mary replied as the three turned to her. "She's teaching me though, but it takes time to learn a language."

"I speak just Portuguese to her sometimes," Skye replied. "But things have been a bit busy lately."

"Should we go to a _churrascaria_?" Derek asked.

Skye laughed and said, "I was going to suggest it, but that's alright. If we'd gone to Universal this week instead of last week I would have said the one at Citywalk."

"Do they know we're going?" Derek asked Castle and Beckett as Skye and Mary had excused themselves to head into the kitchen to get the ingredients.

"They do, we told them because we had to check on all their robes well… except for Peter and Clive," Castle said.

"They need new ones?" Derek guessed.

"Clive needs them for the first time," Beckett explained. "He did the sorting test after we told them, and he got put into Slytherin. Which is good because Mary's on her own there." She started to speak but paused before she told the dancer, "They might ask you to get one."

"Would they be alright with my getting a scarf?" Derek asked.

"They would," Beckett said with a laugh. "Gryffindor?"

"Yeah," Derek said before he turned with them to watch the two women coming with covered bowls and other items in their arms. He and Castle were quickly jumping over to them to help, taking a few items while the women thanked them.

"I feel bad you lot just standing here," Skye said.

"We wanted to see how you cooked this," Beckett said, though she couldn't help the urge she felt in wanting to play with her daughters as they were playing with the different bubble items they had.

"Go Kate," Castle said. "I'll watch and write down the recipe."

"I'll give you a copy, it has the instructions," Mary said.

"I'll stay," Castle said.

Squeezing her husband's shoulder, Beckett went over to their parents, wanting to check on Josie before she joined in with the bubbles. She kissed the top of the baby's head, since her father was holding Josie on his lap, and was about to take her when her mother in law was speaking with a slight frown on her face.

"Are you sure you should take her over there?" Martha asked.

"I'll watch her," Beckett assured her, not surprised she was concerned about that. She took Josie from her father and then carried her over to the other kids saying, "Are you guys having fun."

"Hi Mom," Julia said with a smile, waving to her little sister. "Are you gonna blow bubbles too?"

"Maybe later," Beckett replied.

"Mommy look!" Eliza said eagerly, dipping her wand into the vial of solution. She spun around, letting out bubbles before she looked over at her mother expectantly.

"That was very pretty sweetie," Beckett said with a smile. She heard a brief laugh from Josie and said, "Your sister agrees."

"Think she can see them?" Julia asked, blowing her bubbles through a shorter wand.

"I'm not sure," Beckett replied.

"How old is she going to be this month?" Ivy asked, coming over to them.

"Six months," Beckett said before she started to laugh as the baby was kicking her legs. "Easy Josie," she told her soothingly. "You'll be able to play with them soon enough."

"Yeah, we'll play with you all the time Josa," Eliza said eagerly.

Beckett wondered if she should correct her daughter by using the word sometimes instead, but she let it go as Fleur was soon chasing the little girl and she turned her attention to her second oldest. "You don't want to run around?" she asked her.

"I already did," Julia replied. "I'm having fun doing this," she said, blowing out more bubbles before they watched as Josie was kicking her legs again.

"She is too," Castle said as he walked up to them. When he saw the way his wife was looking at him he shrugged and said, "Skye told me to go."

"You were watching us?" Beckett said in amusement.

"I think you mean you Mom," Julia said, watching as her mother handed Josie to her father.

"Smart aleck," Beckett said wryly as she looked down at her. She shook her head when Julia smiled widely and then heard a car.

"It's them," the girl said eagerly, hurrying over to it before it parked behind the other cars in the driveway.

"Hello again Julia," Zak said as he got out of the driver's side first. "They told you we were going to be here for dinner?"

"I guess," Julia admitted. That was all she could say to the investigator as they were soon being surrounded by the other kids.

"Guys," Beckett said, walking over to them finally. "Let them walk into the backyard at least."

"This is a nice house," Zak said, going to the patio and to Skye. He embraced her briefly with one arm asking her, "When was this built."

"Before I was born, by my father," Skye said. "I told you there's no activity though, so no lockdown if you please."

Zak nodded and said, "It smells nice."

"Thank you," Mary said, smiling at him since she had taken over with the _paella_. "If you want a tour around we can show you in a bit."

"That's alright," Zak said.

"The girls want you to see," Skye replied before she saw him looking over at the backyard. She was about to urge him and the other men to walk around when her daughters were coming over to them.

"Come and see everything outside," Marie said to Zak.

"Let them take you around," Skye said with a smile when the investigator looked at her. "They know their way around." She watched them leaving and then said to her wife, "They have their evidence."

"I got that," Mary replied. "Are you worried?" she asked her wife after studying her for a moment. She wasn't surprised when the investigator shrugged, and she squeezed her shoulder saying, "We'll see what there is."  
Nodding Skye smiled and said, "I love you _grá_."  
"I love you too," Mary replied, squeezing her hand before she went back to stirring the _paella_ that was slowly coming together.

"That is a nice pool," Aaron was saying as they were looking in on it.

"The slide is the best part," Fleur said, nodding her head.

"That would be," Aaron said. "Is anyone staying at the guest house?"

"We are," Beckett said. "We've been here before and we prefer being out here." They walked out together, and she hung back a little to go with her husband before she said, "How's she doing?"

"Good," Castle replied as he was studying the baby while she was yawning.

"What're you looking at?" Beckett asked.

"Any teeth," Castle commented. He realized what she might think before he told her, "At this point they should be coming in so I-"

"It's alright," Beckett told him reassuringly and with a smile. "I know you were just wondering. They might be a little later coming in you know."

"I remember," Castle said, as they'd both looked into premature baby development though Josie hadn't been too early. "But maybe not that much."

"Most likely," Beckett said. She thought of something and asked, "When did yours first come in?"

"At six months exactly," Martha said, as she and Jim weren't too far ahead of them. "My son was very prompt," she told Jim.

"Katie nearly was, only six months and two days," he said. Jim looked back at his daughter and said with a smile, "Remember we kept track of everything."

"I remember Dad," Beckett replied. "So it should be soon once we reach the seventeenth," she told her husband.

"Definitely," Castle said, having her stop walking.

Beckett glanced at him for that and told him, "You know-" before he was kissing her. She had expected that, so she was able to recover quickly, which she was relieved she could do since they were soon parting. "Thank you," she said.

"It needed to be done," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when his wife rolled her eyes; as she smiled; and he leaned down to kiss her cheek before she was placing her hand on his chest.

"Make sure you don't do that again until we're in our room," Beckett told him.

"I'll be careful not to," Castle replied, speaking quickly as the others were returning to them.

"I think dinner's ready," Beckett said quickly as she'd looked back at the patio and saw the women were waving to them.

"How'd you get everything out onto the patio?" Zak asked.

"We helped them," Castle said. "The kids tried to, but the table was too much."

"It looks like it, both of them," Aaron said.

"The plates are there on the table," Mary told them once they were nearing them. "Grab them and you can get what you'd like."

Since there were so many of them the kids; served and seated at the tables first; were jokingly complaining about starving before the adults were with them. After they'd taken the first bites; and had complimented Skye and Mary; Julia was clearing her throat.

"What is it?" Beckett said, looking at her daughter.

"Where did you go for your other lockdown?" Julia asked a little shyly.

"I'm afraid we're not saying," Zak replied. "The family that invited us to their home; I can tell you that much; was insistent that we keep the location secret. All we'll have on the episode is that it's in Southern California. But that does bring me to something I wanted to ask you."

"Okay," Castle said, seeing the uncertainty in his wife's eyes as he knew she was guessing too that it meant another lockdown.

"Not just you," Zak said, looking over at Skye and Mary.

"I expected that," the investigator said with a smile. "What is it you'd like us to investigate?"

"You do well with child spirits," Zak said to Julia. "And you speak Spanish."

"And I know where this is going," Skye commented. "Or where we're going."

"Where?" Castle asked.

"If they give their permission," Zak said to the investigator and her wife. "I'd like us to head down to Mexico City."

Julia didn't care that everyone was looking at her for her gasp, instead she said, "The Island of the Dolls?"

"Yeah, I'd like us to go back and see how things are there," Zak said.

"Which was a major surprise when he told us about this," Aaron said wryly.

"Oh yeah, how are you going to go?" Kathleen asked.

"I'll be fine," Zak said quickly, not surprised the kids knew about his fear of dolls. "But I would like Julia to come with me," he then directed to Castle and Beckett. "I'd want you guys to come too of course, but I'd like to see what she could find there."

"When?" Beckett asked, not surprised her daughter was looking at her eagerly.

"I figured her Spring Break would be easier," Zak said. "That way she won't miss school."

Castle didn't say anything when his wife looked at him, letting her decide for them as he gave her a slight smile.

Sighing a little, Beckett turned to the lead investigator and said, "Alright, we'll go but this island was in the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah, she'd have to be there the whole time, but we'll have a boat and it'll be big enough so she could sleep there," Zak said.

"I wouldn't," Julia said in a rush. "It'd be too exciting."  
"You would," Beckett said firmly. "And we will go." She then looked at her husband and said, "What do you think about going there for the week?" wondering if he would be alright with not going to Hawaii as they'd talked about.

"That would be interesting," Castle said.

"We'll be with there for the Spanish," Skye said.

"That's not the only reason we'd want you to be there," Beckett said wryly. "You've been before, we need to know places to go."

"That I can help you with," Skye said with a smile.

"Why were you in Mexico City?" Jay asked.

"An investigation," Skye replied. "But it is a very nice city, a bit packed but it's a city of course. And quite a lot of history."

"How cool," Peter said to his friend. "You get to be in another lockdown."

"Yeah, and this time you don't need to sneak over there," Mari said before they started laughing. "But that's going to be cool, seeing Mexico City."

"Yeah," Julia said briefly.

Watching her daughter, Beckett could tell she had something on her mind and she was about to ask her what was wrong when the girl spoke to her friend rapidly.

"You need to come with us," Julia said.

"I do?" Mari said in surprise as her friend had looked at her.

"Yeah… I don't know why but you need to go too," Julia said earnestly. "I just hope your parents will let you go."

"Me too," Mari said.

"Have you seen the episode with the place we're talking about before?" Billy asked the girl.

"I did," Mari said. "And it's scary with all those dolls but you'll all be there right?"

"Yes, although I wonder if your parents would let you go to the lockdown," Zak said.

"Would I be investigating?" Mari said, her eyes wide.

Skye glanced at Zak, who was studying the girl and she commented, "It might be necessary," to him.

Looking at her, Zak then said to the girls, "You two are close."

"Best friends," Julia and Mari said at the same time, looking at each other and laughing slightly.

"You can come with us," Zak said. "It'd probably be better if you come in the day too, so you can see it before we go at night. But whether or not you'll go to try and get evidence… we'll wait and see how things go."

"Okay," Mari said, nodding her head.

"Now that we have that all settled," Mary said. "Would anyone like seconds?"

With some laughter a few of the adults got up to head back to the pan where they could get their food before they went to the table, the kids getting up to play again while they looked on.


	22. Skies Of Azure Blue (Part 2)

"And… they're dancing away," Zak said.

"They'll be doing that on the dance floor," Skye said. "It's very big."

"How do you go across it?" Aaron asked.

"Usually we're moving quickly so you don't remember how big it is," Skye said. "But at the end of the dance… then you know."

Walking back to the others Julia said, "How was it?"

"Great," Derek said since the girl had asked him. "You were watching your heel leads so you're doing better with that. And I'm talking to both of you," he added, looking at Peter as he'd been talking to him as well.

"Cool," the boy said. "Is that it?"

"For your dance," Derek said.

"We're dancing with them," Mari explained to the men. "Just a little bit but we are."

"We're doing an intro and finale," Skye said with a smile. "Of Brazilian Samba."

"Carnival?" Jay guessed.

"Family friendly," Derek said with a nod. "But right now we're practicing the move she has an issue with."

Beckett looked with the others at Skye as she immediately started to groan, and she asked, "You don't like it?"

"No, it's a beautiful move… if you can pull it off," Skye said, ending that with a wry tone.

"You'll manage it," Derek said reassuringly. "We practiced this before you guys came in," he told the four from New York. "So now you can give her some tips."

"Is it that bad?" Clive asked doubtfully.  
"My feet," Skye said simply.

Julia watched closely as the two danced down the hall from the kitchen and family room to the entry, recognizing the move that Derek had done with Jennifer Grey in their Samba. She saw the woman was having trouble with her feet as she'd mentioned, and she smiled when the investigator turned to her. "The rhythm."

"Is that it?" Skye said in obvious surprise.

"That's it," Julia said before she heard a cough behind that. "What?" she asked Aaron as it'd been him.

"Show her," the cameraman said.

Laughing Julia said, "Did someone tell you we can dance these dances?" She paused and then said in a rush, "Except for the Rumba, we're too young."

"Good thing," Billy commented.

"We'll just do this," Skye said then, looking at her partner. "And then we'll take a look at what evidence you managed to get with us there."

"That's fine," Derek replied. "Go ahead and show her," he then told Julia and Peter.

Taking her partner's hand, Julia went with Peter to the space they'd been dancing before, and they began the same steps. She counted out the rhythm she needed to, moving her feet to them while she stuck up her arm every time she turned. "There," she said when she finished. "Remember the song."

"I do," Skye said. "Luckily we have the faster version. Alright, let's get on with it, one last time," she said, exaggerating her accent.

Beckett laughed with the others before they looked on while the two were trying the move. She could tell Skye was trying her best to follow Julia's advice, but she was still having a little trouble.

"We'll work on this a little more tomorrow," Derek promised his partner as he could see her frustration as well.

"Great," Skye said. "So now we can turn our attention to the evidence."

"First we have what happened when you two went to the Propeller Room, if you don't mind watching that," Zak said as the group was going over to the family room and the TV where Billy's laptop was connected. "Go ahead and play it."

"We have you two coming into the room on the X-camera," the tech said as he played the footage. "There you are," he said, as the two women stepped into the room from the left. "You stop and…"

Julia sighed when the screen went black and she said, "I thought the camera went out."

"Me too," Billy said.

"Did you notice that time seemed to jump where we were," Jay then said.

"I did," Julia said, raising her hand. "Because the screen was black for only a second and now it's still black."

"She's right," Zak said. "We seemed to have lost time."

"I would say most likely the energy reached you lot," Skye said thoughtfully.

"How?" Zak asked.

"That's a good question and I cannot answer it," Skye replied. "There we are," she said as it came back to her and Beckett laying at the very bottom of the screen.

"You couldn't move at all?" Martha asked.

Beckett, since her mother in law was looking at her, merely shook her head before she turned back to the TV.

"Once we were there you were released from whatever had a hold of you, but look here at the corner," Billy said to them, pointing.

"That's an odd shape," Skye said.

"It looks almost like a star at first," Castle said quickly.

"It does," Zak said, nodding his head. "But it morphs as it leaves from your feet Skye, up to the ceiling and turns more into an orb."

"And then it drops back down by the water," the investigator said slowly. She then looked at Julia and said, "It came back when you stepped in."

"Yeah," the girl replied, nodding.

Though she wanted to scoff at the idea, Beckett watched while her daughter walked into the room after she herself and Skye had been led out. She could see that shape above where the view of the water was, and it stayed until Zak was grabbing her daughter and taking her out. "Thank you for doing that," she told the lead investigator.

"I had to… your grandmother?" Zak started to say before he looked at the girl.

"Yep, Grandmama knew what was going to happen," Julia said. "Well… not before we went inside. What else was there?"

"Remember the EVP session you two did?" Zak asked Skye and Mary.

"Of course." "Definitely," Skye and then Mary replied.

"I looked at what you had recorded," Jay told them. "And you got something for this question," he said before Billy was playing the audio.

Skye frowned as she heard her wife asking, " _What would you like to do if you came back to the ship now?_ " A second later she heard something in the silence and said, "Play it again?" to Billy. She listened once more and said, "Did that say freedom?"

"That's what we heard," Aaron said. "Did you sense any kind of trapped soul?"

"Not really," Skye said, thinking that over. "But I'm wondering if perhaps one didn't come in from somewhere else on the ship… the sailor from the Propeller Room," she said as she thought that over.

"Would you be able to help him?" Zak asked her.

Shaking her head Skye said, "His death was so abrupt, he's unable to face that and it would be difficult to get him to go. He's there and it's where he thinks he needs to be; I would imagine he believes the war is still going on and the soldiers need to go to the Front."

"Why would he say freedom if that were the case?" Beckett asked.

Skye thought of that for a moment before she then said, "I believe it was the trip itself, the _Queen Mary_ was moving in a zig-zag pattern but the _Curacoa_ was heading straight…"

"He saw when the ship was about to hit," Beckett said before she froze as she wasn't sure why she'd said that.

"He had a moment where he thought he'd be able to escape as he was running," Skye then said. "But the ship hit shortly after… He wants that moment back so he would have survived."

Julia bit at her lower lip, trying not to cry, and soon felt Mari squeezing her hand before she smiled at her and they looked back to the others.

"Is that it?" Castle asked.

"For now," Zak replied. "We take a closer look at everything once we're back in Vegas; so we'll send you a copy of the episode. But you did a great job Julia."

"Thanks," the girl said with a shy smile. "I was glad to help… I hope I can in Mexico City." She thought of something and asked eagerly, "Could we go on one of those special boats?"

" _Trajinera_ boats," Skye said. "For the lockdown?" she asked the four.

"Like we did last time," Billy said with a nod. "And it'll be comfortable for the kids when they get tired."

"I don't think I could ever get tired doing a lockdown," Julia said eagerly. "Well… there," she said as she remembered how much she'd yawned before they had left the Queen Mary.

"We'll see once we're there," Castle said.

"Are we going to use the different tools there?" Julia asked as Skye stood up.

"We will, but what I'd like you to do is see what you should use while you're on the island," Zak told her.

"Okay, I think the puck will be good by that fire," Julia said. "The one that you saw light itself."

"Why?" Castle asked her in surprise.

"I dunno," Julia said, thinking. "I guess it just will, I have to see when I go why."

"You'll figure that out," Skye said with a smile at the girl. "For now, would anyone like tea or coffee? Or perhaps some milk?"

Beckett smiled when some of the kids got up before they were moving over to the kitchen to get their drinks. She stood with her husband, squeezing his hand as she wasn't surprised Julia was asking Zak eagerly about some of the crew's past lockdowns, relieved the investigator didn't mind answering her. She remained quiet, listening to the conversation as it soon involved the other three, and they were soon laughing over some funny moments before lockdowns as they spent the rest of the evening talking with their four guests.

* * *

"Luckily I remembered my diary this time," Julia said to her friend as she went over to the desk.

"I know, I bet you your parents are glad you have the time to write," Mari replied.

"And you too," Julia said, since her friend was on the bed with her diary. She smiled when her friend nodded and then turned her attention to her diary. She took the cap off her ballpoint pen and wrote down the date before beginning her entry.

 _October 7_ _th_ _, 2020_

 _Today was really fun (yesterday too but since I'm practicing and have school at the same time I couldn't write… I don't think I'll be able to write tomorrow either. Or Friday. I guess I'll have to take the times I get, so if I don't write for a while that's why. That way I don't need to write this again and again) and stuff happened all day._

 _First this afternoon I went with everyone way out in the mountains. It felt like we were driving on the freeways forever, Mom said it took us about an hour and a half. But it wasn't all that pretty on the way, everything was so yellow. But Marie and Kath said it can be like that here, 'cause it doesn't really rain in the summer. Dad said this place can be like the desert and it looks like he's right. Hopefully it'll rain soon!_

 _Anyways, we went to a place called Oak Glen, way high up in the mountains and it was pretty. The only thing it wasn't like where we went back at home by Lake Placid (I don't remember how to spell it so I'll just say the lake since it's easier). The trees were mostly greens and yellows and there were a lot of pine trees so there was a lot of greens… I guess that's how it is here._

 _We went to a restaurant first thing, kinda like the one at Apple Canyon, and the food was really good like at the other restaurant too. The pie was sooo good and really fresh! We then went to some shops but didn't really see anything and then finally we went to the zoo they had. That was like at Apple Canyon too but no big horses, just miniature ones and they were so cute! The only thing was we couldn't really pet them since they were behind fences but still, they were cute!_

 _We didn't do a lot after the zoo, just got caramel apples and some fudge for Gram before we got apples and cider and little pumpkins. We came back and got to play (it was P.E. too) before we had some guests come over. It was Zak, Aaron, Billy and Jay and they had some evidence to show us._

 _First though we ate dinner outside and talked and the most amazing thing happened. Zak wants us to go for another lockdown! And this time in Mexico City! It's gonna be at the Island of the Dolls again and he wanted me to go to try and speak to the little girl that the man found there and had all the dolls for. I hope she'll be nice… but I kinda think she will be already… I think she wants some more dolls. New ones from here, I'll have to tell Dad… I should tell Mom too, but I wonder what she'll say. I need to buy one that's from me and Mari myself, she'll really like that._

Julia looked at her writing and then shook her head before she started the next paragraph, writing quickly as she knew they would need to go to bed soon.

 _But Mom and Dad said we can go and for Spring Break so that'll be cool. I don't know a lot about Mexico, well, I do know about history and how sometimes they had sacrifices a long time ago. I watched the show with Mom and Dad where they talked about why the Mayans weren't around anymore and they said maybe it was 'cause of no rain and they did sacrifices for that. So that I know. Oh! Oh! I hope we can go to that place we saw on_ Expedition Unknown _. C… Uh-oh, I don't know how to spell it… someone's coming, I'll ask them._

"Hi," Julia said, looking at her parents as they walked into the room. "How do you spell Chichen Itza?"

Castle spelled it out for her and then said to his wife, "I think we're going to be going there."

"We are, he thought of that already," Beckett said, rolling her eyes.

"What about seeing a… one of those water things," Julia asked, trying to think of the word though it didn't come to her to her annoyance. Before her parents could say anything to that, Skye was walking into the room and to their surprise started talking to them in Spanish.

" _Quien quiere ir a algun lado_?" the investigator said.

"She does. And she wants to go to a _cenote_ ," Beckett said with a smile.

"Yeah, I've seen those before," Julia said quickly.

"I'd like to see one too," Mari added from the bed.

"We'll need to see where there's one close to Mexico City. I've never been to one myself, so I'll find out what I can. You two understood me?" Skye asked them.

"Yep, who wants to go somewhere?" Julia asked.

"Good, you'll have to learn more Spanish now," Skye replied. "But again, Mary and I will be there."

"Are you finished?" Beckett asked the girls.

"I have more," Julia said, looking down at her diary.

"Me too," Mari said.

"Keep writing but don't take too much longer," Castle said to them. "It's getting late for you guys."

Julia nodded with her friend and after the adults had left she turned her attention back to her diary, starting another paragraph after that.

 _Sorry about that diary. Mom and Dad and then Skye and Mary came into the room and I was talking to them for a little bit. But the first place is called Chichen Itza and then I want to see a_ cenote _and I hope we can see one, but Skye doesn't know if there's one close to Mexico City. Hopefully! I wonder if we could go swimming in it… I hope that would be okay._

 _We had dinner with them and after we practiced and so did Skye and Derek. And then we got to see the evidence. It was cool the voice that Skye and Mary got but it was really scary what happened with Mom and Skye in the Propeller Room. The time the screen went out was long, but it felt like it was really fast in the room and Zak said it was missing time. That's so creepy and I'm glad that didn't happen again! After that we talked with them, that was nice 'cause they told us about stuff they did at places before lockdowns and then they left to go back to Las Vegas, but at least I'll get to see them again!_

 _And that was it for today, but it was so fun and cool too! But I'm ready to practice again and tomorrow we'll get to try on our costumes so I can't wait! I'll write as soon as I can, I promise!_

Julia put away her diary and got up from the desk chair before she went to the doorway where she saw her mother was standing in the doorway of the boys' room. "Mom," she called gently. "We're finished."

Beckett went over to the room and put her hand on Julia's back to lead her over to the bed. "Get on it," she told her daughter. "It's time for bed."

Sighing Julia climbed up onto the mattress to join Mari before she asked her mother, "Are you okay?"

"I am," Beckett said reassuringly, knowing she was inquiring about that because of the evidence they'd seen. "You don't need to worry about us anymore, okay?"

"Alright," Julia said with a sigh. "It scared me," she then admitted. "Seeing what happened and then knowing we lost time like that."

"It can be scary," Castle said in agreement as he walked inside the room. "They're set," he directed to his wife. "They might be talking but they're tucked in."

Beckett nodded and stepped aside to allow him to get to the girls, watching him squeeze Mari's shoulder. "How's your family?" she asked.

"I was going to say that," Castle said in mock annoyance. He then smiled and said, "But I am wondering too."

"They're good, they miss me a lot," Mari said. "Oh, they said they're gonna come on Monday," she said eagerly as she recalled.

"The boys' parents are coming too," Beckett said.

"They were all wondering about surprising you guys," Castle told Mari with a smile. "But they knew you'd wonder if they'd do that again."

"I'm just glad they're coming again," Mari said. "But they can only stay until Tuesday night."

"At least…" Julia started to say before she smiled.

"What?" Mari asked in surprise, watching her.

"If we dance again next week they can see us practicing," Julia said.

"You mean you and Peter," Mari pointed out.

Shaking her head Julia said, "You guys are dancing too."

"Girls," Beckett told the two gently. When they turned to look at her she told them, "It's time for bed."

"Goodnight Mari," Castle told the girl.

"Night," she replied, smiling at him before she watched her friend and her father embracing.

"I love you Dad," Julia said.

"I love you too sweetheart," Castle told her, letting her go.

"Are we still going to Universal Studios next week?" Julia asked hopefully.

"We are," Castle replied before he shared a kiss with her. "And I'm ready to go."

"Me too," Julia replied with a nod. She then turned her attention to her mother who was coming over to her. She embraced her tightly and said, "I love you Mom."

"I love you Julia," Beckett said.

"Thank you for letting us go to Mexico," the girl then told her.

"I could tell you wanted to go," Beckett said. "And it would be a fun trip around the lockdown."

"Yeah," Julia said with a smile before they shared a kiss and she laid down so her mother could tuck them in.

"Goodnight girls," Castle said once his wife had finished and was with him. After they'd said goodnight back to them he took Beckett's hand and they walked out of the room, turning off the light on the way. In the hall he saw Skye and Mary were standing at the other end by the family room stairs and they made their way to the pair before the investigator was speaking first.

"We're going to head to bed," Skye told them.

"Tired?" Beckett asked her.

"A bit," Skye said with a nod. "And I have more practicing tomorrow."

"Yeah we'll do the same," Castle commented. "We've got classes tomorrow."

"Goodnight," Skye said with a smile, her wife saying the same.

"Night," Beckett said, her husband telling them goodnight before they went to the boy's room and checked on them. They headed down together and outside of the house after, locking the door and walking hand in hand across the yard.

"Are you that tired?" Castle asked his wife once they were inside the guest house and he'd locked the door.

"No, I was going to take a shower. You?" Beckett said to him.

"No, I'm alright," Castle said. "I'll wait for you on the bed." He watched her nod and followed her up the stairs, watching her soon disappear into the bathroom. When the door was closed he got changed into his pajamas, putting his glasses back on as he got onto the mattress. Grabbing his book, he settled back to begin reading, though he soon found he wasn't really paying attention to the text. Listening to the water in the shower as soon as it was off he set aside the tome and waited for the door to open.

When she caught sight of her husband, Beckett smiled and said, "No reading?"

"I couldn't really focus," Castle confessed, watching his wife walk to her nightstand.

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smile. She checked her phone and once she was sure no one had called or texted her she turned it off to find her husband laying on his side, watching her. "What can I help you with?" she asked him, smiling again.

"Nothing really, I can't watch you?" Castle said, moving so she could get onto the bed next to him.

"Yes, but when you watch me like that…" Beckett started to say. When her husband looked at her she leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips before she sat up as he was doing the same with her. "But Rick-" was all she had time to say before her husband was kissing her, and harder than the one she'd given him.

Holding her, Castle couldn't stop himself from pulling his wife onto his lap and was greatly relieved when she didn't try to stop him. After they had parted he said, "What did you want right now?" as they looked at one another.

Shaking her head slightly, Beckett leaned over to him again and kissed him though it wasn't as fervent. When they slowly parted she said, "I didn't really want to… do anything more than this."

"Sure," Castle said swiftly. He kissed her gently on the lips before he said, "I'm a little tired myself." He held her in place as he knew she would try to get off his lap and told her, "Don't worry, my knee is fine. It was just a little too much for me." He wasn't surprised when she sighed, and he held her to him tighter as she was embracing him. "I didn't want to have to sit."

"Do you need anything?" Beckett asked. She studied her husband closely, and because she was she saw the slight hesitation on his face. She kissed him quickly and asked, "A pill?"

"Yeah," Castle replied, letting her go though it was done unwillingly. "Just that love."

"Don't move," Beckett don't him once she was off the bed, looking back at him to see he was starting to slide to the edge.

Pausing, Castle went back to where he'd been, looking on while she went down the stairs and then returned a bit later with a glass of ice water. "I could have gotten the pill myself," he told her.

"I know, I'm shocked you didn't," Beckett said, smiling at him before she went into the bathroom.

When his wife handed him the pill Castle took it as fast as he could and then told her, "I was debating it but in the end I just listened to you."

"Since when do you do that?" Beckett asked jokingly, getting back on the bed with him. She couldn't help laughing softly when he gave her a look and she leaned over, kissing the side of his head. "There's something I've been wondering today," she told him.

Raising his eyebrows slightly in response to that Castle then said, "About someone?"

"Julia," Beckett told him. She then said with a smile, "Did you ever wonder what happened when I first got her?"

"Sometimes, it hasn't come to me though," Castle explained. He studied her and asked, "You remember?"

"Yeah," Beckett replied. She wasn't surprised when her husband wrapped his arm around her and said, "It wasn't the best circumstances."

"No," Castle replied, recalling that Julia had come into the world in their past life after her birth parents had been in a car accident. "You had me go to the hospital," he suddenly blurted out.

Beckett nodded, smiling slightly, and she asked, "Do you want me to tell you?"

"Yeah," Castle replied eagerly.

Smiling, Beckett kissed him before she was saying, "I got in touch with you and you hurried to the hospital where Julia was being cared for."

* * *

 _"Rick!" Kate said, hurrying to him and wrapping her arms around him tightly. She sobbed and said, "They're gone… they're gone."_

 _"Who?" Rick said, his mind going to her family and feeling his stomach lurch._

 _"Margret and Albert," Kate explained, crying again once the words had left her mouth._

* * *

"Her birth parents here?" Castle asked. "Why-"

"I don't know," Beckett interrupted him. "But I guess it's a way for me to… push them away." She frowned and shook her head said, "That sounds horrible."

"That is her father's name here though," Castle reminded her quickly.

"Let me continue," Beckett told him.

"Sure," Castle said, knowing she didn't want to think too much about Julia's birth parents. He held her a little closer and kissed at her temple before he said, "I had to comfort you."

"You did, but I eventually calmed down," Beckett replied before she took up the story again.

* * *

 _"I'm so sorry," Rick said, holding his friend's hand. "Where's Junior?"_

 _"Trying to find out about the baby," Kate said, dabbing her face with the handkerchief he'd given her._

 _"And they said they want you to raise the baby as your own?" Rick asked her._

 _Nodding Kate said, "Margaret was worried, she wanted the baby to be safe and knew we would care for it the best we all could. But she wanted me to be the mother."_

 _Rick nodded his head and said, "I hope everything's jake with the law."_

 _"It will be," Kate replied, nodding once._

 _"Do you know what the baby is?" Rick asked gently._

 _"They wouldn't say, that's why Rosie is with Junior," Kate replied. "But I just want to see the baby."_

 _"They're here," Rick told her as he spotted her sister and brother hurrying over to them._

 _"They spoke with their lawyer and they'll allow you to see the baby," Rose said first, hugging her sister as soon as she'd reached her. "But just you."_

 _"And Rick, you're a police officer now," Kate said. "They'll let you in to her."_

 _"I'll speak with them," he said with a nod._

 _The pair walked to the desk where the nurse was and though it took some time, the fact that Rick was with the SFPD allowed him to go in with Kate. They were led to the room where they baby was and after the nurse there with it left they looked into the bed where it was sleeping._

 _"A girl," Kate breathed, seeing the pink blanket covering it. "She's beautiful."_

 _"She is," Rick said. "She's alright Kate," he added as the baby appeared unharmed. "When was Margaret going to have her?" he asked._

 _"In a week or two," Kate replied. She stepped away from the baby and then began to sob before Rick was embracing her tightly._

 _"She'll be swell now Kate, she'll have a wonderful family," he told her firmly._

 _"You'll be her uncle?" she asked, raising her head to look at him._

 _"Of course, anything for my niece," Rick replied._

 _Kate squeezed her arms tighter around him and murmured a thank you before she then said, "Can you find the nurse? I want to hold her." When he nodded she went back to the baby and he left, leaving them alone. "I'll need to name you honey," she said, reaching to the baby and touching her leg through the blanket. She saw her eyes were open and when they seemed to look at her she couldn't help the sob that escaped her lips. "Oh honey, I'll love you as much as your mama would have." She turned when the door opened and the nurse who'd been in the room before walked inside with Rick following a moment later._

 _"Have you held a baby before?" the nurse asked._

 _"Yes," Kate said quickly. "I can pick her up?"_

 _"You're her mother now," the nurse replied._

 _"Thank you," Kate said before the woman left them alone in the room. She went to the baby and picked her up, cradling her in her arms. "I love her," she said._

 _"I can tell," Rick said, smiling at her. "And she is beautiful in her ma's arms."_

 _Kate smiled up at her friend and said, "I'll need to give her a name."_

 _"The nurse told me that too," Rick replied, gesturing with his thumb to the door. "Do you have one?"_

 _"Julia," Kate told him. "She's my little jewel," she said though she was looking at the baby. "Julia Cora."_

 _"It suits her," Rick replied with a nod._

 _"Want to hold her?" Kate asked, turning to him. She smiled when he nodded and placed the baby into her arms, watching him as he looked down at the baby._

 _"Hello Julia," he said once he was comfortable with her in his arms. "I'm your Uncle Rick… and I promise to spoil you rotten." He smiled when Kate laughed and squeezed his arm before she stood close to him and they smiled at one another before they turned their attention back to the baby._

* * *

"And that was it," Beckett said, feeling her husband rubbing her back. She looked at him for his reaction and was startled when he sighed before he finally spoke.

"I loved you then," Castle told her.

"I know," Beckett said gently. "I loved you too."

"I'm recalling that I had a moment where I imagined she was ours," Castle said honestly. "And though it was torture I kept going to see you as she grew up."

"Until my brother found out that you wanted me," Beckett said.

"It was stupid," Castle said with a sigh. "But I really didn't think you felt the same about me and I told myself you would find someone. I didn't want to see that."

Beckett was quiet, trying not to think of Demming and his second ex before she shook herself and said, "It didn't happen. I'll remind you, you were my first."

"I remember," Castle said, nodding his head. "But…"

"Rick I probably liked you since we were kids," Beckett said, pressing closer to him. She then said, "Then growing up and knowing you so well…" She raised her head and told him, "I was aware what I wanted."

Castle reached up and cupped the back of her head murmuring, "I have something to confess."

"Oh?" Beckett said, pulling away from their embrace so she could look at him.

"I had another reason for being there for Julia," Castle said. He was startled when she started to smile and with a frown asked, "What?"

"I know, you were trying to show me you could be a father to her," Beckett said, brushing her lips against his after she'd spoken. She then smiled and told him, "And I loved you more for that. Why do you think we had three children?" She quickly covered his mouth with her hand before he could speak, and she said, "Not because we didn't use protection." She bit her lower lip to hide her smile as her husband shook his head, and she pulled away her hand saying, "You know I was aware of the risk we were taking that first night."

"Yes," Castle replied swiftly. "Yeah, you were… still eager." He then smiled and said, "When did you start wanting kids with me?"

"As I got older and saw you more and more with Julia," Beckett said simply. "Luckily we had each other."

"We did," Castle said, kissing her again. When they had parted shortly after he said, "Sleep?"

"No," Beckett replied. She then said, "Do you have anything?"

"Before or after that night?" Castle said. He watched her thinking that over before she paused, and he was about to ask her what she had decided on when she was climbing onto his lap again.

Beckett kissed him deeply before they parted, and she whispered, "Tell me about our first night in Mill Valley."

Shuddering Castle gasped out, "With Julia or… just after?"

"Pervert," Beckett said, nuzzling her nose against his. "Both."

Castle nodded but took a moment to reply to that as he had the urge to kiss her which he did for as long as they could. When they slowly parted he had to take a moment to catch his breath before he could say, "We had to unpack a lot of things that day; of course; and we didn't make anything that night. Your mom gave us a picnic basket and luckily the icebox was set up in the house." When she nodded he pulled her closer to him and continued about that first dinner in their first home together.

* * *

 _"We'll have to thank your ma," Rick told his wife with a smile._

 _"And me," Kate told him. When he looked at her in surprise she smiled and told him, "I helped her."_

 _"Oh, then thank you," Rick told her with a smile. "We'll have to get the last of the beds tomorrow."_

 _"It's only two left," Kate replied. "We'll finish of course. We'll have to thank Patrick next time we see him."_

 _"Why did everyone go Ma?" Julia asked._

 _"They wanted to get home," Kate replied, gently wiping her mouth. "And we'll go back to the city for Christmas."  
"Will there be a tree?" Julia said hopefully._

 _"There will be," Rick replied. "Can't have Christmas without a tree." He stopped his wife from getting up and told her, "I'll take care of everything love."_

 _Kate nodded and sat back down on the couch before their oldest was coming over to her. "Are you tired honey?" she asked her._

 _"No," Julia said, shaking her head though she was yawning soon after._

 _Pulling her daughter onto her lap, Kate held her close and said, "You have to go to bed soon, you'll have your very own room here too."_

 _Frowning Julia said. "But you and Da will be too far."_

 _"Not that far," Kate assured her. She wasn't surprised when her daughter started to squirm; as it meant she was admitting she was right; and then smoothed her hair away from her face. "What's wrong?" she asked her._

 _"Will you and Da have a baby?" Julia asked shyly._

 _Kate smiled, though she was blushing slightly, and she told her, "I don't know. We may but not just yet, we'll need to get settled here in Mill Valley first." She looked at the doorway to the dining room as Rick walked through it to them and she said, "She needs to get to bed now."_

 _"I thought so," he replied, stepping up to her. When the little girl held her arms out to him Rick picked her up and once she was settled on his hip he reached for his wife and helped her up before they were making their way to the stairs. He let Kate lead the way to their daughter's room and once they were there he handed the little girl to her. "I'll be right back," he told her before he went down the hall to their bedroom, knowing she was wondering what he was going to do._

 _Kate watched her husband for a moment before she shook herself and took Julia into her room. She got her daughter into her nightgown before she had her brush her teeth before they were going to the bed. "I was just going to call you," she said with a smile as her husband hurried into the room._

 _"I thought she may be ready," Rick said simply. "Come here honey," he directed to their daughter. He picked her up and held her above him, to her squeal, before he took her back into his arms, kissing her temple. "I love you Julia, sweet dreams."_

 _Sharing a smile with her husband as Julia was snuggling against him in response, Kate took the little girl and kissed her temple before she took her to the bed. "I love you too Julia. Sleep tight." She tucked her in firmly and once she was sure the little girl would be warm as she slept she went with Rick out into the hall._

 _"Will she be alright the rest of the night?" he asked her._

 _"She will," Kate assured him. "Are you tired?"_

 _"Very," Rick replied, taking her hand and pulling her over to their room._

 _Stepping through the doorway first, Kate spotted their bed easily and she looked at her husband with a smile saying, "How did you hide the roses?"_

 _"I have magical ways," Rick replied, closing and locking the door behind him while his wife was walking to the bed. He'd placed a vase of roses on her nightstand and had thrown some petals of the bicolored yellow and orange flowers on the bed._

 _Turning to him, Kate wrapped her arms tightly around him and kissed him, feeling his arms around her tightly. When they stopped she tried to press a little closer to him, telling him, "I love you Rick."_

 _"I love you Kate, so much," he told her earnestly. He leaned down a bit and then picked her up to carry her the final steps to their bed before he set her on top of the petals so they could begin to make love._

* * *

"You didn't do that too often," Beckett told her husband when he stopped there. She could easily see in her mind she and Castle making love then and knew they needed a distraction from it before it started to affect them. "I don't care, I'm just stating that," she told him quickly when she realized how he could take it.

Nodding Castle said, "It seemed like the best thing to do that night. Our first night there." He thought for a moment before telling her, "We settled in quickly."  
"We did," Beckett said with a smile. "But we wanted to be married and you wanted to be a father."

"We never talked about kids before you told me you were pregnant," Castle stated after they were silent for a while.

"No, like we were this time," Beckett said with a sigh. "But it didn't take long for us to do that."

"You do make a good point," Castle said, smiling down at her. He felt her hand on his cheek before he leaned down and they kissed, keeping things calm as he knew they could easily start needing each other more than they could control. When they parted he couldn't help himself, kissing her again but keeping it brief before he said, "Don't hate me but I was extremely proud that we were pregnant so fast."

"Us both?" Beckett asked. When her husband nodded rapidly she leaned into him and shared another kiss with him. "You're lucky it's us."

"And I was happy, very happy," Castle said before he was laughing as she playfully pushed at his chest. When they were quiet he sighed and said, "I'm still eager to get to Tahiti."

"I am too," Beckett assured him. "But for now, what about after?"

Castle was about to speak when he stopped himself and then nodded before he began telling her about what they'd done after they'd managed to stop making love that night.

* * *

 _"Rick?"_

 _"Hmm?" he asked, tightening his arm around his wife._

 _"Tomorrow we should decorate the home. We'll come back right after Christmas, but it'll be hard for Julia to see everything bare," Kate told him._

 _"We're lucky we have some things," Rick replied, sitting up to grab the covers for them. "And we'll do that with her."_

 _"Of course," Kate said, smiling at her. When they were under the covers she lay against his side again telling him, "Thank you for the roses."_

 _"Anything for you love," Rick said. He rubbed his hand up and down her back and told her huskily, "You're a Sheba."_

 _"And I'm yours," Kate said, pushing herself up to get on top of him._

 _"Ab-so-lute-ly," Rick replied tossing aside the covers before he sat up and they were coupled yet again._

* * *

Pausing Castle then said, "I didn't recall us doing that until just now."

"I know," Beckett said in amusement. "Don't worry," she then told him as the slightly panicked expression wasn't leaving his face. "We were the same we are now."

Nodding Castle said, "We were. Now we really need to go to sleep."  
"Are you sure?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"Kate-" Castle started to say. When she got off his lap he breathed out heavily and said, "Sorry but this was going to get out of control."

"I realized," Beckett assured him, still smiling at him. She kissed his cheek and then said, "I love you Rick."

Wrapping his arms around her, Castle kissed her deeply as he tried his best not to get too out of control. But it was pointless, and their tongues were soon fighting together before they slowly parted. "I love you Kate," he said seriously as he looked into her eyes. "Goddess," he breathed to her.

Beckett kissed him for that but was able to keep it short before they were parting and she waited for him to lay down. She was about to join him but paused and seeing him looking at her questioningly she told him, "Our clothes."

"For tomorrow?" Castle asked before he realized what she was talking about. "Are you sure?" he said.

"Very," Beckett said, getting off the bed and then pulling off her pajama shirt as fast as she could. Once it was on the floor she removed her pants and panties together and got back under the sheet, her husband joining her a second later. She kissed him as soon as they were pressed together and when they could part she told him, "In the morning."

"I can't wait," Castle told her seriously, smiling when his wife was doing the same to him.

The two shared one more kiss before they made themselves part and then laid down so they could sleep. Since they were nodding off feeling their bodies pressed together it was quick to influence what they saw as they dreamed. It would help them in their intimacy the next morning, their passion nearly explosive. But while the night continued they stayed close as they enjoyed what they saw while they dreamt blissfully of each other.


	23. Loved A Dancer

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Goody Two Shoes_ , written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni and _Waterspout_ by Paul McCartney, an unreleased song.

A/N #2: Really great getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so I'll go straight to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (I was happy to see that you thought the last chapter was great writing as always!),

Mb (Great you enjoyed the first half of the chapter with them at the apples and also the petting zoo. And I'm not surprised you could see the view being amazing though I should have said it's not an actual mill, just looks like one. I'm sure where you are they're real or former mills, lol, but yeah I can see them being breathtaking views all over. It was really great that you think it's good that they can participate in another lockdown. And nice to see you were interested that it was in Mexico City. You're welcome for the first half! Very happy to read that you thought the second half was another fantastic update. And it was great you loved that the kids were helping Skye get her form and steps down for the Samba, I did want to include them too, lol, and have it make sense. I'm not surprised you said the lockdown is more interesting and intense when you watch the footage since I agree, seeing everything besides what you went through makes it more so. I wasn't surprised you thought it was a sad way for Julia to come into the world in the memory. But I am glad you mentioned Kate naming her then and becoming her mother right away. Really pleased to see you thought it was beautifully written. And you're welcome for sharing!) and

Guest (Oh boy, lol, I'm glad that my comment made you wonder so many things but I can't really answer those questions except for saying that Julia's birth mother won't appear in Mexico City, that I can say for sure. But not surprised you think she would try to protect her again or you're wondering if Beckett or Skye would sense her first. But the answer will come up in the future definitely!).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them as always and I'm grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Waterspout_ , the info in the A/N above.

Loved A Dancer

"Are you alright?" was said to Julia's left and she turned her head quickly to find that it was Skye. Smiling she nodded and said, "It's hard to believe I'm going to be dancing here in a little bit."

"I know what you mean," the investigator said with a smile. "Nervous?" Skye asked the girl. When she nodded she smiled and said, "That's normal. I still get nervous myself." She wasn't surprised when Julia looked up at her with her brow furrowed and told her, "I'm not a professional dancer."

"Still," Julia said, smiling at her. She stood up when the investigator did and said, "We're finished?"

"Yeah, time for lunch," Skye said, smiling at the other three kids who were coming over to them across the dance floor. "All set?" she asked them.

"Yep," Peter said first.

"Are we going home? I'm starving," Clive then asked.

Laughing Skye said, "Yes, yes, we're going back now. But I need to speak to… you."

The kids looked at each other before they looked at the dance floor and saw that Derek was walking towards them.

"Same time?" Skye asked when her partner was close enough to hear her.

"Of course," Derek replied. "When do the other three parents get here?" he asked.

Looking at her watch Skye said, "They land at three."

"Alright, I guess Rick and Kate will need to help them," Derek said. "But they'll be let backstage to see you before then."

"Good," Mari said.

"I'm taking them back to eat, so we're heading out now," Skye commented with a slight smile.

"Yeah, we're all hungry," Julia said. After they'd said goodbye to Derek they walked together out to Skye's car where she said, "Why didn't you let Mary come to watch at least?"

"I suppose I just wanted you four to be here," Skye replied, making sure the children were all in their seats with their seatbelts on. Getting into the driver's seat she said, "Plus I wasn't sure if Mary sitting there would make you a bit more anxious."

Julia wanted to say it wouldn't, but she kept quiet as the investigator was backing out of her parking spot and driving to Santa Monica. Since she was sitting diagonally from the woman she studied her and said, "You wanted her to come though."

"Oh, look who's quite observant," Skye said teasingly, smiling when the kids laughed behind her. "And of course I did, but I didn't mind her staying at home. And really I like her being with our kids."

"Did you know you were going to have five kids?" Clive asked from the back of the car.

"No, we thought we'd just have Marie and Kath so Fleur and the twins were quite the surprise," Skye said. She was a little startled when the car was quiet and said, "What's wrong?"

"No, we just want to see our parents," Mari told her.

"And you Julia?" Skye asked.

"I'm fine," the girl said slowly. She wasn't surprised when her friend squeezed her arm and said, "I'll see mine in a little bit."

"Very soon," Skye replied as she was getting off the freeway at that point.

"It's funny it hasn't rained at all while we were here," Mari commented, looking outside the window and up at the cloudless blue sky.

"It won't for a time," Skye replied. "It would be back at your home wouldn't it?"

"Yeah but not all the time," Peter said. They were quiet again as the investigator needed to navigate through some traffic and he then said, "Are you going to have a party in five days?"

"A party for what?" Julia asked in confusion as he'd asked her.

"Your sister, she's going to be half a year old," Peter pointed out.

Julia laughed softly and shook her head saying, "My parents won't do anything until her first birthday."

"What did you do for Eliza's?" Clive asked her.

"It was just us," Julia said. "Our friends in the Hamptons and from the city too. But it wasn't anything that big, she was only a year old and could barely talk and walk and everything."

"When's she gonna crawl around?" Clive asked.

"She'll start doing that soon," Skye commented, turning onto the street where her home was. "But she'll do it on her own time. And now we can have some lunch."

Julia was relieved when they pulled down the driveway and then got out of the car. She waved at her mother, as she was coming over to them, and said, "Hi," once she had reached her and she'd taken her bag that held her practice clothes.

"Hello, how was it?" Beckett said, kissing the top of her head.

"Fun," Julia replied.

"But we had to do our steps over and over," Mari said.

"The cameras need to get the best shots," Beckett said in amusement as she wasn't surprised the four looked a bit annoyed at what the girl had said.

"I told them the same but…" Skye said as they were walking together over to the house. She glanced ahead of them and asked, "Where's everyone?"

"Inside, putting the last touches on lunch," Beckett said.

"There're just sandwiches right?" Skye asked, as she, her wife and their friends had discussed what they'd make.

"They are but there was a change to the original plans," Beckett explained.

"Mary," Skye muttered.

"She made it grilled cheese and tomato soup," Beckett explained. "Your dad's in the kitchen making the tomato soup."

"Alright, let's get in and eat because right now I'm starving too," Skye said.

Beckett smiled when the kids laughed and wrapped her arm around Julia's shoulder, hoping the girl wouldn't find out she'd been jealous of her friend for sharing that moment with her daughter. Her thoughts were shaken when Julia hugged her, and she looked down at her as she said, "I missed you Mom." She smiled and said, "I missed you too," she told her, hugging her before they disappeared inside to join everyone else for lunch.

* * *

"Come on, give that back Josie," Castle said to the baby.

"She's preparing to teethe Rick I don't think you're getting that back," Beckett said in amusement as their daughter had the foam shape to her mouth.

"Yeah, looks like it's happening soon," Castle said pulling the item from her and then quickly picking her up so she couldn't start crying. He cradled her in his arms and then blew gently on her cheek, hearing her laugh before he handed her to her mother. "Are you okay?" he then said to his wife.

"I am," Beckett said in amusement.

"I saw how she was when you were nursing her," Castle said seriously.

"It's alright," Beckett replied firmly. She then spoke in Irish telling him, " _But it's getting close to the point where I'll start to wean her_."

" _She's doing the same as_ Eliza?" Castle replied.

Nodding Beckett said, " _I expected it_."

Castle then smiled and said, " _Bittersweet_?"

" _Of course, but it was painful the first time I tried when_ Eliza _had her teeth_ ," Beckett said, shrugging.

Castle didn't say anything to that, merely nodded to her as he knew she couldn't really brush it off as she was trying to do. But since her experience had been as painful as it was he'd urged her to stop nursing and after her doctor had told her the same she'd done so. He was glad she wasn't going to think she could continue but he reminded himself to make sure she would be alright. He had been so deep in thought that he was startled when he noticed she was looking at him. "What?" he asked her, frowning slightly.

"You were a hundred miles away… thousands," Beckett asked with a smile. "Tahiti?" she said.

" _No, just, thinking about you_ ," Castle replied, speaking in Irish. When she looked at him with a slight frown he said seriously, " _Really. I just want you to be okay when you stop_."

" _I won't be exactly_ ," Beckett said simply. " _But I promise you I'll stop_."

" _Thank you_ ," Castle said, though he was speaking slightly apologetically.

" _It's okay_ ," Beckett said gently before they leaned into each other and started to kiss. It was gentle, but they started to linger until their baby's hand was nearly grasping at her jaw and they parted with a laugh as it moved to tap against Castle's.

"Good thing," he said, not surprised when his wife looked at him in surprise. He nodded over to the entry and then watched together as their middle two daughters walked over to them. "No more P.E.?" he asked them jokingly.

Wrinkling her nose playfully at him, since she and her friends didn't have to do that with their rehearsal that morning and dance that night, Julia said, "We wanted to see Josa."

"Not much to see," Castle said, speaking absently as he was trying to hold Josie firmly since the baby was kicking.

Eliza giggled as she went over to her sister and squeezed her foot gently before the baby was laughing. She took her from their father and kissed her cheek before she asked, "What was she playing before?"

"Nothing really," Beckett said. "We let her play with her shapes she has, as usual."

"Maybe we can play with the dogs with her," Julia said with a smile.

"How?" Beckett asked.

"Help her to throw the toys," Eliza said, bouncing on her knees a little and hearing the baby make a gurgling sound.

"Why don't you throw the toys so she can watch?" Castle asked her.

"Kay," Eliza said. "Watch the doggies Josie," she told the baby, kissing her temple before she let Beckett take her.

"There's not much she can do," Julia said once she and her sister had gotten some toys for the dogs.

"I know, but she's a little too small to be throwing anything," Beckett said.

"I'm afraid of her putting her hand in her mouth after touching those toys," Castle commented.

"We touch them," Eliza said, throwing the toy she had and watching the dogs go together before JoJo was first.

"But you're not putting your hands in your mouth," Beckett pointed out with a smile.

"At least I hope not," Castle said in amusement.

Julia shook her head and then took her turn as some of the dogs were coming back to them. She turned to her mother, and seeing that Josie's eyes were wide, said, "She can see better now?"

"She can," Beckett replied. "She's nearly at the same eyesight we have."

"Already?" Eliza asked. "She's still so little."

"She's growing though," Castle said, watching with the girls as Beckett put the baby down in front of her to help her sit up. "A lot," he said with a smile.

"Yeah," Julia said though she needed to turn her attention to the dogs as they were coming to her for the toy she was holding. She then threw it and was going to ask her parents if she could throw a toy while holding her baby sister when her father was speaking first.

"Skye said you were asking about Josie," Castle said. "When you were driving on your way back."

"Well, not me too much," Julia said. "Clive was asking mostly, but Peter wondered too… I guess since they don't have a brother or sister themselves." She thought for a moment to ask her parents if they thought her friends would ever have siblings but stopped herself at the last minute when her sister squealed as Rose was licking at her chin.

"Rosie!" Eliza cried happily before she laughed and hugged the Deerhound tightly.

"How much more time is there Mom?" Julia asked as she recalled it was getting later in the afternoon.

"We need to go soon," Beckett said, checking her watch. She then smiled and said, "And we're going to be going with Skye and Mary."

"Really?" Julia asked.

"You four need to be ready early too," Castle reminded her.

"I know… I didn't think it was that early," Julia explained.

"Go," Castle told his wife. "You'll have to help."

"And you Rick," Beckett said, looking over to the entry where her father was walking to them. "The boys will need your help."

"Sure," Castle said, as he hadn't been all that sure if he would need to go with them.

Once Josie was with Jim, Beckett kissed Eliza and then the baby before they were going to the guest house to change while Julia stayed with the others. Though she wasn't sure if it was the best idea, they went into the shower together. Luckily her husband kept himself under control though through his touch she knew that he was struggling. She didn't comment on it, as they needed to hurry, and she dressed in the bathroom while her husband was in the bedroom. Walking out she saw her husband standing from the bed and she asked, "Did you just finish?"

Castle wasn't speaking for a moment, just staring at his wife as she made her way to the armchair with her shoes. When she looked at him he exhaled roughly and then said, "Yeah… you look amazing."

Smiling Beckett said, "Thank you, but we need to go," slipping her feet into her black heels. "Now."

When he had reached her, Castle took his wife's hand before she could go down the stairs and carefully pulled her up against him. "Just this," he said as she started to open her mouth to speak.

Though she didn't want the kids to be that late, Beckett responded to his kiss as soon as his lips were on hers and wrapped her arms around him tightly. They were slow and sensuous, and when she felt the way her husband was holding her back she stopped him. "Rick we…" she started to say before she licked at her lower lip briefly.

"I love you," Castle said firmly.

"I love you too," Beckett replied with a smile before he could continue. "And yes, when we're back."

"I didn't want to ask," Castle said. He took her brief kiss when she gave it to him before he said, "But I was hoping you might want to as well."

"I do, but not now," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband ran his hand down her side and said, "I was hesitant," smiling when he looked confused.

"Wh- oh, I don't think you need to worry," Castle told her, studying the lace that was her dress. "The lace on your other dress is different… and a different blue."

"Rick," Beckett said, making him tilt his head up by putting her fingers under his chin. "Don't do that once we leave," she added as he'd been looking at her cleavage though there wasn't much.

"I won't," Castle said, following her down the stairs. He was surprised when she stopped him and asked, "What is it?"

"Why were you looking?" Beckett asked him.

"If I could touch them I'd show you," Castle replied swiftly.

"Pervert," Beckett told him.

"I still want you," Castle said simply. He smiled when she leaned against him and met her kiss before they soon parted. "Good."

"Don't be so sure," Beckett said wryly, knowing he was jokingly saying he knew she agreed with him. She was startled when he took her right hand and she was soon after biting at her lower lip as he kissed at her palm and then her wrist. "We… we need to go," she told him.

Castle leaned over, kissing his wife tenderly before he opened the door for her and they went out into the yard where they met with everyone gathering by the cars. He wasn't taken aback by the fact that their good byes were quick, and he and Beckett were soon getting into their car with their daughter and Mari as the boys were going with the other couple. He was driving, and he and his wife were listening to the girls talking together, hearing them whispering. When they were near the studio he frowned as they continued to do so and he was about to ask them what was wrong when he felt Beckett's hand on his arm.

"Girls?" she said, looking into the backseat. "Are you talking about your dance?"

"Yeah, we're saying our steps," Julia answered.

"Why are you whispering though?" Castle asked.

"So you won't hear," Mari said.

"It'll be a surprise, don't worry," Beckett told them in amusement as she looked back at them again.

"I know," Julia said, not surprised when Mari nodded next to her. She looked out the window as she saw her father was slowing down and she breathed out saying, "It's time."

"Easy you two," Beckett told them as it wasn't hard to hear Mari sighing at the same time. "We have a lot of time until the show starts so we can take it easy," she said before they started to get out of the car.

"They're all barmy," Skye said with a soft laugh.

"Does that really apply?" Beckett said in amusement.

"It does," Skye said. "Barmy with nervousness," she added. "But they'll do well… though not sure how many more times we can tell them."

"You'll have to once they go backstage," Castle commented.

"Did our families land yet?" Clive asked.

"They did," Skye said, looking at her phone. "Two minutes ago, but they have time until the show." She looked at the three kids and smiled slightly saying, "We'll be allowing them backstage though, I know you wouldn't be happy until you saw them." She shared a smile with the other two when the three gasped at nearly the same time and then said, "Come on, we have a lot to do to get to before we head out into the ballroom." She and Mary followed Castle and Beckett who were walking after the kids into the backstage area where they split up and went to separate dressing rooms so the five of them could change.

"That looks good right?" Julia asked her mother once they were in their dressing room and she and Mari had gotten their costumes from the garment bags they'd been hanging in.

"They look beautiful," Beckett said reassuringly and with a smile. "Do either of you want to go behind the screen?"

"We can change here," Julia said.

"Yeah," Mari said rapidly. "That way you can help us if we need it Kate."

"Go ahead and start," Beckett said with a smile. She folded their clothes hurriedly, so she could make sure they were getting the costumes on correctly. "You two look like you're ready for school," she said with a smile, making sure Julia's skirt was straight. "Are you comfortable with your shorts?" she asked them since they were wearing them under the skirts.

"Yeah, I'll spin but I don't care if anyone sees that," Julia said.

"I know," Beckett said with a slight laugh. "Okay, I'll have to do your hair in turns so Mari you're first."

"Do you know how to?" Julia asked her.

"Derek told me," Beckett answered. "Though he said it was Skye's suggestion."

"We talked about it earlier this morning," Mari said before she realized something and then shared a look with her friend.

"Why did you talk to Derek?" Julia asked curiously.

"We wanted everyone to sit in the front row tonight," Beckett said.

"The parents?" Mari guessed.

"Yes," Beckett replied as she helped the girl sit in the chair at the vanity. "We're not all going to be in the front, but we'll be across from the judge's desk like we were last week."

"We're staying backstage for the whole show," Julia said, watching her mother brushing Mari's hair.

"We know, your parents know Mari," Beckett directed to the girl in front of her. "And Clive and Peter's parents know."

"Everyone's really nice to us," the girl said, shivering when Beckett used the end of the comb she had to part her hair. "Sorry," she giggled. "That tickles."

"I know," Beckett replied. "And everyone was the last time you were there?"

"Yep," Julia said as her mother started to braid the pigtails in Mari's hair. "I don't know if they really think we can dance that well."

"You'll show them tonight," Beckett pointed out to her with a smile.

"I know, I can't wait," Julia said. She waited patiently until her mother had finished with Mari and then got up into the chair where her hair was braided in the same way. "Cool," she said.

"Where are your fake glasses?" Beckett asked her.

"I… I don't know," Julia said as she looked around the room as she was off the chair. "Um… I guess I'll have to ask Derek when we see him."

"That's your dad," Beckett said when there was a knock at the door. She smiled at the girls and told them, "And time for you to get your makeup done." She let Julia go first and she and Mari stepped out to find it was her husband and the two boys before the four started to speak eagerly to each other.

"Oh," Peter eventually said. "Your glasses were with mine in the dressing room," he told his partner as he handed them to her.

"Thanks," Julia said, putting the pair into the pocket of her uniform blazer she was wearing. She and Mary had matching costumes, a school uniform with a white blouse, dark blue blazer with the crest of the 'school' on it and blue and white plaid pleated skirts that went a few inches below their knees. "I wondered if you were going to wear plaid too," she told the two boys.

"I did too," Peter said with a smile. "Luckily it's not too much," he said since the uniform that he and Clive were wearing only had plaid along the piping of the lapels of the blazers. Besides that, and the fact they were wearing trousers, their costumes nearly matched the two girls' in color and style and he said, "They almost look like our uniforms back at the Academy."

"Yeah," Clive began. "But you guys have different uniforms now."

"Hello everyone," Skye said as she was walking down the hall with Mary.

"That's your costume?" Beckett asked her.

"Not the Samba," the investigator replied hurriedly. "Theirs."

"Are you going to be at the beginning," Castle said.

"We told you," Skye replied, dressed in what looked like a graduation robe though she was wearing a woman's cut suit under it in a charcoal color.

"So we're in school in England?" Julia asked in amusement since they hadn't known how she and Derek would have costumes.

"Essentially," another voice said. Derek smiled when the group turned to him almost as once and he said, "I feel like I'm in a Monty Python sketch," holding the side of his robe that was identical to Skye's.

"Or movie," Castle couldn't help commenting.

"Or that," Skye said laughingly. She asked, "I'm guessing it's time for makeup?"

"Wait," Beckett said suddenly.

Castle looked at his wife next to him and seeing she was looking past the kids, followed her gaze. "Guys," he said to three of them.

Turning with her friends, Julia smiled when she saw their families there and watched with the others while they ran down the hall towards them. They were soon hugging each other and she went to her mother, wrapping her arm around her waist before she said, "I'm glad they made it before they had to sit."

"So are we," Castle told her, squeezing her shoulder.

"We are so glad to be here," Genevieve was saying after she and her son had let go of each other.

"We are," Rebecca said, smoothing her hand over the back of Mari's head. "You did a good job."

"We're going to be chased out of here soon," Beckett said, smiling as she knew the woman didn't mind she'd done her daughter's hair.

"That's why we were literally running," Isaac said. "Even if we're only here for a few seconds." He looked closer at his son and said, "Let me take care of this."

"He wouldn't let me," Castle said.

"I knew you'd come in time Dad," Clive said as his father was fixing his tie.

"I'm really glad I did now," Isaac said in amusement. "Okay, I'm guessing you two are taking them?"

"We are," Skye said with a nod. "But they'll see you after the elimination." She watched with her wife as the parents hugged their parents one last time and then said to Mary, " _Grá_ I think it's your turn."

Hugging her wife as tightly as she could, Mary said, "Have fun waiting."

"I will," Skye said in amusement. She shared a swift kiss with her wife and then said, "Go on." She wasn't surprised when her wife hugged her tight one more time before she let go and walked away from them. Turning with Derek to the four kids, she couldn't help smiling as they seemed to be looking at them with wide eyes and was about to speak when Julia was doing that first.

"Did Stella give you that?" the girl said.

"Give me what?" Skye replied as she and Derek were ushering the kids to the makeup room.

"Your suit," Julia explained.

"She did, it's a new cut," Skye said. "So she wanted to see how it looked on TV."

"It looks nice," Mari told her.

"Thank you," Skye said before she got them to the room finally and they could get worked on for the show.

"If we dance more," Peter said as he and Clive were watching the girls getting makeup last. "Will we have to do this all the time?"

"Just like me," Skye said.

"But you wear makeup… don't you?" Clive asked, his voice hesitating at the end.

"I do," Skye replied with a smile. "Not that much but I do. Luckily here I can get away with only a little too."

"Like my mom," Julia said.

"Mine too," Mari said, getting off the chair with a wide smile.

"Mine too but it's uncomfortable," Peter commented as they were leaving the room.

"I know but luckily you've only got pancake on," Derek told him.

"How do you do it?" Peter asked.

Julia smiled at the question, as she knew her partner was thinking of if they continued dancing when they were older and in competitions, and she joked, "You have to learn."

"You get used to it," Derek said with a smile as they were making their way up to the Sky Box. "Now you guys will have to stay up here," he told them once the kids had hurried out to the railing.

"And your parents will be watching you," Skye told them. "But we have a bit of time, so we'll stay here."

Julia smiled at the investigator before she looked down at everyone that was dancing and easily spotting her parents together before she began to frown. She was about to turn to Skye when she jumped a bit and looked at her friend who'd touched her arm.

"What's wrong?" Mari asked her.

Turning fully Julia saw that the investigator was back a little talking to Derek and she waited for her to look towards her before she waved her over asking, "Do you know if my mom's dress is by Stella?"

A little surprised, Skye peered down at the dance floor and then said, "I don't think so, but I wouldn't know for sure. Why didn't you ask Mari?"

"I don't know either," the girl herself said quickly.

"You'll have to ask her mother yourself," Skye said with a smile. She heard Derek calling to her and she said to the four kids quickly, "Stay here and we'll be right back."

"When are you dancing?" Clive asked the pair as they were walking to the other side of the box.

"Second to last," Derek said. "You'll dance after Gerry and Tristan, but we'll let you know."

Watching them leave, the four kids turned to look back down at the dance floor to find that it had emptied out. They spotted their families waving to them and they responded before the show was starting soon after.

"She's alright," Castle murmured to his wife while the intro was beginning.

"I know," Beckett said with a smile before the couples were coming out onto the dance floor. She then realized something as she watched Skye and Derek step out and she murmured, "They're going to confuse everyone," since the other pairs were dressed for Latin Night and the two were very conservatively attired.

"What are they wearing for the Samba?" Castle asked Mary who was to his wife's right.

"I don't know, but it won't be like what the other women are wearing," the doctor replied.

Beckett smiled at that, as the dance floor was clearing while the intro to Oliver and Peta's dance was playing. She glanced up at the Sky Box again, trying not to laugh when she saw the kids were practicing, getting Castle's attention before they needed to watch the first dance.

* * *

"How are they going to introduce us?" Julia asked Skye as they were walking to the dance floor just before the show was going to commercial again.

"You'll find out," the investigator said.

"You don't know how?" Mari said.

"Not really, something about your class," Skye replied. "Derek?"

"Tom's going to say that you asked for them to have some exhibition dances, joke about giving the troupe a break," the pro said.

"They won't mind, will they?" Clive asked.

"No, they were told and they're fine with it," Derek assured the kids. "And they'll have a lot of chances to dance."

"Remember everything he's told you," Skye said to the kids as they walked directly to the dance floor. "And you do know it already so just enjoy your dance." When they were at the chalkboard and desks that had been set up in the middle she watched as the kids rushed to their families, hugging their parents tightly while she and Derek waited for them.

"Break a leg sweetie," Beckett said as Julia was hugging her last. She let her go as Derek was calling to the kids and she took her husband's hand tightly while they watched their daughter sit at one of the desks. When she heard one of the crew members counting down she shared a look with Castle and they braced themselves as Tom was beginning to speak.

"We have a special performance tonight and to give our troupe of dancers a break," the co-host said before he paused as there was some laughter from the audience. "Representing the Grey Dance Studio from Long Island, New York are some familiar faces. You might recognize them from Skye and Derek's Salsa three weeks ago and they're here at her invitation."

Castle smiled as the pair waved from behind Tom and listened to the co-host continue by introducing the four kids again.

"And they're dancing the Jive tonight," the co-host was saying. "There'll be no judging, a pure exhibition dance Len." He had to pause as the audience was laughing as the judge in the middle of was raising his arms though he was smiling at the same time. "So take it away."

"Detention class," Skye was saying, walking back and forth once someone from the crew had pointed to her. "You are here for the afternoon, so you should get started on your homework that you forgot to do that brought you here to this room in the first place." When the four pretended to grumble she hit the first desk with a yard stick saying firmly, "And be quiet!"

When they were pretending to write Derek walked over and said, "Professor? The dean would like to speak with you."

"Very well," Skye said, looking at the kids again. "Alright you lot, stay where you are and do not get into any shenanigans." And with that she walked into the shadows that were around the desk, turning to stand with Derek facing the kids that were starting to talk with each other.

"What should we do?" Clive asked, nudging Peter in the side.

"Not homework," the boy replied, reaching into his blazer.

"Is that your phone?" Mari asked.

"Yep, ready?" Peter asked the other three.

"Play it," Julia said, getting up quickly from her desk. She focused on the phone as Derek had told her she should do, even though her heart was pounding heavily in her chest. When music began she began to bounce a little on her feet; not what Derek had told her to do but she couldn't help it; and then she grabbed Peter's hand before he was giving his phone to Clive.

The pair, at the first verse, immediately began their kicks and flicks until the second to last lyric where Mari ran over with a tissue and playfully dabbed at their cheeks before she stepped back. As soon as she had, Clive slid up to her before he wrapped his arm around her waist and Peter was doing the same with Julia while they did some kicks and flicks to the first two lyrics of the second verse. At the third line they were facing each other and dancing together before the boys helped the two girls slide between their legs and they helped them back up. As they were standing and then turning; still holding onto their partner's arms; Julia and Mari kicked out their legs.

 _With the heartbreak open  
So much you can't hide  
Put on a little makeup, makeup  
Make sure they get your good side, good side_

 _If the words unspoken  
Get stuck in your throat  
Send a treasure token, token  
Write it on a pound note, pound note_

In a line, the four kids began to do more kicks and flicks over the two lyrics of the chorus until they were splitting up and moving to dance to the next verse.

 _Goody two, goody two, goody goody two shoes  
Goody two, goody two, goody goody two shoes_

On the first lyric of the verse, Peter was spinning Julia while Clive was doing the same with Mari in the opposite direction. When they stopped they hooked their arms together and then began to dance around in circles while they were doing just kicks. The last two lyrics the two pairs slid away from each other and then went to the dancer next to them.

 _Look out or they'll tell you  
You're a superstar  
Two weeks and you're an all time legend  
I think the games have gone much too far_

Julia and Mari were dancing on their own for the first half of the verse, switching between their hands that were holding each other while they did a few kicks and flicks. Peter and Clive grabbed them a second later and they were soon dancing together again, making their way back towards the desks since they were getting to the last verse.

 _If the words unspoken  
Get stuck in your throat  
Send a treasure token, token  
Write it on a pound not, pound note_

With a little bit of an instrumental at that moment, the two pairs began to go faster as the music was speeding up. Just before the last verse the boys helped the girls slide down between their legs and that time turned them around while they were coming back up. After the girls kicked out their left and right legs they were getting back into kicks and flicks again, much faster as the music stuck with its slightly sped up tempo until the very last lyric and the kids were running to the desks. There was a last bit of music and at that all four put their heads on their desks as Skye walked in quickly.

 _He said no drink, don't smoke, what do you do?  
Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?  
Subtle innuendos follow  
There must be something inside_

Beckett stood with her husband and the rest of the group as soon as they were sure the music was over, and she smiled as Julia stood up with the other kids, looking around in surprise. She waved when the girl looked over towards them and blew her a quick kiss as Skye and Derek were ushering the four to the judge's table.

"Now," Tom said. "You're not being judged, but they wanted to say a few words to you four."

Julia suddenly became nervous, even more than she'd been before, but she turned her attention with the other three to the three at the table in front of them.

"We'll start with you Len, I think they'd want to hear from our British judge first," Tom said.

"Well, they just came from their professors," Len replied, smiling when the kids did so slightly. "Now don't worry," he told the four. "You have fantastic footwork. Your teacher is back home, isn't she?" When they all nodded he said, "I think she should be proud of you, especially for learning these moves at your ages. Eleven and ten?" The four nodded again and he said, "Wonderful job."

"Alright, Carrie-Ann?" Tom said to them.

"I was pleasantly surprised," the woman said, smiling at the kids. "I was told you've been dancing for a while, but I didn't expect you to obviously enjoy it so much."

"We like the song," Julia suddenly said, feeling her cheeks heat up as soon as she'd spoken.

"I could tell," Carrie-Ann said to that with a laugh. "And Len was right, you have good footwork and you were watching your posture, some kids have trouble with that. Good job."

"And some last comments Bruno?" Tom asked the man.

"Oh, well I agree with them," he said. "You've paid close attention to your choreographer which is always important. And Julia?" When the girl looked at him with wide eyes he said with a smile, "You wanted to start the dance a little early didn't you?"

"I was ready to start," Julia replied, blushing deeply.

"I could tell," Bruno said with a laugh. "And that helped you. Wonderful dance all of you."

"Alright next…" Tom started to say before he trailed off. "Why don't you guys read this," he told them.

"There?" Peter asked, indicating the teleprompter.

"Go ahead," Tom said with a nod.

"Next is actor Eddie Izzard and Emma Slater, dancing the Rumba," the four read off the prompter together. "Eddie!" they called, turning to him.

Castle wasn't surprised that the co-host was laughing as he read the rest of his intro for the next pair to dance and as it began to play he was relieved when the kids were running across to them. He watched as Julia went straight into her mother's arms, smiling as it hadn't surprised him she'd done that. He then kissed the back of the girl's head saying, "You were perfect."

"Thanks," Julia said with a soft laugh before she pulled away to look at them both. She laughed outright when her parents kissed her cheeks at the same time and said, "We really did that good?"

"The judges wouldn't lie kiddo," Martha said in the next row.

Though she had to get on her father's lap, Julia hugged her grandparents before she went to her little sister who'd been waiting. "Did you like it?" she asked when they finally let go of each other.

"Yeah," Eliza said before she heard Mari calling to her big sister since they needed to get off the dance floor. "Do you have to wear glasses like Daddy now?"

"No," Julia said with a laugh. "I'll see you after!" she called before she was running to the stairs up to the Sky Box. She went to her friends as soon as she was there, leaning against the railing next to Tristan and the photojournalist to watch Eddie and Emma's dance. "Did he do well?" she asked the pro with them when they'd finished.

"I think so," Tristan said with a smile. "But he did lead with the wrong foot one time."

"Oh… hopefully his score will be good still," Clive said as the actor and his partner were talking to the judges then.

Peter turned to his friends, murmuring to them until they all nodded to each other just as the audience was beginning to applaud. They went together towards the stairs, waiting until Eddie had come up to the top and they hugged him or held onto his hands, telling him at the same time that he'd done great.

"Well, I think you have some young fans here," Erin was saying.

"I call them the little imps," Eddie said with a laugh. "I suppose they're alright with that title."

Letting go of him, the kids went over to where Skye and Derek had entered the Sky Box after changing into their outfits for the Samba. They all felt more relaxed since the dance was over, but Julia murmured to them that they didn't know what everyone else would think of it yet. Sharing a nervous glance, they turned their attention back to the dance floor as there was another introduction playing, trying to remember they still had the Samba to come.

* * *

"I almost forgot that we had to change," Julia was telling her mother.

"I think we all did," Beckett said with a smile. "Luckily Derek reminded us."

"Yeah, what do you think?" Julia asked eagerly, turning around once.

"I wasn't expecting this," Beckett said. "But you do look very tropical."

"It doesn't look weird?" Mari asked, coming from behind the screen with her mother.

"No, it's tropical but you're still properly dressed," Rebecca commented.

"Do you mean we aren't naked?" Mari said to her mother in confusion.

"Wearing less than you should," Beckett told her.

"Oh, yeah I'm glad we aren't too," Mari said, laughing when Julia wrapped her arms around her.

"Me too," the girl said with a smile. They hugged one more time and then went to look at themselves in the mirror. They were wearing dresses that had ruffles at every hem and the pattern of the fabric was of palm fronds. Julia looked at her mother and said, "They wear less in Brazil, don't they?"

"Sometimes they do, but not everyone," Beckett replied. "Now I'm really wondering what Skye's wearing."

"Me too, we should head out though, they are ready," Rebecca said. "I'm surprised you're still wearing pigtails."

"Skye said they would work for this dance too," Julia told them.

"Okay, then we can go…" Rebecca commented. "Wow, nice boys," she said.

"Thanks, I want to go to Brazil now," Clive said, he and Peter wearing white trousers and polo shirts that had palm fronds that matched the girls' dress pattern.

"You'll stay here," Isaac told his son though he was smiling down at him. He then squeezed his shoulder and said, "What about Skye and Derek."

"We're here," the investigator said.

"Oh, you finally took off that weird coat," Castle said, walking to his wife and daughter from the other end of the hall. He hugged Julia and said, "It's almost time."

" _No wise ass remarks_?" Skye asked in Irish.

"Not really," Castle said simply and in English.

"Alright, let's go," Skye told the kids.

After they'd said goodbye to the kids, Beckett walked with her husband and said, "I'm not surprised she's wearing what she is."

"I know," Castle said in slight amusement.

"She wanted something comfortable," Mary said in amusement when she saw the way Castle and Beckett were looking at her. "But I didn't design it."

"Stella?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head Mary said, "Skye worked with the costume people here."

"They did a good job," Beckett said, smiling as she thought of the outfit the pair had. They had on white pants and long-sleeved tops that went to their ankles with a pattern of waves. Skye's top hugged her body slightly while Derek had had the neck of his opened a little. She squeezed her husband's hand as they sat down and were able to listen to the end of Elijah and Lindsay's scoring before the show was going to commercial after Skye, Derek and the four kids were dancing around together on the dance floor.

"She looks adorable," Jim said to his daughter while he leaned over to speak to her.

"I know," Beckett said, smiling back at him. She felt Eliza coming to her and turned to say, "What's wrong sweetie?"

"Are they going to dance next?" the little girl said hopefully.

"Yes, but your sister won't be dancing really," Beckett told her.

"She's just there for the beginning and end," Castle said.

"Oh… but she does dance a little," Eliza said.

"That's true," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"Sit in your chair sweetie," Beckett told her, squeezing her hand.

"I can't sit here?" Eliza asked pleadingly.

"They want you to sit in your chair okay?" Castle said. "Come on," he then said with a little more urgency as he could hear one of the crew members counting down.

With the show back on again Tom said, "Welcome back. Next on our dance floor tonight is Skye and Derek, dancing a Samba that she has been ready to try out."

The large screen at the end of the dance floor showed Skye and Derek together in one of the studios where he was telling her what they'd gotten to dance to.

"Ah, grand song that," Skye was saying. "I've sung this one before actually."

"Haven't you sung to everything?" Mary; sitting on a chair in that room; said.

"And you," Skye said jokingly.

Beckett smiled as the audience was laughing while the footage showed the pro helping the investigator with her dancing.

"I've always been interested in this dance," Skye was saying in a voice over. "I think because I've wanted to try out Samba rolls, and now I can do them."

"I'm really hoping that Skye's height won't hinder us at all," Derek was saying to the camera in another studio.

"I'm not that tall," Skye said wryly as she came up behind her partner. "We'll do them. Come 'ead, we need to get started."

"Help!" Derek said jokingly as she pulled him off the screen.

It changed to the pro speaking while the pair were practicing with him saying, "Luckily Skye's enthusiastic so we're able to do those rolls. The other steps however we've gotta work on. But with her love of the song and that dedication, we'll do well."

The footage ended then with Skye completing a step correctly and she and Derek exchanging a high five before they were laughing together before the footage stopped. On the dance floor the pair were in front of a set of false rustic homes, the kids chasing each other around in front of the two while they were leaning against the 'walls' right before the announcer was saying their names and dance.

"Dancing the Samba, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough," the man said before Skye was starting to speak.

" _Não brinque na rua_ ," the investigator said, the translation of don't play in the street appearing on the screen behind her. She then switched to English and said, "You'll miss the parade if you're in it."

Beckett shared a look with her husband at that, but she looked back to the dance floor as Derek was playing an acoustic guitar. She smiled as Skye stood up and went to the fountain in between her and Derek, getting some water in a pitcher before the music started for the song. She smiled when the kids paired off and danced in front of Skye and Derek and the two walked out to get them back to the buildings before they turned to one another as they nearly ran into each other.

At the first lyric Derek took Skye's hand and spun her before they danced together, with their feet appearing to twist while they were moving. She held her breath; as it was that move that had given her the most trouble; but she made it to the third lyric and they began to move down the dance floor in the opposite direction. They were moving back and forth with their steps until they finished the verse and they were separating to let the kids go in between them.

 _Daddy loved a dancer, though she never gave an answer  
He used to follow her all about  
Still, she couldn't shake him, she didn't seem to make her mind up  
Till he took her to the waterspout_

At the next verse Skye and Derek danced a few basic Samba steps across from one another with the kids flanking them before they were coming back together. The second and third lyrics they were remaining in place, swinging their legs out in turn before Derek was spinning Skye and holding her against his chest.

 _Love comes in, love comes out  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout  
Whoa, whoa, whoa love comes in, love comes out  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout_

The first lyric had Skye leaning back into Derek while he raised her arm and they went into their Samba roll, spinning around twice more before they were swinging their legs as they were dancing until the second to last lyric of the chorus. There they went across the dance floor with their move of going across by moving their feet so they appeared to twist. That time though Skye was raising her arm every other time they completed a step and they did that four times before they were coming towards the end of the song.

 _Only love can get you at it and in a minute  
You will find yourself swimming in it, only love  
Catch you up today, take your breath away  
Make you want to say what you're thinking of, it's only love  
Down at the bottom, down at the bottom of the waterspout  
Love comes in, love comes out  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout_

Castle and Beckett looked at each other in surprise when the kids were dancing with Skye and Derek, as they hadn't known they were going to do that. They squeezed each other's hands while they watched their daughter perform the roll and pivot that had been in Jennifer and Derek's Samba they'd made a mistake on. They were both holding their breaths for any mistakes as in season 11, but all three pairs were going into the same move of swinging their legs until they parted at the judges' table and the kids stood there together while Skye and Derek soon got to the chorus that would end their dance.

 _Said love comes in, she said love comes out  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout  
Whoa, whoa, whoa love comes in, love comes out  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout_

Beginning another Samba roll with the first lyric, Skye and Derek did that twice more before they were moving back to the building façades by twisting their feet again. After they had stopped in front of them they swung their legs before they stopped, and the song's volume went down though the chorus was still going.

 _Only love can get you at it and in a minute  
You will find yourself swimming in it, only love  
Take your breath away, catch you up today  
Make you want to say what you're thinking of, it's only love  
Down at the bottom, down at the bottom of the water of the waterspout  
Whoa, only love  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout  
Well, love comes in, said, love comes out  
Down at the bottom, down at the bottom of the waterspout  
Whoa, whoa, whoa love la, la, la, la love comes out  
At the bottom, at the bottom of the waterspout_

Cupping her hands over her mouth Skye yelled out, " _É Carnaval_!"

Beckett was laughing slightly as the kids hurried over with some troupe members following; dressed in more elaborate costumes; and they all started to dance a Brazilian Samba together for a short period of time to different music until streamers shot out across the stage. She stood and applauded as Skye and Derek were hugging each other and then doing the same to the kids and troupe members.

Hugging the kids last, Skye and Derek pulled the four with them over to the judge's table and they were standing with the four in front of them as the co-host said, "A very… enthusiastic Samba. Let's hear from you first Bruno."

"Hey, it's Carnival!" the judge said, standing up. "You embraced that fully and you were set on those moves. There was an issue with your steps from the last Samba roll nothing that would look wrong, but I noticed you had to correct yourself quickly." Bruno saw that Skye was nodding and he said, "You realized that. But what you did do very well were the Samba rolls themselves. I can tell you wanted to do that," laughing as the investigator was nodding again. "But very nicely done, and you four as well."

"Len?" Tom said to the judge in the middle.

"I think you enjoyed this dance," he said at first. "But I wonder if your little story didn't cause the correction." He looked around as some of the audience members started to boo and he said, "I can't ignore that."

"They enjoyed the story," Skye said quickly. "But you're right."

"Overall it was a good solid Samba, Derek you had some very nice choreography," Len continued. "And very good dancing from the children as well."  
Beckett smiled, as she could dimly hear the four saying thank you to the judge, and she looked at Carrie-Ann as the judge was speaking next.

"I actually really enjoyed the story," the woman said with a slight laugh. "And I'm guessing you know how to speak Portuguese." When Skye nodded Carrie-Ann continued saying, "I did notice the steps you needed to adjust but it was so minor that I don't think it took away from the dance. And you kids are very cute, I hope you'll come back. Good job everyone."

"Let's go ahead and get your scores here," Tom said. "We've got just one more dance to go."

The dramatic music began, and the announcer was soon saying, "Will the judges reveal their scores." A second later he was speaking again and saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Nine," the woman said, holding up the paddle.

"Len Goodman," the announcer then said.

"Nine," he said quickly, smiling when the kids cried out loudly.

Skye and Derek were hugging each other tightly before they turned back to hear Bruno's score as the announcer said his name.

"Nine!" the Italian judge said loudly.

"That gives you a twenty-seven out of thirty," Tom said. "And I can tell you now…" he started to say before he turned to the audience and did his best to quiet them. When they were relatively silent he said, "You are safe."

Throwing her arms around her partner, Skye realized there were loud cries next to them and they looked down at the kids to find they were waiting to hug her. Since the show had gone to commercial she sent them to their parents, telling them to head up to the Sky Box when they were finished.

"Good?" Derek asked as they hurried to the stairs.

"Yeah, great we got a good score and got through," Skye said with a smile. "I'm just hoping they can too." She wasn't surprised when Derek nodded, and they stepped into the box, heading to the railing to watch the very last dance of the night before they would learn who would be going home next.


	24. Loved A Dancer (Part 2)

"I'm so sad Gerry and Tristan were voted off," Mari said to Julia as they were with their partners, parents and Mary in a studio for practice.

"I know," she replied with a nod. "But at least Skye and Derek are still going to dance."

"And so are you," the pro said as he walked into the room with his partner. He smiled when the kids and parents looked at him and told them, "People have been commenting on you guys too and the show says with this response you can stick around for good."

"After only one dance?" Peter said in surprise.

"After just one," Skye said. "I talked with the heads of the show too and the comments were positive. And he didn't mention it but there were some that were asking you back as well."

"Cool so… what're you dancing?" Clive asked.

"You guys first since your dance will be before ours in the episode," Derek replied. "And no envelope this time, next week there will be. Parents, it's the Viennese Waltz to the song _Loveliest Thing_ by Paul McCartney."

Covering her mouth with her hands after a squeak had left it, Julia laughed quickly and then told everyone, "I know that song." Something came to her then and she said, "Wait, the lyrics-"

"I chose the song," Skye interrupted her. "And with that I chose it because of the music, not the lyrics. I'm not trying to say you two pairs are in love with each other."

"Oh good, I'm glad they think that," Castle commented as the kids were making sounds of disgust in response to that.

After they'd all stopped laughing Derek said, "Do you four know more of the dance besides the basic steps?"

"Yeah, we've practiced that a little bit," Julia said. "But we don't know them for sure…"

"That's why I'm helping you guys," Derek replied.

"What is it Mari?" Skye said to the girl that had raised her hand.

"Tom said it was Destination Night next week," she replied. "But… us?"

"In this case I'm telling the costume designers to have you dress in authentic Viennese ballroom gowns," Derek said.

"Um, what does that mean we're going to wear?" Clive asked.

"Tuxedoes," Derek replied. "I expected that," he said to the parents when the two boys were groaning loudly.

"I think we all did," Beckett said. "Is there a chance they'll be able to change after?"

"That brings us to our dance I believe," Skye said, smiling as Derek was going over to the envelope that was on the chair against the wall. She was surprised when he opened it and took out the paper inside, handing it to her without a word before Julia was speaking eagerly.

"What is it?" the girl said so eagerly that she was jumping up and down.

Laughing Skye said, "It's the Foxtrot," before she stopped there.

"What song?" the four kids said at the same time though they were joking and laughing soon after with the adults.

" _You Belong to Me_ , Ringo's version," Skye said, looking at Julia and Mari.

"We danced that while she sang it," Mari said first.

"While we were in Japan," Julia added.

"Great, so you two are aware of the music," Derek said.

"We learned to dance to it too," Julia said. "For a competition but Ms. Grey didn't really like the song so we used another one."

"That's alright," Derek said. "I'm not going to be using the dance, I'll get us fresh steps since we need to do something about the destination theme next week."

"Is everyone else doing a dance themed to a location?" Skye asked her partner.

"Did you think of something already _grá_?" Mary asked her wife.

"Is she right?" Derek said, looking at her.

"An overall theme of traveling," Skye replied. "And we're the parents to our four children." She saw her partner was about to speak when she said with a smile, "You were about to say something about four children being a lot weren't you?"

"Your five aren't here," Derek said. "But I'm not sure if we can include them in the dance."

"I was thinking the same myself… to a degree," Skye said.

"Should you just say what you've thought of?" Genevieve asked slowly.

"She's right, this is really confusing," Isaac added.

"Sorry, I'm thinking this out," Skye explained. "I would say have us in front of a railing, as if we were on a ship. They're on either side of us before we 'teach' them the steps before the music begins and we dance together."

"I like that," Peter said. "But it's not going to be the _Titanic_ movie is?"

"No," Derek said with a laugh. "We're going to be dressed in khaki to go with the traveling of course."

"Ah, Stella gets a break again," Skye replied. "Can you figure something out with that?"

"I'm already thinking that but first we need you to get the basic steps," Derek told her.

"We know that already," Mary said.

" _Will and Grace_?" Beckett asked her.

"Yeah," Mary replied with a slight laugh, about to speak when Derek was first.

"I know the episode you're talking about," the dancer said. "And we'll start with it and go from there."

Nodding, Skye went with her partner to the middle of the room before they started to dance the box step. Since she and her wife had watched the episode of the show with two characters dancing that she picked it up faster than she thought she would.

"Perfect," Derek told her after he had them go through the steps one last time. "Now we can build from there and I should have told you before-"

"You needed to listen to both songs?" Skye interrupted.

Smiling when the kids laughed softly, Derek shook his head and then told her, "No, the dance may seem like the waltz but they're separate."

"I know but watch I don't start dancing like we did for our waltz," Skye said. "But seriously, listen to the songs."

"I'll start with yours first," Derek said to the kids. "If you want to dance at all feel free to okay? I'd like to see if you come up with anything."

"Sure," Julia and Peter said at the same time.

"You two don't have to do anything if you don't want to," Derek was telling Mari and Clive. "But don't be afraid to show us anything that comes to mind." When the two nodded, smiling to his relief, he said, "Alright, here we go."

While the song was playing, Castle took his wife's hand and they watched the kids listening. He wasn't surprised when their daughter and her partner started to dance only after a couple lyrics, watching Derek looking at their moves closely. He smiled, squeezing Beckett's hand as he was relieved for Julia's sake that she was finally going to get to do something she had always wanted to as the music continued.

* * *

"Better?" Mary asked with a smile as she looked up at her wife walking out of the bathroom.

"Oh of course," Skye replied. "Slightly easier dance," she added before she sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her hair dry. "Though _grá_?"

"What?" Mary said in surprise at how serious her wife was being.

"My leg," Skye confessed.

"Oh… Rose why didn't you mention it?" Mary asked. She got up off the bed and said, "Have you told Derek about it?"

"He knows but…" Skye started to say.

"You didn't mention what happened today," Mary commented as she paused where she was. "And you didn't say how bad it was."

"Sore," Skye said honestly. "But nothing that serious." She watched her wife nod and then disappear into the bathroom before she was removing her robe. "I don't think there's much I can do tonight _grá_ ," she told her wife when she was walking back into the room.

"I wasn't expecting it," Mary said reassuringly though she couldn't help admiring her wife's body as she was naked under the robe. She sat next to her and told the investigator, "Plus you need to sleep after I do this."

"I will," Skye said, yawning. "I'm just tired _grá_ ," she said defensively when she saw the way her wife was looking at her.

"It's not that late," Mary said. "But," she continued quickly as Skye was opening her mouth. "You do need to get up early and you need to get your rest."

Skye couldn't reply to that, her wife rubbing the medicated crème on her left leg, and she groaned before she said, "I hate you having to do this."

"Don't worry," Mary said with a smile. "It's better I do this than you by yourself." She looked pointedly at her wife and when the investigator groaned and covered her head with her arms she smiled and said, "Now stay still."

Though she knew she could comment on that, Skye let it slide and just waited for her wife to massage the crème over her until she felt it wasn't as stiff and sore as it was before. "Thank you," she told her gratefully as she watched Mary get off the bed. When her wife merely smiled at her she frowned and then pushed herself up, so she was sitting up, not moving as she watched for her to come back.

"Do you want me to get your pajamas?" Mary asked, pausing when she saw her wife still nude on the bed.

Shaking her head, Skye reached out to her and once her wife had taken her hand she pulled her onto the bed. As soon as she was on her knees next to her she wrapped her arms around her and kissed her deeply before her wife was responding. She caressed her hair before they had to stop for some air and she said, "You did want something," studying her closely before the doctor groaned and bowed her head.

" _I do… I was watching your hips_ ," Mary told her honestly, speaking in Japanese. " _They're tantalizing_."

Laughing, since her wife had switched to French since she knew Mary loved that last word in that language, Skye cupped her face in her hands and said, "I'm glad, it means they worked for that dance." She wasn't surprised when her wife kissed her tenderly and she responded eagerly before they slowly parted. "Hmm," she said with a smile on her face. "You should have told me."

"You said you were-" Mary began.

" _We can do something quickly_ ," Skye replied, speaking in French herself that time. " _Very_."

"Yes we can," Mary said. They were looking at each other and she thought she might have moved first but wasn't sure as she and her wife were crushing their lips against one another at nearly the same time. After they had finally parted she nuzzled her lips against the investigator's and whispered into her ear.

Shuddering in pleasure at what her wife told her, Skye nodded rapidly and then watched her getting off the bed. She could feel her arousal rising while Mary began to undress, loving that she affected her with so simple an act as she was getting her clothes off. "I thought I saw those," she told her teasingly as her wife climbed back on with her.

"Yes, I know," Mary said in mock annoyance as her nipples were erect. She lost that tone of voice as her wife cupped her breasts with her hands, using her fingers to gently twist the nubs while she was moaning in pleasure. She pressed the mounds against her palms and told her, "We need to hurry."

"We do," Skye said, knowing that her wife had forgotten about them sleeping and she genuinely wanted her to go quickly. She moved her right hand then and reached down her wife's body, caressing her until she brushed her fingertips against her clit. Hearing Mary crying out, she pushed on her back gently and waited for her to straddle her legs to give her better access. She was going to pleasure her again when her wife grabbed her hand and stopped her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," Mary replied easily. She leaned over her and had her sit up a little more until she could fix some pillows behind her back. Once she was sure her wife was set she sat back up on her knees and then told her, "Watch."

Nodding, though she was a little surprised her wife wanted that instead, Skye looked on while she was rubbing at her clit herself. She shifted a bit, affected by the sight of her wife pleasuring herself, and she soon reached up to help her before Mary was stopping her by holding her hand still to her surprise.

"Here," the doctor told her wife, moving it down between her legs. She was pleased when Skye quickly slipped her fingers inside of her and as she began to move on them she moaned while her wife was watching her.

Skye wrapped her arm around her wife, placing her hand on the small of her back to hold her. She did her best to reach up with her thumb, rubbing her clit to push Mary a little more until sometime later she could feel her faltering in her thrusts. While her wife was going through her orgasm she was biting at her lower lip, her own sex throbbing though nothing was directly stimulating it. After Mary had stopped moving she carefully withdrew her fingers as her wife moved to sit on her knees next to her.

"Thank you," Mary told her as she kissed her temple lovingly. "I really should have done that for you first though."

Shaking her head Skye replied, "My leg needed some time."

"How is it?" Mary asked.

"Good," Skye said as she was moving it a bit to test it. "So-" she started to say before her wife was crushing her lips against hers. Even with as passionate as that kiss was, she still was able to realize when her wife made her lay down.

"Is there anything you want?" Mary asked. When her wife shook her head, she smiled and leaned down, kissing her gently on the lips before she got up. She then reached down and started to rub Skye's clit, watching her closely while she was reacting to her. She did that for a while, and then moved to lay in between her wife's legs to begin pleasuring her with her mouth. She was a bit concerned about her left leg, but her wife was making sounds of delight instead of pain, so she continued.

Writhing on the mattress, Skye reached down to her wife's head and tangled her fingers through her hair so she could cup the back of her head. She arched her hips up against Mary's mouth, feeling soon after her wife's fingers going down to her clit and she was letting out heavy cries. She lost all track of time as the endless pleasure through her body was distracting her and she was a little startled when her orgasm hit her and strong while she was calling Mary's name. she had no idea how long she was going through that, only aware when it fully stopped. "Oh… _grá_ ," she said, reaching for her wife to pull her up to her.

As they kissed, Mary ran her hand over her wife's abdomen and when she pulled away she told her, "Good?"

"Yes," Skye said simply before she pulled her down to her for another kiss. After they had parted again she said, "More?"

Brushing her lips against her wife's, Mary shook her head and told her, "You need some sleep. You're getting up early."

Sighing Skye waited for Mary to lay down with her and once she was she quickly wrapped her arms around her saying, "I'm not staying all day though."

"We'll see how your leg is," Mary replied simply. She laughed when her wife playfully attacked her neck before she pulled away slowly. "Alright."

"Oh… not much protest there," Skye said teasingly. They smiled at each other before she leaned down, kissing her deeply on the lips. Their tongues rolled together a few times before she was pulling away and saying, "I love you _grá_."

"I love you too Skye," Mary replied. "Come on, sleep," she told her, pulling her down to her.

The two women covered themselves with the bed sheet and relaxed, closing their eyes but pressing their bodies close so they wouldn't lose their touch as they fell asleep together.

* * *

Watching her hair tumble past her shoulders, Castle couldn't stop himself from grabbing his wife and pulling her to him from behind. He buried his face into her locks and murmured, "You're so fucking gorgeous."

Biting at her lower lip for a moment, Beckett turned around carefully so her husband would let go of her and she could wrap her arms around his neck. " _Bhí mé ag iarraidh ort gach oíche_ ," she told him, speaking against his lips. She wasn't surprised when his grip tightened on her; as she'd told him she'd wanted him all night; and after they had kissed she then said, "We have all night."

"We do," Castle said, staring into her eyes. " _Beidh mé ag adhradh duit_ ," he told her seriously.

Smiling, as her husband had told her the phrase I will worship you, Beckett was about to respond when he was suddenly kissing her. She moaned deeply as he was passionate immediately and she did her best to respond to it though it took her a moment to match his fervency. She could feel his hands roaming around on her back and she pressed a little closer to his chest in response to that. When he moved to kiss at her neck she sighed, reaching up to cup the back of his neck with her hand until he was going back up to her lips. "Rick… please," she whispered.

Castle's response to that was to kiss her again, doing so sensuously and slowly as he was touching her again. He did his best to avoid her breasts and forced himself to by cupping her ass gently just before they parted. He smiled at her as she leaned against him slightly and he asked, "Okay?"

"Yes," Beckett replied, putting her hands on the back of his head and kissing him as hard as she could. They were grasping at one another at that point, rough in their touch until they were taking a brief gasp of air and starting over again. She could feel her lips were growing swollen from the force, but she didn't stop until they absolutely had to.

Though he knew he needed to tell his wife what he was going to do, Castle reached for the zipper on her back and tugged it down firmly before he stopped quickly to check her reaction. When she let go of him to start unbuttoning his shirt, he moved his hands to help her by getting his blazer off. He pulled his shirt out from his trousers and said, "Who's first?"

Beckett smiled and said, "I think you." She wasn't surprised when he was looking at her questioningly and she told him, "I have less on."

Castle pretended to think that over before he nodded and said, "Okay."

"You should have just said it right away," Beckett said wryly. But before her husband could respond to that she was unbuttoning his shirt as fast as she could without ripping any of them off. Once it was opened fully she slid her hands underneath the fabric, pushing it off his shoulders before she allowed him to take it off himself. She smiled and said, "You have a lot more."

"I won't now," Castle said before he paused.

"What?" Beckett said as he was looking at her.

"I just want to make sure; am I doing this by myself?" Castle asked her.

Beckett's reply was to incline her head slightly and she watched him finish undressing which didn't take long. She had a moment to give his erection an appreciative glace before he was reaching around her, unzipping her dress fully. She stepped out of it, wondering if he minded caring for the dress so studiously as he was completely naked. But he was draping it on the dresser and coming back to her swiftly, so she wrapped her arms around him, not surprised when he was picking her up. Her heels had come off the second they'd come to the top of the stairs into the bedroom and she only had one item left to remove before he was reaching for it.

"I know you can do this yourself, but I can't wait," Castle said, slightly desperately as he'd caught a glimpse of how her arousal was darkening the fabric at her sex.

"Easy," Beckett replied, taking hold of his hands. She smiled when he stopped and she pushed herself up on her hands, kissing him tenderly before they pulled away. Laying back down, she raised her hips, watching him remove her panties carefully before they were going to the floor next to the bed. She reached for her husband when he turned back to her and she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him hungrily before he was moving to lay on top of her enough so their hips were pressed together.

"What do you want my love?" Castle asked when they stopped, a little breathless.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, Beckett pressed on the small of his back with her heels until he was shifting slightly. She gasped as he slid into her body, and once he'd stopped she told him, "Not like this though."

"How?" Castle asked quickly as he knew what she meant immediately. He took her left leg that she raised up, moving down slightly so she could drape it over his shoulder. After it was set she squeezed her muscles around his length, making him groan heavily before he made his first thrust. As he was doing that he realized he should have asked her again what she wanted, but with her short gasp of pleasure he had his answer already. He proceeded to set up his rhythm, a fast and rough one that he knew wasn't going to last that long, but she was obviously enjoying it and he wished she could move a little easier as he could tell she was struggling to thrust with him.

Beckett was enjoying how deep he was getting but she was becoming more and more dissatisfied with him so far away from her. She grabbed his arms, though doing so with his right arm was a little harder with her leg in the way, and a moment later he was thrusting hard. She cried out once before he was moving so he could get her leg down and she wrapped it around his waist instantly. The second she pulled him down to her he was kissing her and a moment later he was thrusting again. She was eager when he was fucking her again and she started to use his body for leverage so she could move as well.

Groaning heavily in pleasure as his wife was thrusting enough so their hips were slapping together loudly, Castle did his best to move even faster against her. He could feel his muscles screaming with the effort and realized that they were dangerously close to it becoming a quickie. With that in mind he stopped and gasped out, "Too… fast…"

"No," Beckett told him tenderly, caressing the back of his head. "It's what I want." She wasn't surprised when he looked at her in shock and she told him, "It is, we can do more if we're this fast."

Castle breathed out hard against his wife's shoulder before he then kissed her skin and said, "It's what you want…" When her response was to simply nod he kissed her on the lips and then began thrusting as hard as he could as he had been before. They had to part shortly after and when they had it allowed him to focus on his thrusts. He knew she wouldn't want him to stop, so he did his best not to do that though he suddenly did. He breathed out heavily and apologized and said, "I need to…"

"Don't worry," Beckett assured him though she was straining herself in frustration. "You've been… thrusting very hard." She smiled slightly when he nodded rapidly, and she told him, "This is alright. For now."

Shuddering heavily Castle said, "You're a fucking vixen."

"Because I want you," Beckett told him firmly. She watched him pull away so he looked down at her and told him firmly, "I still do."

"I won't stop," Castle said in a firm promise before he leaned down and kissed her again. After he had pulled away he made sure her arms were wrapped around his neck and began to move once again. He was going rapidly immediately once more, breathing heavily as he stared at his wife, wanting to watch her as he pushed them both to the edge. When he was feeling her moving with him he started to waver but soon made sure the two of them were thrusting together easily. It took a bit to do that, so it allowed their lovemaking to last long, but it wasn't very long as they were both being affected by their pleasure and he groaned, "Love… are you…?"

"Yes!" Beckett cried out heavily, her nails starting to rake over his back. She threw her head back hard and was feeling the waves of joy rushing through her. She finally broke fully and started to chant her husband's name, her ecstasy nearly making her scream it. She could feel him shortly after joining her and she was nearly pushed over the edge again at the sensation. She wasn't sure if they stopped at the same time but feeling him still above her eventually she held onto him tightly, kissing at the side of his head. "Rick…" she murmured into his ear. "That was incredible."

"It was," Castle breathed out heavily. He pulled away slightly and said, "But I'm making love to you next."

Beckett was about to tell him he didn't need to do that when her husband was suddenly thrusting. She gasped and held onto him, not too startled feeling that he was aroused again, and because he was going so slowly she could feel it rising rapidly in herself. She did her best to move with him again until they were orgasming and when they had calmed down she held him to her tightly. "I know why you did that," she said.

"No you don't," Castle said in mock self-defense. He smiled when she laughed and leaned down to kiss her hungrily before he was withdrawing from her carefully to lay next to her. Wrapping his arm around her he said, "It's more than just sex."

"Of course," Beckett said seriously before she smiled as she turned to him and told him, "And you wanted me again."

"Of course I did," Castle replied. He hissed out his next breath when his wife wrapped her hand around his erection and said, "Yes, there's… there's proof," stammering as she was rubbing her fingertip around the very tip of him.

"I can't touch?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"Yes… yes you can but," Castle started to say before he pulled her hand away carefully. "I'm going to literally explode if you do that."  
"Pervert," Beckett said simply before she waited for him to lay on his back. She got on top of him and tracing her fingers over his lips said, "We can do that in a little bit."

"Am I doing the same to you or are we just working on me?" Castle said slowly.

"Whatever you want," Beckett said, biting her lower lip. She let out a soft laugh when her husband turned her onto her back and she wrapped her arms around him tightly before their lips were meeting. She caressed his hair after they started and shortly after ran her nails over her scalp. She wasn't surprised when he shuddered immediately and pulled away, making her say, "Too much?" though she was eager to do that again.

"No," Castle said quickly. "I do enjoy that but…"

"You want me to rest?" Beckett guessed smiling. She kissed him as he nodded and told him, "I appreciate that. But if things get to be too much you need to tell me, and I'll tell you if it's the same for me."

"Okay," Castle said simply. When his wife touched his shoulder, he moved so he was on his back again and wrapped his arms around her to hold her against him. He caressed her hair since he had the chance for that, but shortly after he was running his fingers through the locks. After doing that for a while he was slowing down until he could feel her moving, making him look up at her before she was giving him a lingering kiss and then telling him what she was thinking at that moment.

"Grab your phone," Beckett told him. Once he had she opened the internet and was tapping on the screen until she said, "We've never looked at these for long."

Raising his head, Castle's eyes widened when he saw the woodcut on the screen of a pair coupled in sex and he said, " _I Modi_?"

"It is," Beckett replied with a smile at his expression. "Keep looking."

"What happened to that rest?" Castle said, his voice a little distorted as she had swiped to the left and the next picture in the manual appeared.

"We still can," Beckett said, not surprised when her husband suddenly sat up and kissed her, wrapping his free arm around her tightly and pulling her to him. After they had parted she remained sitting up as he got enough pillows propped up for them to lean back against. She watched him swipe through each picture and she said when he'd reached the last, "Not arousing?"

"It is but some are a little… oddly drawn," Castle replied. He closed his phone and put it back before he said, "We enjoyed the one of Ovid and Corinna the most."

"We did, and we did try them all," Beckett said. She turned so she could partially lay on him saying, "But I'd prefer just looking this time around."

Castle nodded before he reached up, running his fingers through her hair and telling her, "What's a little disappointing is we only had the… sixteen or so positions."

"We'd improvise our own," Beckett said with a smile. She watched him think that over before he breathed out hard and she said, "It was fun, but I think I was the same as I am now."

"You preferred me on top," Castle stated. He was finding it hard to breathe again as his wife was smiling at him with half-lidded eyes and his hand on the small of her back clutched at her.

"You were a big six," Beckett murmured. She leaned over and kissed him, shivering as both his hands grasped her back and then proceeded to rub it while their tongues were doing so to each other. When she pulled away she studied him and said, "You still are." Though it was exactly what she wanted, she couldn't help letting out a slight gasp when he rolled her onto her back. She quickly recovered, wrapping her arms around him securely as they were kissing, passionately, once more.

When he had pulled away from her, Castle went to her neck, kissing at it until he moved back fully to look at her. "I adore you," he breathed, staring into her eyes intently.

"I feel the same about you," Beckett replied, reaching up to brush her fingertips along his chin. "Show me," she told him. She watched him interestedly as he moved so they were both on their sides and they could reach one another. "At the same time?" she asked him.

Castle thought about that for a moment and then told her, "I didn't want to do it too quickly. It's not a rest," he told her swiftly before she could speak. "More that we can take our time with it."

"Alright," Beckett said with a smile as she knew they'd done that in their past life as well. They'd done it a few times in their current lives but not as often as before, though she suddenly felt the desire to that time. She had her arm underneath his neck but with her free hand she reached to place it on his hip. She rubbed it gently and said, "How much sleep would we get when we used to do this?"

"I don't know," Castle said in slight amusement. He leaned over to kiss her, and when they parted said, "Not much but we didn't start doing it until the kids were older." He kissed her again, wanting to get the subject off their children while they were in their state of undress. He caressed her tongue sensuously and continuously until they had to breathe and he told her, "But we enjoyed it."

"I'm not sure how we wouldn't," Beckett said, smiling for a moment. She leaned into him and kissed him that time, but unlike her husband she was more passionate, and they were fighting in her mouth in their tongues for some time before they parted and she tilted her head back. He attacked her neck for a moment before she was begging him with a roughly spoken, "Touch me Rick."

Castle knew immediately what his wife wanted, but instead of going to her breasts he moved to her side, running his hand down it firmly. Since there was only the sound of their breathing, they could both hear his skin sliding over hers and he felt his member throb once. He was freezing for a moment, wondering if his wife had been able to tell what it had done as her hand curled around his length. "Kate…" he breathed out heavily in pleasure at her touch though she was only holding him. He carefully moved so he could cup her sex and he shuddered hard telling her, "You're so hot… and wet…"

Biting at her lower lip, Beckett only did that for a moment before he was kissing her and hard. She parted her lips to his tongue immediately and moaned as they were gently touching one another, just barely moving their fingers and hands. When they stopped kissing eventually they kept their hands still and she told him, "I wonder if we'll really be able to hold out that long doing this."

"I know," Castle said. "But you realize we were quick sometimes. One time we nearly took twenty minutes before you dragged me on top of you and I was thrusting out of control."

"It's what I wanted," Beckett said with a smile before they kissed gently. They rubbed at each other carefully while they were doing that, and when they stopped their bodies were trying to press together instinctively. "Rick?" she asked him as they looked at one another.

"Yeah?" Castle asked, nuzzling his nose against hers for a moment. When she didn't respond he pulled away and looked at her, seeing she was biting at her lower lip. Their lips met again shortly after and they were pleasuring each other for some time until they stopped and he followed her while she laid on her back, taking his erection gently so he could enter her shortly after.

Beckett's eyes squeezed shut tightly until she and her husband were coupled, and she pressed her legs the best she could against the outside of his. She was gasping for air as he was thrusting, taken aback by the fact that he was going so slowly. But she was enjoying it immediately and she bit at her lower lip before he was taking them with his own. The kiss matched their pace, slow, but he was a little rough with her tongue which she was greatly enjoying. She started to rub her legs against his and when she heard him grunt against her neck he'd moved to she moved her legs, changing their position every so often until her husband was speeding up.

"Love you…" Castle started to gasp out in pleasure. He took a moment to get his breath back and then said, "You're going to kill me love."

"I know you're… doing the same… to me," Beckett managed to moan out loud as he was moving faster. She placed her feet as flat as they would go on the backs of his knees, using it to move with him and causing their hips to slap louder. She was breathing hard and feeling the friction between their bodies she knew she wasn't going to be able to last. "Rick… I…" she tried to say before she had to stop.

"Come for me love," Castle said firmly. "I told you I would worship you… I'll keep taking you… until you tell me to stop."

Letting out a heavy moan and tilting her head back, Beckett just let herself feel what he was doing to her in that moment. With her feet flat on the sides of his knees, she felt her clit being struck in rapid succession. There was no chance for her to resist and she was nearly screaming for a moment before she cried out to her husband, "I'm coming… Rick don't stop! Oh, fuck me harder… Rick!" She was crying his name again heavily in her ecstasy until he was joining her, making her freeze before she was climaxing a second time to her shock.

Castle wasn't sure how he was able to join her in that second orgasm, but he was, nearly yelling her name into her neck as he felt his heart thudding wildly in his chest. She was making his entire body burn in pleasure and he was sure she could feel how hard his was throbbing in his effort to give her all evidence he could of his desire for her. He wasn't sure how long he still thrust while his wife was limp beneath him but when he gave his last one he was literally shaking from the effort he'd made. "Kate," he breathed against her neck lovingly when he could speak.

"Okay?" Beckett asked with a smile, caressing his hair. She laughed softly when he grunted in response to her and she said, "That was amazing."

"Yeah," Castle breathed, raising his head so he could look down at her. He studied her for a moment and lowered his head so they could kiss one another deeply. When they stopped they parted slowly and he said, "We're going to keep doing that."

"You're so sure," Beckett told him teasingly.

"I am, but I didn't mean we'll do the exact same thing," Castle replied.

Though she didn't want to, Beckett gently pressed her hand to his shoulder so he would withdraw from her. Once he had she sat up with him she wrapped her arms around him tightly before they were kissing deeply. It was a hungry kiss and she could feel her lips growing swollen again before he was moving away from her. She looked on while he was kissing from her collarbone down her shoulder before he pulled away. She became concerned as he stared at her and she cupped his cheek, about to ask if he was okay when he was taking her hand firmly.

Pressing his lips to his wife's palm, Castle leaned over and took her lips, kissing her deeply before he then laid her down gently again. They were continuing to kiss in that position before he pulled away and said, "You looked stunning tonight."

Running her hands over his back Beckett told him, "You looked amazing."

"There's only so much I can do with a suit," Castle commented. He jerked against her when she suddenly grabbed his ass and said, "Okay, thank you."

Beckett laughed softly and then said, "I wasn't doing that to make you agree with me."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked.

"I'm sure," Beckett said. She realized then that her husband was holding himself still and asked, "What is it?"

"If you want to… hit me feel free to," Castle said slowly.

"Why did you hesitate?" Beckett asked.

"I don't know," Castle groaned, pressing his face into her shoulder. He felt her caressing his hair and he sighed saying, "Maybe we need another rest."

"I'll slap you after," Beckett said, watching him shuddering in pleasure. She moved to his side as he lay on his back and said, "We need to go back tomorrow."

"We have plenty of time," Castle told his wife hurriedly as he knew what she was thinking about. "But for now, what would you like to do?"

Beckett moved so she was laying on her stomach, to be able to look at him, and she said, "You have something in mind."

"I have a lot of things in mind," Castle replied.

"Pervert," Beckett said, pinching his side lightly. She propped her face on her palm and said, "I wish you would share what those things are with me."

Rubbing his hand over the small of her back Castle said, "You'd be calling me pervert constantly."

"I think I basically do already," Beckett said in amusement.

"That's true," Castle said, nodding his head. He smiled when she did at him and he reached up, tucking some of her hair behind her left ear. "But the most basic thing I want?" he then asked her. "You."

"Funny," Beckett said, brushing her fingers against the hair that was falling on his forehead. "I just want you too."

Castle grabbed his wife so he could kiss her, not surprised when she was there to meet him. When her tongue slipped into his mouth he welcomed it, tangling his own around it before they were dueling. When they'd stopped he pulled away and was going to speak when he moved them, turning so his wife was above him. He wasn't sure how exactly he was able to do it, but he managed to push himself; which meant them both; to the edge of the bed. Placing his feet on the floor he placed his hands on his wife's back telling her, "I love you Kate."

"I love you too Rick," Beckett said. They moved together to help him enter her and once she could feel his length still firm within her she whispered, " _I gcónaí_."

" _I gcónaí_ ," Castle said, immediately echoing her utterance of the word always.

Kissing passionately once more, Castle and Beckett began to make love again as they let their desire for one another take them over. They were sure they wouldn't be stopping for a while, unable to let go of the insatiable need they felt to join everything of each other as much as physically possible. They let go of any sense of time and let themselves accomplish that repeatedly, their world becoming nothing but one another as the night continued.


	25. Those Of Sharpest Mind

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: I just want to note that the park doesn't have the elevator I mention being recently built, I just always thought that it needed it.

A/N #2: I was pleased to get the feedback for the last chapter, so I'll go ahead and get to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Really happy to see that you like when I bring in other characters since I enjoy doing that I lot myself in my stories!) and

Mb (I'm glad to read that you thought the last chapter was nicely done. And I'm really happy you think it's good seeing the kids being included in the dancing. I figured at the very least Skye would be grateful for them, but I suppose I slipped in Derek since it's not all on him with teaching her the steps, lol, at least the basic ones. And I figured since Derek is still in charge the other stars and dancers wouldn't mind plus it's fun having kids around like that, lol, so it was nice to see you were happy about that too! It was great that you loved Castle and Beckett with the kids, along with you being able to feel how much love and passion they have for each other. I wasn't surprised that you loved the fact that the other kids' parents were able to go see their kids on the show. And I definitely had to have them happy and proud for their kids too! Really pleased that you thought the dances the kids and Skye and Derek had sounded fun as well as colorful and happy as I wanted them to be this time around! Happy to read you thought the first half was nicely done. And you're welcome for sharing this first half too! It was great that you thought the second half was wonderfully done. I wasn't surprised you thought it was good that Derek and Skye were safe that week, also that you felt the same about the kids being on the rest of the shows. I'm really happy that you think that Skye and Mary are beautiful together since I love writing them together. And I was really happy that I captured their connection which is full of passion and love as you put it. It was great to see your reaction to Castle and Beckett's love scenes and that you thought they're hot and sensual together and that they can go from hot and hard to sensual and loving as you said. Really pleased that you could feel their total and complete love in their hearts and souls. Definitely Caskett always. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from a song sung by the Sorting Hat in the book _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ which belongs to JK Rowling.

Those Of Sharpest Mind

"This is smaller than we saw before," Eliza commented.

"Do you want to go on my shoulders?" Castle asked her with a smile as he was holding her hand.

Shaking her head Eliza said, "I have to put on my robes Daddy."

"I know but that's not until we get over to the gates," Castle told her. He saw her thinking that over seriously and he picked her up to her cry, placing her on his shoulders.

Beckett smiled at the two before she was turning her attention to Julia and Mari who she was walking with. "You two are so lucky," she told them.

"No school?" Julia asked then.

"And that you get to do this for a third time," Beckett replied. She was smiling again when they looked at each other eagerly, and then said, "Have you told the boys about the wands?"

"Yeah, their mom and dad said they could get one," Julia replied. She thought about what she'd said and then corrected herself saying, "One each."

"Of course," Beckett replied.

"Is it okay if I go with my family?" Mari then said to Julia.

"Yeah, go!" the girl said urgently. She smiled as her friend rushed to her parents and little sister and said, "I'm glad they stayed longer."

"So am I," Beckett replied, squeezing her daughter's hand. She glanced at the other parents, the Fosters, Genevieve and Isaac had managed to arrange to stay longer that week, so they could go with their children to the theme park that day. Thinking of the date, the fourteenth, she let Julia go over to the Fosters while she went to her father who was pushing Josie's stroller. "I'll take it Dad," she told him. "You'll have to push it around the park today."

Nodding, Jim then watched his daughter reach down into the baby's carrier with one hand before she was tickling Josie's neck. He smiled as the baby was smiling back at her mother and he then said, "It feels a little like we've done this before."

"Very close," Skye commented as she stopped at the end of the Citywalk they'd been going through to reach the front gate of the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. "Alright, everyone get your robes on."

"What about everyone else?" Clive asked.

"There," Marie said, pointing to the Universal Studios gift shop that was at the end of the promenade.

"Oh, they got robes!" Julia exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah… he said he was just going to grab a scarf," Skye said.

"Oh, don't give me that look," Derek said jokingly as he reached his partner and they hugged for a moment. "It's a nice day and-"

"I'll take the blame for this," Eddie said, with Derek and his own partner. "I was taken in by these robes."

"You're a Slytherin?" Mary asked with a smile.

"Oh sure… quite cunning I suppose," Eddie replied with a smile before they turned to look at the fourth person that had been with the three of them that cleared his throat.

"I hope you won't mind me joining you," Sasha said.

"Not at all," Skye said first. She was going to speak but had to stop as the others were agreeing with her. She then asked with a smile, "Where's Daisy?"

"Just buying her robes," Derek commented, looking back at the store.

"Hold on," the photojournalist said as she was coming out to them, putting on a Gryffindor robe. "I told you we'd come with."

"Have you all been here before?" Castle couldn't help asking.

"I think I'm the only one who hasn't," Daisy said.

"Where do you live?" Peter couldn't help asking.

"In San Francisco," Daisy replied.

"Mom, we couldn't go there while we're here?" Julia asked suddenly.

"I don't think we'll have the chance," Beckett said gently. "I wish we could go, but we have a lot here right now."

"Speaking of that, we need to get in or we'll lose our hour," Mary told everyone.

Walking together to the security before the entrance, the group went through the metal detectors and once they were all checked out they were making their way to the large gates.

"Is this weird for you?" Julia was asking Emma shyly. "This Harry Potter stuff in America?"

"I'd never really thought about it before," the dancer said with a smile. "But you have a lot of space to put things like this and a lot of people too." Emma then looked down at the girl and asked, "You've been to the one in Florida, haven't you?"

"We went this summer," Mari said as she was walking with them.

"You don't mind going to the same park again?" Eddie asked. When the two girls smiled at each other he said to his partner and Sasha, "I suppose not."

"No, we love the Harry Potter stuff," Mari said first.

"Are you guys going to get wands?" Julia then asked.

"I don't think so," Daisy said. "I probably won't be down here too often."

"You can use our wands if you want," Marie said from in front of them.

"All our wands," Clive commented. He then shared a look with Peter and said, "Once we get ours."

They had reached the entrance and were going through the turnstiles, stopping to take a group picture at the statue past the gates. Once they could go Skye and Mary stopped the other adults, about to ask them how they wanted to go through the park when Beckett was speaking first.

"This is your turn to direct us," she said, smiling when Skye sighed.

"I have to agree," David commented, smiling himself. "This is your park."

Pretending to sputter, Skye then said, "Not our park, but I suppose since we've been here long enough…"

"We should go," Isaac said, looking down at his son.

"Okay, Hogsmeade first," Skye said, looking at the kids herself and noticing they appeared to be growing antsy. She led the way with her wife through the buildings and shops of the Upper Lot section until they came to the plaza and continued to the right of it.

"There it is," Julia said eagerly when she saw the familiar entrance to Hogsmeade. She looked over at Peter and Clive and then remembered the three youngest McDouglases and how they hadn't been there yet. Glancing over towards them she soon saw the older twins were talking to their little sisters, smiling when the three youngest soon responded.

"It's a lot smaller than we saw in Orlando," Marie was saying.

"But it's still really cool," Kathleen added.

"And there are spells," Marie said.

"But not as many as over there," Kathleen added.

"The rides are fun and there are a lot you can go on too," Marie said.

"But we have to go up and down," Kathleen said before she realized they'd stopped walking and it was quiet. "What?" she and her twin said at the same time.

"We know all of that already," Ivy said first.

"You told us that while we went in Orlando," Fleur added.

"But we do want to go on everything," Iris said eagerly.

"I think we should get going now," Mary said, sharing a smile with her wife.

"We have something special first," Skye said, smiling at the two boys.

"Oh! I know what that is!" Eliza said eagerly, squeezing her mother's hand tightly.

"So do I," Beckett replied, gently tugging her with them as they were walking again. She then said to Eddie, who'd ended up next to them, "Are you going to stick with us for the day?"

"I'd like to," the actor replied. "Never really been here before. And it's always fun with the children."

"I'm just here for pictures," Daisy said in amusement when Skye looked at her. "And rides."

"I was waiting for that last bit," the investigator said, smiling. "What do you think?" she said, directing that to everyone who hadn't been in Orlando with her family, the Fosters and the Castles that summer.

"There's snow," Peter said.

"Weird snow," Clive said, trying to fix the hood of his Slytherin robes and then letting his father help him. "But still, it's cool. Is that a candy store?"

Before the kids could start lingering, the parents got them to head over to Ollivander's store where nearly all of them got into a line on the side. The boys; who were the only two who hadn't been to that section of the park before; asked the other kids about what they'd be seeing, but they were soon heading into a room, looking around as an employee started to speak. They then went into another room where there were boxes of wands and their group stood at the front before a man came through a door and began to speak.

Beckett looked at her husband as the man soon called Peter and Clive up to the counter, telling the former to try a wand that was Holly. She smiled when the boy jumped as he waved it and some boxes fell above them into an open space.

"No, no, definitely not the right wand," the worker said, waving his wand and 'fixing' the damage. "Try this, elder with a unicorn hair core."

Peter waved it again and then jumped as he broke something in a shelf above, quickly handing the wand back to the man.

"Not to worry," the worker said, turning behind him again. "Try this, alder wood and with a phoenix feather core," he then said to Clive, handing him the wand. When there was more damage on another shelf, he said, "I wonder…" before he switched the wands the boys were holding

Julia smiled at Kathleen; as the alder one was the same wand that she had; and then watched Peter take the wand before the light shown down on both boys. When the show was over, and they were let out into the wand shop itself, she tried to go to the two to ask them if they liked their wands before she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder.

"They needed to talk to the worker about buying those wands," Beckett told her.

"Oh," Julia said, looking over at Kathleen.

"I don't care," the girl said, shrugging her shoulders. "They said they didn't want someone else's wand from the books."

"I think mine is cool," Clive said as he and Peter had come out to the shop with their parents. He was looking at his own wand which had a skull at the handle and glanced at his friend's which had a snake at the end.

"Even though that was the evil one?" Marie asked him.

"Dumbledore had it," Clive pointed out to her.

After their parents had urged them out of the store Julia said, "We're doing the spells first?"

"We are, and then we'll start out on the rides," Skye said. "Girls?" she said to hers and Mary's older twins.

"We remember," Kathleen said before she and her sister led the way over to the beginning of the spells.

"Are we going in?" Clive asked hopefully as they'd come to Honeydukes and he saw the large Chocolate Frog box in the window display.

"Not yet," Mary said after the two boys' parents were looking at her and her wife. "Your first spell is here."

Standing on the marker on the ground, Marie waved her wand in an R shape saying, " _Revelio_ ," making the lid of the large box rise and reveal the chocolate frog inside. She smiled and then stepped aside so her sister could take a turn, watching Julia usher the two boys to go after Kathleen.

"But Eliza-" Peter started to say.

"I did this already," the little girl said with a smile.

Though he wasn't sure, Clive stepped forward and raised his wand, looking at Julia.

"Make the same shape but not that big," the girl said. "You saw how Marie and Kath did it."

Nodding, the boy turned to the window and waved his wand, grinning widely as the lid of the box raised and he looked to his right to find his father was taking pictures with his phone. "Dad," he groaned.

"I couldn't help it," Isaac replied, putting his hand on his son's shoulder and leading him out of the way of Peter and Genevieve.

"This is cool," the boy said after he had taken his turn.

"There's more," Marie said with a smile.

"I know, I looked at the map that came with my wand," Peter said.

"Me too," Clive added as they were standing together. He looked over at the other kids who were going before he recalled something. "Dad, you didn't get a robe."

"I don't think I really need it," Isaac said slowly.

"No, you should," Peter said. "My mom said she'd get one too."

"You know your house?" Beckett asked the woman.

"I did the quiz last night with him," Genevieve said, nodding to her son. "Ravenclaw."

"I told her she was going to get that," Peter said with a wide smile. "Has your dad ever done that?"

"I have," Isaac said. "And I got…"

"Gryffindor, Dad," Clive said, rolling his eyes as he knew his father was teasing him.

"We can go to _Gladrags_ over there," Skye told the two parents.

"After we get near it," Genevieve said.

"What's the next spell?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Here, at where we're gonna get lunch," Marie said.

"Girls," Mary said.

"What?" the two said at the same time. "We always eat here for lunch," Marie said.

"And I don't think the kids would let us get away with not going there this time," Rebecca said wryly.

"Here," Kathleen said. "The next spell. _Incendio_."

"Go in order of age," Beckett said quickly. "And fast we have a lot of other spells."

"Wait," Julia said suddenly. "You guys didn't get to cast spells yet," she said to their guests.

"Go ahead," Eliza said, going to Emma and holding out her wand.

"Which one is this?" the dancer said with a smile.

"Holly, like Harry Potter had," Eliza replied.

"The shape of the spell is on the ground here," Julia then told the pro. She watched with her sister as the woman cast the triangle shape and they smiled at each other when the lights in the window display turned on.

"Thank you," Emma said with a laugh as the kids were applauding. "Do you want to try?" she asked her husband.

"Not that one," Eliza said before Sasha could take her wand. "Jules."

With a smile, as some of the adults were laughing softly at her sister, Julia handed her want to Sasha saying, "This one's Vine, like Hermione's." She watched with the others as he waved it and she smiled saying, "It's pretty cool."

"It is," Sasha replied. "You four are dancing next week we heard," he commented before he watched the girl blush before she answered.

"Yeah, we're hoping we do well," Julia said.

"Did you want them to practice right now?" Derek asked in amusement as they went over to the next spell.

"No, I'll see them while we're all practicing," Sasha replied. "And this?"

" _Herbivicus_ ," Julia said. She saw the two dancers were looking at her and she took her wand back from Sasha saying, "They have this in Orlando, but it's not the same."

Beckett, having been listening to their conversation, watched as her daughter went over to the window with the other kids. She felt her husband's hand on her back and smiled at him for a moment before she said, "What?"

"We have our wands," Castle reminded her.

"I know, but we should let them have their turns," Beckett said.

"There are a lot of them," Castle said, nodding his head. He watched the purple flower open as Peter was waving his wand at that moment, and he then said, "Think we'll split up?"

"Maybe," Beckett replied. "But we'll have to see how things go."

"You mean how the park is?" Castle asked her. When she nodded he couldn't help it, leaning over and kissing her cheek before he pulled away as they went to _Madam Puddifoot's_.

Stopping in front of the shop Beckett smiled when the kids made the plates in the window there move before making them stop, looking around them and hearing the cries of a ride in the distance. "Do you think it's the same roller coaster in Japan and Orlando?" she asked her husband when she saw he was looking in the same direction.

"I hope so," Castle replied. "That way Eliza can go on it too."

Nodding Beckett stayed with her husband, though she was soon getting the stroller so Josie was with them as they went through the different spells until they'd finished with the last one across from _The Three Broomsticks_. "Rides?" she asked Skye and Mary as the kids were looking at their parents.

"Yes, come on," the former said before she led them to the back of the area where there was the roller coaster and Hogwarts Castle across from it.

"I went on this one," Eliza was telling Fleur eagerly.

"In Japan," Skye told her daughter. "So that means you can go on it as well." She smiled when the little girl took her hand before they were getting into line after making sure Martha was alright with Josie and Dani at a bench near the shops.

Since he was sitting with Marie during the ride, Castle asked at the end of it, "Do you feel weird?"

"Kinda dizzy?" the girl asked. When he nodded she smiled and said, "Mum said it's all pressed together so it's a tight squeeze."

"That would explain it," Castle said with a nod. "Luckily the other ride is a good one."

"Yeah," Marie said with a smile before they were getting off the train.

Castle went to his wife once they were walking across the path to the ride in Hogwarts Castle and said, "Sit with me?"

"Of course," Beckett said with a smile before they were waiting for her father to take the three youngest McDouglas children and Eliza to Martha and the two youngest. She leaned against him while they waited, watching their daughter practicing their Waltz with her friends before they made their way inside to the ride.

* * *

"Luckily we're early enough," Skye commented as she sat down at the table she and her family were sharing.

"Very early," Mary said with a smile.

"How crowded does it get?" Derek asked the two women.

"Very," Skye said. "There's a reason the line inside is fairly long and winding."

"The food is good though," Kathleen was saying.

"Dessert is too," Marie quipped with a smile.

"Ah, don't be thinking about that sweetling," Skye told her, playfully pinching her cheek. "We have to eat first."

"Here it comes," Beckett said, spotting the others coming over to them with the food they'd ordered. She glanced at the girls and said, "Stop drinking your pumpkin juice, you need to save it for your food."

Though she didn't want to, Julia set aside her cup and waited until she had her plate of bangers and mash to take another sip of the juice. She started cutting her first sausage and ate it with the mashed potatoes before saying to Mari who she was sitting next to, "This has been so cool."

"I know, it's fun," the girl was saying, looking across the table at the older McDouglas twins. "It doesn't matter how many spells you can do," Mari added.

"You went to Florida," Kathleen said. "We were hoping you'd still like here."

"Yeah," Mari added. "And we haven't gone to everything yet."

"We only went on two rides," Peter commented as the older kids had been allowed to sit together at a table. "There is more right?"

"There are," Marie said with a nod. "And we can go around now to walk."

"Cool," Clive said.

"There are things to see," Kathleen said before she recalled something. "Mum, Mom, what about the shows?"

"Hmm, we need to ask everyone else," Skye said, thinking that over. "There are just three, but they take time of course."

"What are they?" Isaac asked.

"The WaterWorld one," Mary said. "Girls," she told them as the twins were wrinkling their noses.

"They don't like it all that much," Skye commented. "And we're a bit tired of it, we've seen it so often of course. Then there's the animal actor one-"

"We like that one," Kathleen interrupted.

"And a special effects one," Mary finished, glancing at the twins.

"I think the animal actors show would be better," Genevieve said. "Since I think we all like animals."

"I don't mind. Pictures," Daisy said.

"I'd like to see it," Sasha said.

Seeing the dancer's wife nodding, Skye smiled and said, "Alright, we'll go there after lunch and then go to the main attraction of this park. The reason the park is here."

Castle bit at the side of his mouth as the kids; except for the older McDouglas twins; clamored with questions about what that reason was. Finally he told them, "Guys, they're not going to let us know until we go to it. So let's wait until we finish and see the show before we get to that point."

Beckett squeezed her husband's hand as the kids finally went back to their food and returned to her own meal. She had an idea of what Skye was talking about, but didn't say anything, wanting hers and Castle's daughters to be surprised as she finished the last of her pumpkin juice.

* * *

"Can we teach our doggies to do that stuff?" Eliza asked her mother.

"I don't think so sweetie," Beckett said, squeezing her hand while they were walking away from the outdoor theater for the animal actors show. "They're a little too big for some of those tricks."

"Yeah," Eliza said after she had thought that over. "What are we gonna do now?"

"That!" Fleur said, pointing ahead of them.

" _The Studio Tour_?" Peter asked, reading the sign for it.

"This is what the park started out with," Skye said with a smile.

"Do they still film stuff here?" Mari asked.

"They do, but the shows are for NBC," Derek commented. When the kids looked at him he said, "In case you were wondering why we weren't being filmed for the show."  
"Can you be here?" Clive asked.

Laughing briefly Sasha said, "Of course, but again, we're not being filmed."

"I don't know if you'll want the baby to go on this," Skye said to Castle and Beckett. "There are thematic things and noises… fire."

"Who would stay though?" Castle asked though he was looking at his wife.

"No, she's right we can't take a five-month-old for that," Beckett said.

"There isn't a height limit Mom," Julia said.

Shaking her head Beckett was about to say that she could remain with the baby when her father was speaking first to her surprise.

"I'll stay," Jim was saying.

"But Grandpapa, you should get to see it too!" Julia said, her little sister agreeing with her.

"Dad?" Skye said when she suddenly noticed him in the distance, walking from the entrance. "You made it!"

"I did," the man said, having been planning to join them though later as he'd had a meeting with a pilot's association from Britain in the city that morning. "And you're about to head on the tour?"

"We are, are you coming?" Marie asked with a slight frown.

"Is anyone watching the baby?" Liam asked.

"I will, you can go with your granddaughters," Jim said with a smile, though Eliza was holding his hand tightly.

"I won't," Liam replied. "I've never enjoyed this tour and I promised the girls I'd join them on any other ride."

"The minions," Fleur said with a giggle.

"Thank you," Jim told the man.

"You're very welcome, I hope you'll enjoy it," Liam said. "Girls?" he said to his granddaughters. "The rest of the park."

Smiling as all the kids were laughing at the man's exaggerated voice and widened eyes, Beckett took Julia's hand before they made their way over to the sign for the tour. They reached a railing and she wasn't surprised to hear the exclamation from the kids that hadn't been there before Skye was speaking quickly.

"We're on a hill, if you couldn't guess," the investigator was saying with a smile. "And we need to go down."

"It's cool, but…" Kathleen started to say before she looked at her mothers.

"We'll show them," Mary said reassuringly. When they headed over to some escalators she said, "Liam will be pushing Josie around."

"We knew," Beckett said with a smile. "He's done that at the Promenade."

"And it's fine," Castle said, speaking absently as he was looking down at his robes to make sure they were alright while they were on the escalator.

"Are we gonna be in the movies Mummy?" Iris was asking Skye as they headed to their line for the ride since they had passes for the front of the line.

"No, but we'll see things from the movies," the investigator said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head. After she straightened up she was taking one of the 3D glasses on a tray they were passing by, urging the others to do the same. "Like I said, we'll be seeing things," Skye said jokingly.

They were let onto the tram that was parked at the loading station, having to divide as the tram seated six across. But Castle and Beckett were able to sit with their daughters and parents, trying their best to keep the former two from putting on their 3D glasses.

"We'll use them soon I'm sure," Beckett said reassuringly to the two as they were starting to move. She looked at the TV screen in the tram but then looked out at the view, taking a picture of her daughters looking at it before she took a picture of the view itself.

"It's pretty," Julia said. She grunted as the tram bounced yet again; though it had just started; and said, "Is it going to do that the whole time?"

Beckett put her hand on her daughter's shoulder; since she was sitting next to the girls; and shook her head as they were starting to go down and going past movie posters. She wasn't surprised when Eliza turned to her; knowing the little girl was going to ask what was special about the movies; when the tour guide asked them to name a movie before the clip showed on the TV in front of them.

"Don't say anything," Castle said out of the side of his mouth to his mother; who was to his left. He jumped when she lightly slapped his arm and he looked at her in confusion before he realized he hadn't needed to ask. He glanced at the girls, seeing they were distracted by the fire station they were passing on the right. The scene stopped, and the tour guide was explaining the scene had been filmed on a soundstage. He wondered for a second why they'd bothered to show that when he realized they were approaching soundstages that were used.

"Look," Julia said eagerly when the tour guide mentioned some movies that had been filmed inside one soundstage. She and her sister watched the clips of movies like _Frankenstein_ , _Dracula_ , _Scarface_ , _Back to the Future_ and _Jurassic Park_. Though she wasn't aware of the first three she did know most of the last ones and she smiled at her parents as they'd finally let her watch the _Back to the Future_ movies. She then was surprised when they were passing a parking lot, listening to the tour guide talking about the reality of making movies and TV shows. She looked at her little sister, wondering what she thought of everything they were passing and surprised that she was looking around interestedly before her mother wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

"She's interested still," Beckett told her softly. "This is all new to her."

Julia nodded, before she looked ahead and gasped before whispering into her little sister's ear, "It's the minions."

Jim, leaning over at hearing Eliza's squealing, saw the display for the company that had made the movies with the characters. He smiled as Eliza was staring at the two minions and Julia was taking a picture before the tram stopped for a moment. He was about to tell his daughter to take a quickly posed picture of the girls when she was telling them already. "She read my mind," he said to Castle's mother.

Nodding Martha said, "I'll want a copy of that."

"Me too," Jim said as they were passing different trailers for some filming on a soundstage.

After passing some offices and then a large mural of NYC on the side of a building, Beckett saw Skye; with her daughters in front of them though Marie was behind them with the Fosters; turn around. "I knew," she said.

"How?" the investigator asked with a smile.

"I watched _Hairspray_ ; we all did," Beckett said, turning to look behind her at Derek.

"Hey there," the dancer said, waving, making some of the kids laugh since he'd been in that production.

"Good thing no one's recognizing you guys," Julia whispered, looking back as well.

"That's what hats are for," Emma commented since she, her husband and Derek were all wearing them and had been before they'd gone on the escalators.

"Face forward sweetie," Beckett told her daughter, making her turn around before they looked at the different streets that looked like NYC. She looked back at the TV screen in surprise when the tour guide began talking about _Hairspray_ and she grabbed Julia before she could look back at Derek, knowing it might alert the people not with their group in the back of the tram car.

Julia smiled over her shoulder at the dancer when he squeezed her shoulder while some clips from that TV movie played briefly and then looked at Courthouse Square they were passing on the left. She frowned, as it looked familiar, and when the tour guide said it was used in the movie _Back to the Future_ she looked at her mother who leaned down to her ear.

"There was a fire about twelve years ago," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when Julia nodded, and they watched the quick clip about that movie before they were moving again and they were passing through the NYC style streets, learning more about their construction.

When they were going up a hill, Eliza looked over and could see a foreboding structure, grabbing her mother's hand as the tram turned. She couldn't help whimpering at the sight of a tram car like theirs, destroyed, before her mother held her to her. "What happened Mommy?" she whispered.

"It's King Kong," Castle said. "And we need to put on our glasses soon." He was a bit dismayed when the little girl cuddled against her mother a little more at that and he looked at Beckett questioningly.

"We'll see," she said simply before they were entering the building. Beckett was dismayed that it was so dark, but luckily the footage on the TV was distracting Eliza enough before they were instructed to put on their 3D glasses and Julia was talking to her sister excitedly.

"This is going to be really cool," the girl said. Julia couldn't see her sister, so she reached for her hand and just managed to find it before squeezing it tightly as the screens went dark and a movie started to play on the walls on either side of them and they went through jungle before they were suddenly driving. She cried out with her sister, as the tram wasn't moving, but it felt like they were since the movie on the screens was.

Castle leaned over to look at Eliza as the tram was moving, but she was laughing before a t-rex came up on each side. He had his arm around his wife, watching as King Kong came up and tossed the dinosaur aside before it 'climbed' over the tram to fight with the other on the left. The tram was moving around, and the dinosaur seemed to pull a car from the back of the tram off it before it fell, and they were falling too. He was worried about both girls for a moment, as the sensation of falling was very real, but they were laughing together and seeing their arms were up he knew Julia had helped Eliza with that.

At the end of the experience, and as soon as they were out in the sunlight, Beckett was quick to check on Eliza, helping her with her glasses. "Are you okay?" she asked the little girl.

"Yeah, that was fun," Eliza said, looking outside the tram. "Are we gonna go again?" she asked since it appeared they were heading back to the front of the building.

Julia was about to say they wouldn't when the tour guide was talking about cars which they were passing on the left. She was reading the boards behind each car but didn't recognize the first two until she saw the third. " _Back to the Future_!" she said eagerly when she spotted the cars they were passing.

After they had gone by the row, Eliza looked up at the screen as it was showing a clip from _Jurassic Park_. She looked at all the cars and items they were passing, from the movie she guessed, and asked, "Can I watch that?"

"Not just yet," Beckett said with a smile, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. She looked up as the tour guide was talking about it being quiet before a dinosaur popped up and squirted water towards them. She laughed as she heard Genevieve cry out two rows back and looked ahead as they continued driving until they stopped in front of what looked like a Mexican town from the past. She was startled when it suddenly began raining in front of them, seeing the girls looking to the left where the rain was in awe before the tour guide was telling them how the rain was being made by the overhead sprinklers. She wondered for a moment if that was all they would see; though she was suspicious of the incline far back; when water started to rush down towards them from the hill and from a building as well.

"We're gonna get wet!" Iris cried out before the water stopped on the bridge the tram was on, though she was hit by spray as were some of the others on the left side of the tram.

"That was cool," Julia said when they were driving again. "What's next?" she asked her mother.

"I'm not sure," Beckett replied, feeling her husband squeeze her hand while they were going through Wild West sets. After they went through outdoor sets that were explained as being used for a TV show and monster movies. She took some pictures of what she recognized from the classic monster movies until they were coming up to another soundstage and Eliza was tugging her robe sleeve.

"What's next?" the little girl asked.

"We'll find out right now," Beckett assured her quietly as the tour guide was talking about a set designed to look like a subway station. At first, she thought it was supposed to be the subway in NYC, but when the tram started to shake she looked at her husband.

"San Francisco," Castle said before the lights started to flicker and then the ceiling came down, revealing a street with a liquid gas truck on it.

Beckett turned her attention to the girls then, as she heard them both crying out along with some of the other kids. She held onto Eliza when the truck hit some of the posts in the station, and there was some fire near them close enough to feel the heat of it. More of the ceiling collapsed, and a second later a telephone pole fell as well making the little girl in her arms cry out again when it swung down towards them.

Julia jumped when some fire appeared on the right, near her, making her suddenly hot before the sound of metal screeching got her attention back to the left. She looked over in time so see a subway train; that looked a lot like the BART trains in San Francisco; come in on the other track and veer towards toward them before one of the posts made the front car and second one separate. She breathed out as the tour guide said the worst was over when she heard water and turned in time to see it gushing down a staircase to the right. She couldn't help laughing as her little sister squealed since there was so much of it, but they were only getting some spray and then continuing. "That was scary," she said to her parents. "Mom?" she asked, startled to see the expression on her face.

"Daddy?" Eliza said, grabbing his hand when she saw he looked the same.

"Rick, Kate," Martha said calmly.

"Sorry," Beckett said, shaking her head first, glancing at the Wild West sets they were passing. "I was remembering the earthquake in San Francisco," she told the girls, smiling so they wouldn't keep looking worried.

"It's hard to forget that," Castle said, smiling as well. "Look at the billboard."

"It's _Jaws_ , Dad," Julia said with a smile before they were stopping in front of a pond of water where there was a set of a fishing village on the other side. "Look!" she gasped when she saw the shark fin cutting through the water.

Eliza gasped and covered her eyes as a scuba diver; after the shark fin had disappeared; went up and down in the water before disappearing under before there was red in it. "Is he kay?" she whispered to her parents.

"He will be," Castle said before the tram was moving again. He was a little surprised when they stopped again, and a pier moved slightly in the water. He jumped when flames shot out of a red barrel, glad that it was facing away from them as he could still feel the heat. As more flames shot through the floor on the pier he soon saw something was coming out of the water and he heard the girls noticing the shark.

"It's him!" Julia said eagerly as it rose out of the water. She cried out and tried to pull away when there were splashes of water, but they were driving away and she sighed, looking at her little sister.

"Did he stop?" Eliza asked, her face buried in her mother's arm.

"He did," Beckett said gently. She was relieved when the little girl sat up before they came to a street of houses. She focused mostly on her daughters, wanting to make sure they were both alright. But Eliza was focusing mostly on the homes, so she relaxed until they were passing an old black car that made her look at her husband saying, "1970 Charger."

Castle nodded, knowing there was a reason why the car was there as the tour guide was calling security. But they drove past it and a second later the security called back, showing who the car belonged to before he laughed as it was Vin Diesel. "I know what's next."  
"Me too," Beckett said with a smile.

"Oh, that's not next," Julia said when she saw what they were approaching.

"Whoville!" Eliza squealed as they passed the set from the movie _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_.

Beckett smiled at how happy the little girl was, but when they went around the set she couldn't help groaning as the music from the movie _Psycho_ played and a second later they could see the Bates Motel with the Bates home above it. She wrapped her arms around Eliza as someone came out of a room at the end of the hotel, carrying what she knew was supposed to be a body to the trunk of a car before the man turned to the tram.

"What's he gonna do?" Eliza asked before she gasped as the man that the tour guide was calling Norman pulled a knife from his jacket and ran towards the tram as it was moving. She breathed out in relief when they were past him and said to her mother, "That was close."

"I know… can I see that movie?" Julia asked.

"Not yet," Castle said as they were driving past the Bates house before they were coming around it to another set. He shared a look with his wife, not surprised when she leaned over and touched Skye's shoulder.

"It's alright, I've told her," the investigator replied with a slight smile behind her at her friend. They were driving through a set for the movie _War of the Worlds_ and it featured a real 747 that had been torn up for wreckage for that part of the movie. She had Fleur against her side; intentionally sitting next to her as she'd known they would be going to the set. She felt Mary's hand on her shoulder before she smiled at her wife as they were passing the cockpit and part of the fuselage with the roof torn off and the other piece of it split slightly away from it. She expected Fleur to be trembling but the little girl was looking up at her and she asked, "Are you alright _mon petite_?"

The little girl nodded and asked, " _Ce n'est pas vrai_?"

Smiling, as she'd asked it wasn't real, Skye nodded herself and told her, " _La maige des films_."

"The magic of films?" Julia asked her mother, as they'd been listening.

"Movies," Beckett said with a nod.

"That was creepy," Castle said, squeezing his wife's shoulder as they could still hear one of the plane's engines rotating.

Beckett nodded, having thought the same as she'd been recalling their incident at JFK, but shook that from her mind before they were leaving. She looked at the large pool of water with a blue wall behind it, not surprised it was used for ocean scenes in movies. She recognized the house in front of that water from the movie _The Great Outdoors_ , looking at her husband as he liked that movie. They were pausing past the water and house, coming to what appeared to be a dilapidated warehouse, and she was about to say what they were going into next when hers and Castle's second oldest spoke first.

"Is that the _Fast and Furious_ ride?" Julia whispered, just remembering to so the people who hadn't been on it at all before wouldn't hear her. She sighed when her parents nodded, as she'd liked the King Kong experience more. But as they were in the building and going through it eventually, she laughed as she could hear her little sister crying out in excitement. They came to the loading station after that and when they were going up she asked, "What's next?"

"I'm quite thirsty," Skye commented as she'd heard her since she and her family were ahead of theirs. "I could do with some Butterbeer."

"Cold?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Or frozen. And then we can look over at a special part of the park," Mary said.

"What?" Ivy asked, taking her mother's hand once they were off the escalator going up.

"You'll see," Skye said simply before they met up with Liam and Josie.

Beckett, holding Eliza's hand while Castle held the little girl's right hand, squeezed it gently. "We'll find out soon enough," she told the little girl.

"I know," Eliza said with a sigh before she smiled seeing the gate to Hogsmeade again.

The group got their drinks before they were sitting on a wall and drinking them, watching the people passing by until they were finishing. Just as they were standing and about to leave for the next part of the park Josie began to cry, making her parents immediately freeze.

"Does she need to eat?" Julia asked.

"No," Beckett said. She quickly checked the baby's diaper and said with a smile, "I think she wanted out of her carrier," as she set her on her hip. "Let's go," she told the others before they walked out of Hogsmeade.

" _Maman_!" Fleur exclaimed when they walked across the park, past the theater where they'd seen the animal show, and were walking by buildings that looked like they were from Paris.

"I know _mon petite_ ," Skye said with a smile. "They're showing how good their sets are for movies. But we're about to see here."

Looking ahead, Castle laughed when the youngest kids squealed in pleasure as they saw a purple gate with a plaque on it reading _Super Silly Fun Land_ , the area next to the _Despicable Me_ ride. He could feel Eliza kicking at his chest, and then put his hands on her legs to stop her saying, "Is it time to go down?"

"Yeah," Eliza said happily before her father took her off his shoulders. She raced to Fleur and they hurried together to the minion dressed as Napoleon's soldier on the right side of the gate, standing on either side of it before they looked expectantly at their mothers.

"I guess it's time to take pictures," Beckett said to Skye in amusement as she brought her camera up to take one.

"I suppose it is," the investigator said with a smile, glancing at her wife who was taking a picture. "There's a ride we can go on now."

"The _Despicable Me_ one?" Derek asked.

"Not yet," Skye said. "That one."

"I think we'll pass," Emma said as they looked at the ride. "It looks more like it's for the younger kids."

"It basically is," Mary said. "But this'll give them the chance to digest a bit."

"Plus, the games," Skye said before she turned to the other kids. "Everyone go join them, we'll have a big picture of all the children."

After the parents had had enough pictures of their kids, they allowed them to lead the way inside that section. The kids saw the games first, but the adults turned their attention to the ride that was going at that moment to distract them.

"What is it called?" Eliza asked, holding onto her grandmother's hand tightly.

"Silly Swirly," Julia, with Mari just ahead of them, said.

Giggling, Eliza looked up at Martha and asked, "Will you go with me Gram?"

Looking up at the ride for a moment, Castle's mother looked back at her son and daughter in law before she smiled and said, "Okay, but don't move us around too fast kiddo."

"I won't," Eliza said.

"Are you gonna go on Mom, Dad?" Julia asked the two.

"We'll stay with Josie," Beckett told her. "Have fun."

"It's funny how Derek got roped into going on the ride," Castle commented.

"Well… there are three shorter kids and only two mothers," Beckett said with a smile as they sat and watched their family and friends getting on the cars of the aerial carousel. "But Sasha and Emma got a break," she said, glancing back towards the section that looked like Paris where the couple had gone. She heard Josie whimpering and turned in time to see Castle pulling her out of the carrier which made her sigh playfully. "We can't carry you around every second Josie," taking her as she wasn't stopping. She set her on her lap and gently bounced her, not surprised when she started to laugh. She couldn't help it and leaned over, kissing the side of her head before she heard someone calling to the baby.

"Your sisters are up there," Castle said, pointing to try and get Josie's attention there. He wasn't surprised when she baby tried putting her fist into her mouth and he laughed, pulling it away gently before he kissed the top of her head. "Well… at least the older kids are having fun," he said, watching the ride then.

"Did you really think they wouldn't on this kind of ride?" Beckett said. When her husband shrugged she said simply, "Rick."

Turning to her, Castle leaned over as she quickly gestured to him and they kissed one another firmly. They weren't together for too long and he said, " _It's a little annoying_ ," speaking in Irish.

Smiling, as she knew he was referencing the length of that kiss, Beckett handed him their baby and said, "We'll have more time tomorrow." She couldn't help laughing softly when he nodded before she kissed his cheek and they played with Josie until they would be going through the park again.


	26. Those Of Sharpest Mind (Part 2)

"Here they come," Jim said to his granddaughter as he could hear the tell-tale sound of a boat.

Eliza clapped her hands just as the boat for the ride came out of the drop, sending up a wave of water though it didn't reach them. "Can't we go over there Grandpapa?" she asked him.

"Your mom doesn't want you to get wet," Jim replied. "Or your dad either. So stay with me and we'll wait until we can see them." He couldn't help smiling as the little girl sighed and said, "Are you mad you couldn't go too?"

"Yeah but… that's scary," Eliza said, gesturing to the building that held the eighty-five-foot drop.

"I know," Jim said. "But they'll have fun."

"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly. It was later in the afternoon and she was with her grandparents, Josie and Dani while the others were on the Jurassic World ride. She remembered that some weren't, and she looked behind them saying, "Do you think they had fun upstairs?"

"Probably," Jim said, kissing her temple before she turned to him and hugged him tighter around the neck. "Here comes another," he said as they could hear the boat coming down.

Watching the boat that came down then, Eliza looked for her mother's blue blouse but couldn't spot it as the boat went by. Sighing she said, "What's taking them so long?"

"Hold on Dani," Martha said suddenly, making Beckett's father turn and Eliza gasp. "She wants to see as well," she explained when the toddler had reached the railing.

"I can't really pick her up," Jim said, looking at Eliza.

Opening her mouth to speak, the little girl heard a familiar voice behind them and saw that it was Mary with the three youngest McDouglas girls. "How was the ride?" Eliza couldn't help asking them.

"Good," Fleur said with a smile. "Did they come down the drop yet?"

"No," Eliza said, squeezing her grandfather's shoulder so he would put her down. She went up on the step so she could see over it and said, "Does your mom really like this ride?" to the McDouglas girls.

"Yeah, the drop," Mary said with a smile as the four looked at her. She carefully got her hair out of Dani's grip and told them, "She likes drops like that. I don't know why but she does."

"Is that why you let her go?" Ivy asked.

Mary nodded and then said to Jim and Martha, "I couldn't really stop her."

"Of course not," Castle's mother replied. She was going to say more but there was the sound of another boat and they looked over at the drop to find it coming down into the water.

"There they are!" Eliza cried as she quickly spotted her family in the front row. She waved furiously as the three were doing the same back to her and after the boat had passed by she said, "They look like they got really wet."

"That would happen," Mary said with a slight grimace.

"Did you go on that Mommy?" Iris asked.

"Once," Mary said. "And that was more than enough."

"How did that happen?" Martha asked.

"We were engaged," Mary replied. "And we came here one day and… I went on the ride for her since she obviously wanted to go."

"Did she know you didn't?" Jim asked.

"I didn't really hesitate for all that long," Mary said with a smile. "When we got off the drop she looked at me and said…" She paused, as her fiancée had spoken in Irish and had cursed herself out in that language, and then said, "That she'd been stupid to force me to go." She ran her hand over the back of Ivy's head and said, "And that was the last time I've been on it. But luckily your mum still married me," directing that to her three youngest.

"She loves you," Fleur said quickly.

"She's quite right, I do," Skye said suddenly. She smiled when her daughters rushed to her and told them warningly, "Better not, I'm quite soaked through."

"I'm not worried," Mary said, walking to her wife and embracing her tightly.

Laughing Skye asked, "You told them about our ride, didn't you?" as she was hugging her back. When she felt her nod, she squeezed Mary a little harder and then said, "They enjoyed it."

"Everyone?" the doctor asked as she moved back.

"They did," Skye replied, nodding.

"I'm wondering," Beckett told her friend as she hugged Eliza the best she could after checking on Josie who was on her grandmother's hip. "Is that it?"

"We are the first park. We're on a hill and we've seen everything," Skye said.

"Except…" Liam told his daughter.

Groaning, though she smiled soon after Skye said, "The last thing is the two shows, and I'm alright with the special effects one but WaterWorld…"

"I can pass on those," Beckett said. "I'll stay with Josie."

"I'll stay with you," Skye said quickly.

"Rick, go," Beckett said as she could see the hesitation in the expression on his face. "If the girls want to go too I'd like you to be there with them."

Though he wanted the chance to be with his wife and their baby, Castle looked at their other daughters and said, "If they want to go I'd love to."

"I'd like to see it," Julia said, glancing at her mother.

"Go," Beckett replied. "Skye and Mary say it's alright, there's some gunfire-"

"And fire," Skye interrupted.

"Can't have Universal without fire," Mary quipped.

"Alright, let's go upstairs and get to the theater," Skye said with a laugh.

Once they had reached it, near the entrance, Beckett and Skye were joined by Jim and the older McDouglas twins. They watched the rest of their group head into the theater before Skye turned to her daughters.

"Well you lot," the investigator told them with a smile on her face. "What should we do while we're waiting for the rest of them?"

"Walk around Hogsmeade?" Kathleen said after she and her twin shared a look.

"What about the games at the Simpsons?" Skye asked.

"I guess that's okay," Marie said.

"Why couldn't we walk around Hogsmeade?" Jim asked.

"Well… I guess they could," Skye said. "I mean we could. But I would hate for your sisters to get jealous."

"But we're not doing anything new," Marie pointed out to her.

"Oh, I know why Mum said the Simpsons," Kathleen said. "She wants us to say we'll stay here and that way she'll be close to Mom."

"We'll still be close," Beckett said, reaching to Josie to gently rub her stomach.

"I know, sorry just…" Skye started to say before she shook her head. "Let's go."

Beckett wasn't surprised when her father took the twins ahead of them and she said, " _I don't blame you_ ," in Russian.

" _I'm surprised that_ Rick _didn't stay out_ ," Skye said. " _Though I'm guessing he enjoyed the movie_?"

" _No, he just likes action_ ," Beckett said before they both paused.

Shaking her head Skye said, " _I knew what you meant but thanks for making me think of that_."

" _Not a problem_ ," Beckett said before they laughed together.

"Would it be alright if we did spells?" Marie asked her mother once they'd reached the gate to Hogsmeade.

"Go on," Skye told them, smiling. She looked down at Josie as the baby was vocalizing suddenly and she said, "She's getting close."

"We noticed," Beckett said with a smile as she and Castle had noticed Josie's gums seemed to be turning a little red in a couple places. "And that means she's moving in with us."  
"Martha will disagree with that," Jim told his daughter.

"We know," Beckett replied. "But there are kids in the house that'll need to get sleep and they won't be able to do that if Josie's there."

"You'll have to talk with her," Jim said.

"I don't know if she'd be that loud, the walls and doors are soundproofed," Skye pointed out to her.

Beckett sighed, looking down at the baby, before she said, "We'll talk to her."

"Mum!" the twins said at the same time.

"What is it?" Skye asked the two.

"We couldn't get more Butterbeer?" Kathleen asked first.

"Now that's too much," Skye told them, smiling at the same time. "Come back over here, there's not much time left to the show and we need to meet them at the gates to discuss what we'll do the rest of our time here."

"How much time is left?" Jim said as they went to a window with musical instruments behind it.

"Only seven minutes," Skye replied after she'd looked at her watch once her robe sleeve was out of the way. "But they'll have enjoyed it," she said to Beckett.

"Yeah, it's fun to see a couple times… in a row," Marie said before she and her twin were rolling their eyes. "Oh! Mum, where are we gonna eat?" She and Kathleen looked at each other when their mother was still looking at her watch and then exclaimed at the same time, "Mum!"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Skye asked with a smile. "We're not eating at the park. At Citywalk."

"Cool, we wanted to," Kathleen said first.

"Good, I'm sure Julia will love it there," Skye said, smiling at Beckett.

"Let's keep going," she said before they went to the last of the spells. Beckett was relieved when the investigator let them know they could head to the front gate and she pushed Josie's stroller, spotting her husband and their daughters first in the group. She smiled at the three of them, not surprised when the latter two ran up to her and were telling her about the show together and excitedly to her amusement while she listened closely.

"There were jet skis, but they were all dark and they were riding around to get the people wet in the front-" Julia began.

"We weren't there but we saw the water and there was fire-" Eliza then took up.

"And there were guns and stuff, but the set was really tall and there was a ship that even went around in the water-"

"Oh! Don't forget the plane that flew in and there were big exposions," Eliza said before she was smiling as her big sister laughed.

"Explosions," Beckett gently corrected her. "So you liked it?"

"Yeah, it was… cool," Julia said slowly.

"I don't know if you would have liked it love," Castle told his wife. "But it was fun to watch."

"Did you have fun?" Eliza asked.

"I did, but we don't have that much time left until the park closes so we can go on the rides again," Beckett said. "But," she said when the girls looked at each other in excitement. "I hope you'll let your grandparents go with you."

"On all the rides?" Julia asked, looking at her grandfather.

"You want me to go on Jurassic World with you?" Jim asked. When the girl nodded he laughed and said, "Alright, I'm sure Skye will want to go on it again. Should we start now?"

"We need to," David said. "There isn't that much time left."

"Really not a lot of time left," Derek said, holding up his arm where his watch was.

"Enough for the rides one more time," Skye said.

"Are we going on the tour again?" Sasha asked.

Shaking her head Mary said, "We usually just go on it once when we're here. Unless anyone wanted to split off from us and do that."

Skye looked around at everyone and then said with a smile, "Let's go."

Castle took Josie's stroller when they were walking again and said to Beckett, "If you want to go on any of the rides I'll take her."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "We've been on these in Orlando, so I'll let our parents go."

" _Chaill mé tú_ ," Castle murmured to her though he was telling her he missed her in Irish.

Beckett smiled and then said, " _Rinne mé freisin_ ," which meant the phrase I did too. She squeezed his arm and kept it looped through his until they reached the roller coaster in the Harry Potter section and then moved to find a bench to watch the ride.

"Is there anything you'd like to do before we leave?" Castle asked his wife once they were settled and he was looked in on Josie who was moving her Tigger doll around.

"One more ride with the girls," Beckett replied.

"Which?" Castle asked.

"I'll let them choose," Beckett said simply.

"Good idea," Castle said, nodding his head before he leaned over and kissed her temple. "This has been fun."

"It has," Beckett replied. "But I'm eager to go to Disneyland more."

"For Eliza?" Castle asked. He was startled when his wife merely smiled in response to that and he asked, "What?"

"We're taking her on the Dumbo ride," Beckett said, nodding to the baby.

"Oh, really?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, I want that to be her first ride at the park," Beckett explained. She wasn't surprised when her husband looked a little confused and she told him, "Skye and Mary took the girls to that ride their first time at Disneyland; their older girls."

"But the younger three-" Castle started to say.

"Will be going on that first too," Beckett said. She smiled and added, "We're going to detour from their normal route to the Jungle Cruise for that reason."

"Okay," Castle said. "I just hope the older kids won't mind."

"I don't think so," Beckett replied. "We'll be heading to the Jungle Cruise after," she ended swiftly as their family and friends were coming over to them.

"With this last bit," Skye said to the pair still sitting on the bench. "We're going to split up and meet at the Studio Store at the front before the park closes. It's large so text us once you're there; they're going to do the same," she told them, gesturing behind her with her friend. "And after we'll head out to the Citywalk and dinner."

"And dessert!" Kathleen said.

"And that, but after we shop a bit," Mary said, shaking her head as she was smiling.

"What can we go on now Mom?" Julia asked as they remained where they were while the others left.

"That's your pick," Beckett said. "Though I think we should go on the rides down at the bottom first before we come back up to leave."

"What about the Mummy ride?" Julia said, turning her attention to her grandparents.

"I'll go," Jim said. "Since I've been on it already…?"

"It's different," Beckett said first.

"And it goes backwards but no drops or anything," Castle said.

"I'll go," Jim said. "But what about you two?" he directed to Martha and Eliza.

"Do you want to go on that Transformers ride?" the little girl asked her big sister.

"You can go on that," Julia said. "You'll like it Gram."

"Alright," Martha said with a slight laugh. She took the stroller, as her son and daughter in law were taking their daughters by their hands and took Josie over to the elevator down to the lower level of the park. When they were stepping out at the bottom she was about to ask the pair where they would wait with Josie when her son was speaking first.

"We'll be by the drop for Jurassic World," Castle said. "Do you mind staying here while they go on that ride?" he asked as they stopped by the entrance of Revenge of the Mummy.

"No, I like to see the boats," Eliza said with a smile.

"I'll stay with Josie so you can watch," Martha said with a smile.

"Have fun," Beckett told them, taking their robes to put them away. Once they were set in a bag under the carrier she and her husband went to the railing at the ride, watching as one boat came out of the drop once they stepped up to it. "You can go on this if you want to," she told him.

Shaking his head, Castle waited for her to take Josie out of her carrier before he kissed them both on the cheek. "I'd like to stay with you guys," he told her. "Let Julia and your dad have time together."

Beckett smiled at him, wanting to kiss him, but she needed to wipe some drool that was going down Josie's chin. She wasn't surprised when the baby made a slightly distressed sound and she leaned down, kissing the top of her head before she let Castle take her. She watched him lightly bounce the baby before he nuzzled her temple, realizing he was telling her something.

"I know you're still too little to go on this ride but it's a lot of fun. The dinosaurs look so real and not all of them want to attack," Castle said. "Now, at five years old you're tall enough-"

"Rick," Beckett said simply.

"But that's too young so you'll be older like Eliza will. What?" Castle asked, looking at her.

Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, Beckett was about to speak when another boat came down the drop and they watched before she heard Josie vocalizing.

"Can she see that?" Castle asked in surprise as they turned to their baby.

"Maybe," Beckett said. "Her eyesight is nearly twenty-twenty," she added.

"And it looks like she might want to go on this ride," Castle said.

"More than likely," Beckett said.

"How old?" Castle asked.

Looking at the drop as she let Josie wave her index finger back and forth, Beckett said, "Maybe six or seven, it depends on how they are," indicating both Eliza and the baby. "And how much they'd want to go on this."

Castle nodded before he and Beckett took turns holding Josie and watching the boats before the rest of their family came over to them. Once Jim and Julia were heading for the line they turned their attention to Eliza who was standing in between them.

"It looks very tall," the little girl said suddenly, after a boat had gone.

"It is, eighty-five feet," Castle commented.

"Jules says I'm tall enough to go on the ride," Eliza said, looking up at them.

"You are but I really want you to be a little older for this," Beckett said.

"We do," Castle corrected her.

"Really?" Eliza asked, glancing up at him.

"Of course, it's a big drop," Castle said seriously. "You've only just started going on Splash Mountain. So we want you to grow up just a little more before you get to these rides." He was surprised when she suddenly frowned, and he was going to ask her what was wrong when his wife beat him to it.

"Did you want to go?" Beckett asked her.

Shaking her head Eliza said, "Will Josa get to go?"

"One day, but not for a while," Beckett told her. They watched another boat and she said, "We'll go back up after this."

Eliza, not hearing her father reply to that, looked up at her mother and said, "Did you talk to me?"

"I was talking to you," Beckett told her. "And I'm letting you know this is the last chance for the rides here."

"I went on them," Eliza said before she paused. "The Transformers ride."

"What do you want to go to upstairs first?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head Eliza said, "I wanna ask Jules."

Looking at the next boat that was coming down the drop, Beckett smiled and said, "There they are," as she quickly spotted Julia in her grey shirt.

"Did she go there on purpose?" Eliza asked her parents after they'd been waving to Julia and Jim, the pair on the furthest two right seats of the first row.

"Probably," Castle said, turning around to lean against the railing.

"What is it Daddy?" Eliza asked him, a wide smile on her face.

"I'm trying to think of the ride you two will pick," Castle said.

"I've been thinking of that too," Beckett said, taking Eliza's hand when she came to her. She squeezed it gently and told her, "Is it the roller coaster?"

"No, we went on that already," Eliza replied. "The minions."

"I thought it might be that one," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"Me too," Beckett said with a smile before their daughter was hugging her around the waist.

"Hi!" Julia said, jogging up to her family once she could see them. "That was a lot of fun. Are we going back up?"

"Yeah," Eliza said before their parents could say anything. "I said the minions."

"Cool, me too," Julia said before she and her sister laughed together, wrapping their arms around each other.

"Let's go you two," Castle said, smiling at them before he looked at his wife. He wasn't surprised when she was lowering her camera from her face and murmured, "Got it?"

"I did," Beckett replied. She walked with him while they were watching their daughters in front of them, surprised when the two paused by the elevator. "What's wrong?" she asked the two.

"Could we go up the Starway?" Julia asked, her sister squeezing her hand.

"Did you tell them?" Beckett asked her husband.

"Tell- the name?" Castle asked to say in surprise. At her nod he quickly said, "No, that was probably Marie or Kath, right?"

"They both said," Eliza replied.

"Just this once?" Julia asked.

Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband looked at her and she sighed before saying, "Okay, since we're going up. "But once we start I don't think we can get the elevator, it goes straight to the top."

"It does," Jim said. When the others looked at him he said, "I asked Mary about it. She said there used to be a shuttle for people who were in wheelchairs and since their older twins weren't they had to go on this until they built the elevator last summer."

"It scares them both," Julia said. "Going down the most."

"Then we have to ask are you sure about going?" Castle said to the girls.

"I want to go," Julia said. She was surprised when her little sister tugged her hand and she looked down at her. "You don't want to now?" She smiled when Eliza shook her head and she said, "That's okay, it's really steep."

"But you still want to go," Beckett stated.

"Yeah," Julia replied. "Just once."

"Then we need to take off our robes, so we'll be okay," Beckett told her daughter and her husband.

Though she wanted to protest, Julia looked up at the first escalator and saw why her mother wanted them to do that. Since she wasn't wearing them; after the Jurassic World ride; she waited for her parents to get theirs off. She smiled and waved goodbye to the rest of their family before they made their way up the first set of escalators.

When they were halfway through Castle said, "Are you doing okay?"

"I am," Julia said. "I'm not going to look up."

"Good idea," Beckett told her as they made it to the third escalators. She wasn't looking anywhere but right in front of her; as Skye had advised her to do that if they were going up the escalators that day; but wanted to see the view so she told the two to stop.

"It's pretty," Julia said with a smile as they were looking out on everything.

"It is, but I like it back at home," Castle commented, standing with his arm around her shoulders while Beckett was taking pictures.

"The city home or the Hamptons?" Julia asked.

"The Hamptons," Castle said.

Wrinkling her nose Julia said, "But you grew up in the city."

"I did, but I've come to appreciate the Hamptons," Castle said.

Julia nodded, though she wasn't sure if that counted as being more out in the country, but her mother got their attention and they went together to the last set of escalators. Seeing her sister waiting with Jim near where they stepped off she hurried to her and cried, "I made it!"

"Me too!" Eliza said before they held hands and started to jump up and down.

"Girls," Beckett said before she had to stop as she couldn't keep herself from laughing.

"You're going to wear yourselves out for the rest of the rides," Castle said when he'd managed to get control of himself enough to speak.

"We can go to the minions?" Eliza asked eagerly when she and her sister stopped.

"Yes," Beckett said. "But before we do…" she said before she waved to her father and mother in law.

Castle, knowing what she wanted to do, flagged down an employee who was walking by to ask if he would take a picture of them. He then hurried to get Beckett's camera and once he was with his family at the railing they stood with the girls in front and Josie in his arms. After his wife had her camera back he kept the baby with him, carrying her over to the _Despicable Me_ area with their daughters laughing and skipping together in front of them while he held Beckett's hand tightly in his own.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Eddie asked Skye as they were led up the stairs to the second floor of the _Hard Rock Café_.

"Up," the investigator said. Skye smiled when the actor gave her a look before she felt a hand tugging on the sleeve of her robes. She glanced over her shoulder at Julia and was about to ask what she wanted when the girl was speaking a moment later rapidly.

"Are we going to sit by Beatles stuff?" Julia said eagerly.

"I think we are," Eddie said, reaching to her to help her up the last step so she was first.

Beckett hurried the last few steps at the cry she heard before she saw that her daughter was standing in front of a Hofner Violin Bass that was hanging on the wall. She looked at Skye with a smile and asked, " _Where is he right now_?" in Russian.

" _He has one last pair of concerts in_ San Francisco _this Friday and Saturday_ ," Skye replied in the same language, speaking in a low tone as they got out of the way of the others coming up the stairs behind them. " _And then he has the next two weeks off before he's performing the last concerts in_ Anaheim _and_ LA."

Nodding, Beckett went to her family who was sitting at the table closest to the Beatles items and she said, "Are you sure no one else wanted to sit here?"

"I think they were expecting her to," Jim told his daughter with a smile as Julia was giving them a slight pout of her lips.

"Look at the menu you guys," Beckett told the girls while they were laughing. Before she sat down she quickly unclasped her robe and let her husband hold it while she got her arms out of the sleeves. "Thank you," she told him before she sat on one of the two empty chairs together. Josie was to her right and she leaned over, kissing the baby's forehead before she said, "Skye said once we order you and the other kids can walk around. But just on this floor, I don't want you going around downstairs where all the other people are."

"How did we get tables up here?" Emma asked.

"That was me," Skye said. "Which was a surprise, but they gave me the tables here."

"I'm glad it worked," Eddie said. "Would have been difficult to move around downstairs. And it's only a Wednesday."

"It's popular here?" Rebecca asked.

"It can be," Mary said. "Obviously it is tonight."

"Are we ready to order?" Skye asked as their waitresses were coming over to the table.

Beckett, after making a quick look at the entrees, was able to order and she helped Eliza as well before they were left alone again. "Go ahead," she told both girls when she saw they were looking at her and Castle.

"You don't want to go?" he asked when he noticed the girls weren't getting up.

"We do, but come with us," Julia said as her sister looked at her, waiting to see what their parents would say to that request.

"We'll be back," Castle said to his mother and father in law while he and Beckett were getting up from their chairs.

"They have a lot of stuff here," Peter said as they were walking, looking around at the different items.

"I don't know who these singers or bands are though," Mari was saying. "Well… most of them."

"I'm not surprised," David said to his daughter. "Most of them are from before you all were born," as they were looking at some outfits in a glass case. "But they're good music."

"I'm glad you got to sit by the Beatles stuff," Marie was saying to Julia.

"Me too," Mari said quickly.

"I know," Julia said, smiling at her friends.

"Mum and Mom said they used to have a lot of different things downstairs, but they took it off," Marie then continued.

"Oh… at least they have the stuff up here," Julia commented. She wasn't surprised when the two she was walking with nodded in agreement and they made their way back around to their table.

"How was everything?" Martha asked them.

"Cool, there's an outfit over there with fringe," Julia said. "Is it from the seventies?" she asked her parents.

"Yes," Castle said slowly.

"What?" Julia asked since he'd been looking at her.

"I was waiting to see if you'd ask if I'd worn anything like that when I was a kid," Castle commented.

"Dad," Julia said with a sigh though she soon smiled. "Did you wear fringe at all?"

"No," Castle said quickly.

"He didn't," Martha said, her voice heavily tinged with amusement as the girls had both turned to look at her. "His costumes never were fringe related."

"Not even regular clothes?" Beckett asked.

"Hey!" Castle said. He was slightly mollified when his wife kissed his cheek and he told them all, "No, it was a lot of itchy sweaters in the winter and polyester shirts with very big collars and polo shirts for spring and summer."

"Here comes our food," Beckett then told them as the waiters were coming over to them. "Please eat but slowly."

"Mum-" Kathleen started to say.

"After dinner lass," Skye told her firmly.

Once they had their food, the group started to eat, talking about the park and then the upcoming episode of the show until they were finishing the meal.

"You're not going to stay and walk around?" Julia was asking Derek as they were getting up from the table.

"I'm afraid not," the dancer replied. "And remember you need to get some rest too for practice… actually get the others, I want you to show me your steps really quick."

"All of them?" Mari asked as she hurried over with the boys.

"Let's say the first two verses," Derek replied. He then waited for the pairs to get into hold in an empty space between the tables and chairs, proceeding to count them off. He watched them with the others, nodding when they stopped at what would be the end of the second verse. He was about to speak when the others started to applaud, and he smiled before he told them, "Great job. But you're both having problems getting back up after the boys dip you," directing the last to the girls.

"Oh… sorry," Mari said, her cheeks red.

"That's okay, we'll work on that tomorrow," Derek said, and he moved to say goodbye to everyone before they went downstairs and out of the restaurant.

Watching the three dancers, Daisy and Eddie leave, Eliza spun around to her mother and grabbed her hand, about to tell her she wanted dessert when Skye was getting everyone's attention.

"Okay, we didn't really have dessert earlier after lunch because there's something out here we thought you might like to try," the investigator was saying.

"It must be some dessert," Isaac said suddenly.

"Why?" Mary asked in surprise.

When the man nodded to their oldest, Skye looked with her wife to find the two were crossing their fingers, their eyes closed tightly. "Girls," she said simply to get their attention. When they looked up at her she said, "What are you doing?"

"We're hoping," Kathleen said first.

Laughing softly Mary said, "You better tell them _grá_ ," to her wife.

"Alright," Skye replied. "It's _Voodoo Donuts_."

"I know that place," Genevieve said as they were walking to the right of the restaurant. "I've never been," she then said quickly. "But in Seattle I saw some ads for it in the paper."

"It's in Portland," Skye said. "Well, the first one I should have said. But they've opened here and the girls love it."

"You will too," Marie said, speaking to Julia and Ivy.

Hurrying over to her mother, Julia said, "We can get one, right?"

"We usually get two each," Skye began when Beckett looked at her. "But since we're eight of us now we'll have to adjust a bit."

"One for tomorrow?" Castle asked as they approached the bakery that was pink outside with a tall donut statue shaped like a voodoo doll outside it.

"That's the plan," Skye replied before they were heading inside. "They have the donuts in the front there, in the display, but here's a menu."

Looking at all the choices, Beckett wasn't sure the girls could be able to pick when she realized something. "Do you two want the Voodoo Doll donut?"

"Yeah!" "Yes please," Eliza and then Julia told them.

"They can split it," Castle said, seeing his wife looked hesitant.

"I think the four of us should split it," Beckett replied. "But that makes it a little uneven-"

"I'll only take one donut," Martha said.

"And a piece of the doll one too," Julia was quick to remind her.

"Are you sure?" Castle asked her. When she nodded he then said, "What would you like?" to his father in law.

"Yeah, what're you gonna get Grandpapa?" Eliza asked him eagerly, looking at the menu.

"A… Chuckles Donut I suppose," Jim said, frowning slightly at the name. "And the apple fritter."

"Okay," Castle said, putting that on his phone so they wouldn't forget. "Mother?"

"The Double Chocolate," Martha replied quickly. "And I'll take Josie for you."

"Just outside," Beckett told her. "I think we're going to be eating one donut outside."

"Eliza, what do you want for your donuts?"

"The M&Ms one," the little girl said eagerly. "And the peanut butter and jelly one."

"Sounds good," Castle said. "Julia?"

"The M&Ms one too," she replied quickly. "And the Grape Ape."

"I'll take the Blueberry Cake and the apple fritter one too," Beckett said.

"What're you gonna get Daddy?" Eliza asked quickly before the two could move to get in line.

"I know," Julia said before she smiled at her parents.

"Oh really? Which one?" Castle said with a smile.

"The one with bacon," Julia said easily.

"She knows you well," Beckett said with a smile.

"She does," Castle said. He felt Eliza tugging on his hand and he said, "And the Memphis Mafia one."

"We'll be outside," Martha said, going with the girls.

"Dad?" Beckett said to her father.

"I'll join you," Jim said simply.

"Dad-" Beckett began.

"My treat," Jim interrupted her before she could continue. "But you two share one and we'll share with our granddaughters."

"I had a feeling that's how it was going to go," Beckett said before she heard a baby crying. She turned with the two men and saw that Julia was jogging in to them. "Her diaper?" she asked once the girl had stopped.

Nodding her head Julia said, "Gram is taking her, Lizzy's going too to help."

"You'll stay with us?" Castle asked as they moved forward in line. "Make sure the donuts get to us okay?"

Beckett smiled when Julia laughed and said, "And don't eat any of them yet."

Laughing again, Julia made herself stop before she said, "I won't, I know you won't let me."

Squeezing her hand, Beckett pulled her with her down the line until they were at a register and she let Castle tell the worker their choices. She looked at her father, who'd remained in line behind them and then said to her husband, "We'll be outside."

Castle nodded, focusing on paying before he waited for their donuts to be ready. He looked over at the entrance and could see his wife and their daughter standing next to a table. He couldn't tell if they were with his mother and their other two daughters, but he had to turn to the worker who was holding two pink boxes out to him.

"She'll get to sleep soon," Beckett was telling her mother in law. "It's been a busy day for her."

"Here are the donuts," Castle said as he and Jim walked out to them.

"So many boxes?" Martha said.

"Yeah… I'm not sure why," Castle said slowly.

"We should check," Beckett told him. "Make sure the right donuts are there."

Castle nodded and then opened the larger of the two boxes he'd been given before he paused. "I think…" he started to say slowly before he stepped aside so his wife could look at the donuts.

Looking inside Beckett paused for a moment and said, "Now I see why," to him.

"What's wrong with the donuts?" Eliza asked, trying to go in between her parents.

"Here," Castle said, leaning it over to her so she could see.

Her eyes widening the little girl said, "The donuts are big!"

"Very," Skye said with a smile as she and her family went to the table next to them. "Those should last for a while. But we're going to eat at least one now."

"So are we," Beckett said.

"The Voodoo Doll ones, right?" Julia asked.

"Exactly, I'll get us some napkins and some knives," Beckett told them before she headed inside. She wasn't sure if they had plates but still asked for them, relieved when they did. "Here," she said as she handed the knives and plates to her husband. "Eat your half slowly okay?" she told the girls.

"Kay," Eliza said eagerly as her father was getting ready to cut one of the donuts.

"Should we be worried?" Martha asked.

"She seems to want him to be cut," Jim pointed out.

"It's just a donut," Julia said.

Beckett squeezed her husband's arm tightly as he began cutting the donut in half, hoping he'd get her unspoken message not to make any noises or comments. He luckily had and she watched him get it split before he handed it to his mother and Eliza. "It's jelly filled," she said to the others.

"Cool," Julia said. She watched her father cut the second donut for herself and her grandfather and she asked him, "What half do you want?"

"You can pick yours," Jim told her.

Julia took the half with the face and said, "I can't help it, I love the arms too."

"I'm not surprised," Jim said with a smile before he took his first bite of donut since his daughter and son in law were eating their own.

"Well… I see why they wanted to come here," Martha said. "Marie and Kath."

"I like it too," Eliza said quickly. "It has chocolate."

"I'm not surprised you enjoy that," Beckett said to the little girl with a smile. She watched Eliza turn back to her piece and then ate another bite of her own. They were watching the people walking around and listening to the music coming from the large TV screen on the other side of the _Hard Rock_ before she realized Eliza was coming over to her and Castle. "What is it sweetie?" she asked the little girl, getting a napkin and wiping some of the chocolate off her lips.

"Daddy feed her the arms," the little girl said eagerly.

Castle was going to say he didn't need to when he saw the expression on her face. That made him pause and look at his wife before Julia was talking to her little sister.

"It's not their wedding Lizzy," the girl said.

"I know," Eliza said firmly before she looked at their parents again.

When his wife shrugged Castle then said, "What about just one arm?"

"Kay. Do it now," Eliza told him.

Beckett wasn't sure how exactly they should be feeling about her comments, but she was turning her attention to her husband as he was taking one of the arms off her half of the donut. She opened her mouth for him and once she was chewing looked at Eliza with him though she let him speak.

"Was that okay?" Castle asked jokingly.

"Yes," Eliza said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. She shared a kiss with her mother and went back around the table to finish her piece.

"Which one did you get?" Peter said, coming over to the table when they were getting up from the tables.

"We shared the Voodoo one, but I got the M&Ms one and Grape Ape," Julia said, smiling when her partner laughed.

"I like the names. I got the one that has the Fruit Loops on it," Peter replied.

"Just one?" Mari asked him.

"No, that I'm eating tomorrow. And then Friday I'm gonna eat the M&Ms one. I got that too," Peter answered.

"So did I," Mari said.

"Me too," Clive, Fleur, Ivy and Iris said at the same time.

"Come on guys," Beckett called. "We're going to go around the stores before we need to leave." She let her husband take her hand and they walked together back towards the park.

"Is there anywhere you want to go?" Castle asked her.

"Not really," Beckett said. "Let them lead us."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rebecca asked.

Beckett, looking at her friend, wondered why she'd said that when she nodded ahead of them. Turning she spotted the candy store and said with a smile, "I don't think we're going to be taking them in there."

"Not after we went to Honeydukes earlier," David said.

"We can't look around?" Clive asked his father.

"Oh no, I'd be too tempted to get you something," Isaac said.

"I'm not spoiled," Clive said quickly.

"The fountain!" Fleur said suddenly, pointing ahead of them.

"Could we run into it?" Julia asked her parents.

Beckett opened her mouth to speak before she paused and then sighed saying, "You won't let us say no, will you?"

Castle squeezed his wife's hand when their daughters shook their heads no at nearly the same time and he said, "Alright but try not to get soaked and when your mother says it's time to get out…"

"It's time to get out-"

"Time for dessert," Julia said, smiling at her little sister who'd said what their father was expecting them to say. She laughed when Eliza wrinkled her nose and then said to their parents, "It's time to get out. Sorry Dad, I know."

"Go you two," Beckett said, unable to keep the laughter out of her voice.

"Katie?" Jim said to his daughter. When she turned to him he said, "We'll walk around here with Josie."

"She's awake?" Beckett said, going to the baby. She studied her and said, "That should be enough." She pressed her lips to her forehead telling her, "I love you Josie."

Doing the same a second later Castle said, "I love you _ceann beag_. We'll see you tomorrow." He smiled when their baby yawned and then wrapped his arm around his wife before they turned their attention to their daughters who were with the other kids, dodging the water shooting up from the ground.

"I'm glad we came," Beckett murmured.

"Me too," Castle said, unable to stop himself from kissing her temple. He was about to ask if she wanted to walk around when one of the other parents was speaking next to them.

"How are they doing?" Isaac said.

"They're not as homesick as they were at the beginning," Beckett said, knowing that was part of what the man was asking. "And with their dancing on the show, they are enjoying it though they do have the normal nervousness about it."

"And they're having fun," Castle commented as the cries from their kids were still reaching them.

Beckett watched the other parents laugh and then leave them after thanking them for watching their kids. She and her husband said a quick your welcome before she said to him, "I'm wondering if we're doing anything next week."

"We are," Skye said, walking up to them with a smile. "Though I'm not sure how this will work, but Marie and Kath are crazy about getting their little sisters to the San Diego Zoo before winter."

"We're driving down?" Castle asked.

"Flying," Skye said. When the two looked at each other she said, "It's only forty minutes, and then to the zoo from the airport it's only fourteen. It's the quickest way."

"Who will we fly with?" Beckett said.

"Southwest, it's a new route they opened," Skye said. "But we'd need to leave at seven thirty. The zoo's open from nine to five."

"Old Town?" Castle asked.

"That or Point Loma," Skye replied. "But perhaps both."

"I was going to say," Beckett said. "They'll want to see the shops."

"I think you mean the candy store," Skye said with a laugh. "I'll tell the parents, but we'll see if they can join us."

Beckett nodded with her husband and when the investigator had left she said, "Should we tell them?"

"Not yet," Castle said as they were watching their kids. He squeezed her shoulder gently and then turned, pressing his lips to her temple. "I love you Kate," he murmured to her.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett told him with a smile though she was keeping her voice down. She shared a quick kiss with him, staying close to him though they'd parted as they were staring at each other. For a moment she thought they would kiss again when Eliza was crying out and running over to them. She squeezed her husband's hand with another smile and turned her attention with him to their daughters to continue through Citywalk and to finish their day together.


	27. Till Your Dream Appears

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Loveliest Thing_ , by Paul McCartney, _You Belong to Me_ , by Chilton Price, Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart, the version I've taken from is sung by Ringo Starr on his album _Stop and Smell the Roses_ and _Queenie Eye_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _New_.

A/N #2: Great getting the feedback for the last chapter and I'll get into my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Glad you thought it was great writing. And I'm really pleased to see you like how new characters are coming into the story too!) and

Mb (It was nice seeing that you thought the first half of the chapter was a sweet update. And I'm glad you thought it was good since them having fun at Universal and the differences between the two parks. I wasn't surprised you were happy the other parents got the chance to stay a little longer so they could go to the park too. I'm happy that you thought it was nice that Derek and a couple of the other stars and dancers went too to spend time away from the show to have fun. The tram ride is a lot of fun and can be scary for the first time on it you're right, but it does an awesome job watching the effects they use for movies. And I always am unsettled in the earthquake building so I figured Castle and Beckett would recall the earthquake from their past lives so you're right about it shaking you a bit. Happy to read you thought it was a nice filler chapter. You're welcome for the first half! I was very glad to see that you thought the second half of the chapter was nicely done. And I'm glad that you enjoyed the full day at Universal with them enjoying the park along with being family and friends. Okay, so I was wondering why you kept saying Disneyland but now I know why. Universal Studios is a completely different company of course so they're separate parks and I suppose you'd say rivals since they do try to one up each other with each new ride or area to their parks. Now Universal Studios Hollywood has an upper and lower lot; as the map will say when you have it; since it's built on a hill and they didn't have all that much space. And yeah not much rides but what they have I did love last time I went… well that was because I'd bought my Ravenclaw robes and interactive wand, though for me I'm a Disneyland girl, lol, more my speed. Anyways, you're right though about Disneyland being limited with its space versus Disney World, but that's what happens when the only theme park in the area before Disneyland opened was Knott's and I'm sure Anaheim didn't put much into the theme park idea. But I love the size of the park still since it feels more compact I suppose is the best way to describe it, when you're there it's like another world and man I want to go back, lol, talking about it now (unfortunately with Galaxy's Edge; the Star Wars themed land if you hadn't heard the name; opening in a few months that's not going to happen for a few years). Anyways, I had to laugh at your reaction to Eliza wanting Castle and Beckett to feed each other as they did. But to me it was just her wanting them to do that as a loving gesture; like she asks them to kiss, lol. Great you thought the second half was wonderfully written. And you're welcome for the second half!).

Thank you for the reviews, I loved reading them all and I'm grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _You Belong to Me_ , the information in the A/N above.

'Till Your Dream Appears

"I don't think they're back yet love," Castle told his wife as he watched her.

Sighing, since she wasn't surprised her husband had caught her looking at her watch, Beckett said, "No but I can't help hoping."

"She'll be fine," Castle said reassuringly. "Meanwhile our youngest wants you."

"And did she tell you that?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"Sure," Castle replied, handing her the baby quickly.

Shaking her head, Beckett kissed Josie's temple and said, "Is that true sweetie?"

"Ahah," the baby vocalized.

"Nice, she's getting better at that," Castle commented.

"But she didn't say a word," Beckett told him teasingly.

"Not yet but soon," Castle replied. "Once she gets those chompers in. What?" he asked when he saw the way his wife was looking at him.

"Never mind," Beckett said laughingly, shaking her head. She heard their daughter whimpering and asked him, "Where's her mitten?"

"Um… not here," Castle said. When she continued staring at him he said, "Max decided to take it."

Sighing Beckett said, "And the spare?"

"I have it," Martha said, coming down the stairs in the front of the house. "Max seemed to think it was his toy."

"At least we have the spare," Beckett said, having to pause before speaking as Josie had started to cry. She took the mitten with the silicone at the end and gave it to the baby, watching her to make sure that she would calm down with it to chew on.

"Good thing we bought a bunch of those," Castle said, he and his mother watching her as well.

"I know," Beckett replied with a smile. Early in the morning of that day, the nineteenth, Martha had woken up to Josie crying and had discovered the baby was cutting her first tooth. Her mother in law hadn't let her and Castle know of it until they'd come in for breakfast and she was still trying to get the woman to let them take the baby to the guest house. But she wasn't surprised her mother in law wasn't budging from her insistence that Josie wasn't waking anyone up or bothering her. She wasn't pushing the issue, but she was determined to have the baby stay with them soon so they would be able to care for their daughter as well. She shook herself of her thoughts and asked, "What did Max do exactly with the other mitten?"

"It doesn't matter," Martha told her. "You just said you bought a bunch," she reminded her son before he nodded and then spoke.

"He chewed up the mitten," Castle told her. "Not the end, just the fabric part."

"I didn't think he'd gotten to the end of it," Beckett replied. "Since if he had then we'd be taking Max to the vet."

Nodding his head Castle said, "And Eliza would be letting you know that he had too."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Beckett said with a smile. "Dad's working with her?"

"He is," Castle said, since their second youngest was having just one lesson that day for school.

"And they're finished," Martha commented, hearing her granddaughter running.

"Eliza," Castle called when the little girl appeared in the entry. He smiled when she stopped and said, "No running."

"I finished my lessons," Eliza said, beaming at them.

"We can tell," Beckett said in amusement as she looked at her father who was behind the little girl.

"How is she?" Jim asked when she saw the baby.

"Chewing away," Beckett said, smiling at Josie before she held the baby still while her husband was wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"When will Jules come home?" Eliza asked then, letting her little sister hold onto her index finger with her free hand.

"Soon," Beckett said, looking at her watch.

"Why didn't you get to go Mommy?" Eliza asked. "Mary did."

"Skye wanted her to be there," Beckett said with a slight smile. "I think she misses her." She wasn't surprised when her daughter frowned and told her, "It's how we can go to San Diego on Wednesday." She laughed outright when Eliza jumped up and down and said, "Where's everyone else?"

"Outside, they're gonna go play," the little girl said. Eliza squealed when her father picked her up and said, "Me too?"

"Definitely you too," Castle said as he set her on his hip.

Watching her little sister for a moment Eliza then asked, "Will Josa get to too?"

"If she wants to," Beckett said, smiling when the two turned to look at her. She led the way outside and they walked together to the backyard. She shook her head when her mother in law reached for the baby saying, "I want a little more time with her."

"Of course," Martha said before Eliza was pulling her to the backyard.

Beckett watched them with a smile before she then thought of her second oldest and how she was doing during the camera blocking. When Josie grabbed onto her hair she turned her attention to the baby, smiling as her husband came over to join them.

"Hey, are you okay love?" Castle asked her.

"I am," Beckett replied with a slight smile. "I'm just thinking of Julia."

"She's having fun… I'm sure," Castle said as he realized she might be nervous still about her dance that night.

"She is," Beckett said with a smile. "As long as she's dancing."

"And not in that dress just yet," Castle said. He was relieved when his wife laughed and then told her, "Want to play with them?"

"Of course," Beckett said, smiling at her father as he was walking up to them. She let Castle kiss Josie before she did the same and handed the baby to her father saying, "Let her watch us."

"I will," Jim assured her.

Feeling her husband taking her hand, Beckett waved to their baby before she turned her attention to the kids on the grass to join them in their game of badminton until they would prepare lunch for the dancers' return.

* * *

"Spin again?" Derek was saying to the four kids. He watched them and then said as he shook his head, "No, I think twice is enough."

"Do we need to do it again?" Clive asked.

"No, no, you're good," Derek said quickly. "But now we're going to need to start with ours."

"Do we keep these on?" Julia asked, holding up the side of her skirt.

"Yeah, you're wearing a skirt again," Derek said. "So you might as well."

Since the dancer was walking over to the crew to talk with them Mari asked, "Are you sure our costumes are good?"

"They are," Skye said with a smile.

"Are they going to bring the railing out here?" Peter then asked.

"Not until the episode," Skye told him. "Why?"

"Where will it be?" Peter said.

"Good thing you asked," Derek said as he was walking back to them. "We're going to start so we'll be standing up here," he told them, leading them up the steps. "And there'll be an old phonograph here which will be playing before Tristan will switch the record and the song will play."

"Just music before the song, right?" Mari asked.

"Just music," Derek said reassuringly, nodding his head. "And we'll start teaching you."

Skye took the boys and Derek the girls to the edge of the stage before they showed both the steps one at a time before Mari was jogging to where the phonograph would be.

"That's how he'll do it," Derek said with a nod as she mimicked flipping a record. "And then the rest of you will push us together and that's where we begin."

Going to where they knew the railing would be, Julia smiled as she watched Skye and Derek going through the steps of their Foxtrot. But that wavered a bit when the investigator slid slightly when they parted and were walking side by side with their arms swinging widely. She was going to call to her to ask Skye if she was alright when the two were continuing until they had finished for the cameras.

"Should we change that step?" Derek asked his partner when they were stepping off the dance floor.

"No, I just need to not step so far," Skye said.

" _Grá_ ," Mary said to her wife. " _Your leg_?" she asked her in Irish.

" _It's fine_ ," Skye told her reassuringly. She turned back to her partner and then asked, "Is that all?"

"That is, but let's try that one step one more time," Derek replied.

"Sure," Skye said, going back to her partner. She smiled at the kids; as the four had been standing around them while they'd talked; while they stepped off the dance floor and then turned to her partner. After he'd counted down they were dancing the steps before they parted, and they went across the dance floor, pleased when she was able to accomplish the walking without slipping.

"Great, just try to remember," Derek told her. "Now you can go."

"Thanks," Skye said. "We'll be back in time for the show."

"You better," Derek said jokingly.

Julia smiled as she and the kids said goodbye to the pro before Skye was taking them to the dressing rooms so they could change back into their street clothes. Finishing first she said to her friend, "The Foxtrot looks really good."

"I can't wait to hear it with music," Mari said from behind the screen.

"Me too," Julia replied.

"Are you ready for our dance?" Mari then asked.

"Yeah, I just hope those big skirts don't get in our way," Julia commented as she watched her friend come out from behind the screen. She smiled and said, "Hungry?" glad that the girl's stomach had started to growl.

Laughing softly Mari nodded and then said, "Very, you aren't? Breakfast was ages ago."

"Yeah, come on," Julia replied before they got their bags and then went out together into the hall to find the boys waiting there.

Skye, joining the four a second later, smiled as she studied them and said, "I suppose we'll need to hurry home,"

"You can tell we're hungry?" Peter asked her.

"Of course," Skye replied. "Now come on, it's time to go home."

"Why don't you let your daughters come here?" Mari asked the investigator.

"It's a bit too many," Skye said. "You lot need to be here now, so it's not a problem. But the girls… plus they're keeping Eliza company."

"You wouldn't want your sister to come?" Clive asked.

Shaking her head, as they were leaving the building to go out to the parking lot, Julia said, "She's not in the dances, so no it's okay. Anyway, she gets our parents all to herself."

"You're not jealous of that?" Mari asked.

"Are you of Dani right now?" Julia replied.

Shaking her head Mari said, "I don't think Dani realizes."

"Lizzy isn't alone," Julia said, shrugging her shoulders. "So I don't care."

"Come on girls," Mary said to the two. "Back to the house."

Julia hurried into the back of the car and then sat next to Mari before the car was driving away from the building. "Are you ready?" she called to Skye.

"I am," the investigator said. "Despite that mess up back during the practice." Skye smiled and then looked back at the girl saying, "You are, right?"

"Yeah," Julia said. When the investigator raised her eyebrow at her she grinned and said, "I hate that dress."

"I don't blame you, but it's just for one dance," Skye replied.

"Um… _grá_?" Mary said to her wife though she didn't look over at her while she was driving on the freeway.

"I know," Skye said in mock annoyance. "Sorry," she said to Julia. "I know I don't wear dresses on purpose, but you should think of the fact you might need to wear a dress like that in the future. If you and Peter continue to compete together…"

Julia, looking over her shoulder at her partner in the very back, smiled and said, "You don't like the tuxedo, do you?"

"Nope," Peter said, exaggerating the p in the word.

Laughing with her friends Julia then said, "Then you'd have to dance wearing that too."

"Well… if it's for the dance…" Peter said before they were laughing together again.

When they got off the freeway in Santa Monica, Julia looked eagerly out the window for the familiar homes leading to the McDouglas home. Pulling down the driveway she glanced around the front yard to make sure her sister wasn't playing there before they made it to the backyard.

"Hello," Jim said to his granddaughter as she came out of the car on the driver's side first.

"Where's everyone?" Julia asked in surprise since the yard was empty.

"Inside, your parents are taking care of lunch remember?" Jim told her.

"Oh… but the kids?" Julia asked.

"Your little sister is about to feed your sister her lunch," Jim said. "And your dad is giving the others a cooking lesson."

Laughing softly Julia asked as they were heading to the porch, "And Mom?"

"She's taking care of the other items," Jim said. "And your gram is helping Eliza."

"Cool," Julia said though she wanted to help feeding Josie. She was first through the sliding door and she gasped a little when she nearly ran into her mother, recovering quickly and throwing her arms around her tightly. "Hi Mom!" she said eagerly.

"Hey, how was it?" Beckett asked, hugging her daughter back before she had her get out of the way so the others could enter the house.

"Fun but I hope we can do the dance," Julia commented smiling at her sisters.

"Did you want to feed her?" Martha asked, seeing the look on the girl's face.

"Just once?" Julia asked, turning her attention to Eliza fully.

At first the little girl wanted to say no to her, but she finally paused and looked at her grandmother. With the smile that Martha gave her Eliza nodded before she watched as her big sister was rushing to wash her hands. She looked at Josie, who was putting her fist in her mouth, and she said, "No Josa!" taking it away.

"She's hungry," Beckett said, kissing the baby's forehead to distract her.

"I'm ready!" Julia said, hurrying back to them. "What's she eating today?"

"Carrot and then peach," Beckett said.

"Could I feed her the peach too?" Julia asked Eliza.

"Yeah," the little girl said with a smile as she handed her the spoon for their sister.

"Thank you," Julia said getting a little of the carrot food for the baby. "Okay Josa, this is the good veggie," she told her. "Time to eat." She was careful holding the spoon to Josie's lips, hoping she would let her put the spoon in her mouth. She finally slipped it past her lips and watched with her sister as the baby was moving her mouth.

"Oh good," Eliza said as the baby was opening and closing her hands and they could tell her mouth was empty as she smiled.

"Here," Julia said with a smile as she handed the spoon to Eliza. "Have fun."

Wrinkling her nose at her sister, since she'd already had the experience of their baby sister getting food onto her cheek from her tiny hand, Eliza got some of the carrots and started to feed Josie. "What is it?" she then asked her grandmother as she brushed her hair away from her cheek.

"You're doing very well kiddo," Martha said simply.

"Yeah?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Of course," Martha replied. She saw the slight frown on her granddaughter's face and asked her, "What's wrong?"

"Would I be a good mommy?" Eliza whispered. "When I'm a lady?"

Martha smiled and stopped the little girl from feeding the baby to kiss her cheek before she told her, "I think so sweetie. But that won't be for a long time."

Nodding Eliza said, "That's why I whispered."

"For your father?" Martha asked her.

"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding. She giggled when her grandmother hugged her and said, "Thank you Gram."

"You're welcome, keep going," Martha told her.

"Hey Julia," Castle told his daughter when she hugged him tightly. "You're a little late for the cooking lesson."

"Was it fish tacos?" the girl asked. When her father nodded she smiled and said, "I already had that lesson."

"That's true," Castle said with a nod. "Did you have fun?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Julia replied. "We're ready. For both dances."

"Good, I can't wait," Castle replied. "Oh, your sister called me before I started to cook," he said as he set the fish on the tacos. "She wants to try talk to us once we get home."

"It won't be too late for her?" Julia asked.

"If we get back at our normal time then no," Beckett said, coming over to them. She smiled as the pair looked at her and said, "Let's get to the tables."

"Where will we talk to her?" Julia asked her parents as she took some forks that her mother handed her to take to the table.

"Here at home," Beckett said. Glancing at her daughter she wasn't surprised when she saw the slight frown on her face and told her, "She knows we stay at the studio for a while before we come home. She wants you to."

"She's right, but she wants to talk to us really quickly," Castle said, following them outside.

"Do you think she may be able to come out here soon?" Jim asked the two before they passed him on the patio.

With a quick shake of her head Beckett said, "Unfortunately no, she's still busy working with the child she is."

"I'm glad the doctors let her take over," Julia said. She then paused and said, "And the parents too."

"Hopefully she can help them," Castle said, smiling when the girl nodded rapidly.

The group gathered outside at the tables on the patio after that, getting their drinks and then sitting together before they began to eat. They were talking soon after, but they were all joining in one conversation after the few that started as the kids wanted to talk about their upcoming trip to San Diego. Mari was soon asking a question about that, in relation to the episode both that night and the next week, making them all look together at the investigator while the girl was speaking.

"What if there are two dances next week?" Mari said.

"I'm not sure," Skye said. "We're not told until after the episode of course. But since it'll be week seven I imagine it's about the time to get to double dances." She shook herself of her musing and then said, "I did invite Derek to come with us, so we'll be able to practice a bit."

"Where?" Marie asked.

"Smart aleck," Skye said though she was soon smiling at her daughter. "Wherever it's flat." She saw the boys and Mari were looking confused and she said, "You'll see once we go."

"Speaking of that," Mary said as she saw that they had finished the meal. She stood up and then told her wife, "Come on."

"But-" Skye began.

"We'll take care of it," Beckett assured her friend. She smiled when the investigator nodded her thank you and she watched the pair leave before she turned to the kids so they could begin cleaning up.

* * *

"I really don't know why you dragged me up here," Skye was telling her wife while she was undressing. "We could have stayed downstairs with everyone to help."

"Believe me when I say they can handle it," Mary commented. "And stop talking about the others."

"I only just brought it up," Skye said jokingly, walking in. When she saw her wife glance up and then pause to look over her body appreciatively she told her, "I had a feeling."

"Not yet though," Mary said easily. She stood up once she had turned off the water and said, "You need to relax first."

Wrinkling her nose at her wife for a moment, Skye took off her robe that she hadn't closed though she was naked underneath. She paused and then asked her, "Well?"

"Uh-uh, you're on your own," Mary said.

"And you're mean," Skye said in amusement though she was going over to the tub. She slipped inside it and leaned back with her arms on the sides saying, "There are times I wish it was the final week."

"Getting tired?" Mary asked.

"Mmm," was Skye's response before she ducked underneath the water. She stayed under for a bit and then came back up, reaching for her face to wipe away the water. When she opened her eyes she jumped a bit, startled finding her wife next to the tub before Mary was pressing her first two fingers to her lips to keep her from speaking.

"I know you hate when I do this, but I love it," the doctor said with a slight smile on her lips. "Lean over."

Skye sighed and said, "I like it, but you realize I can take care of myself."

"Relax _grá_ ," Mary told her firmly as she started to wash her wife's back. After she had cleaned it thoroughly she moved to her shoulders and had her lean back. "What would you like?" she then said.

"First don't go below my waist," Skye told her wife.

"Are you sure?" Mary asked teasingly.

"For now," Skye replied simply though her voice was shaky as her wife was soaping her breasts. "Okay, _grá_ , please," she said when Mary didn't stop. She pulled her hand away and said, "I'll wash my hair now."

"I will," the doctor said simply.

Rolling her eyes, Skye let her wife help her with her hair and once it was completely cleaned she stood up to take her towel from her wife. "What?" she asked as she saw the way she was looking at her.

Shaking her head, Mary watched her dry herself off until she was wrapping the towel around herself. As soon as she had her hands away from her body, she was grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close. "I can't wait," she told her seriously.

"Come on," Skye replied with a smile, pulling her out to their bed. As soon as they were next to it she wasn't surprised when her wife pulled at her towel and let it come off her until she felt Mary's arms around her from behind. "We don't have all that much time _grá_ ," she reminded her.

"I know," the doctor said with a sigh. She had her wife climb on the bed and once Skye was laying down Mary took off her clothes, going quickly as she suddenly found them stifling. As she got up on the bed with her wife she ran her hand over her left leg asking her, "Are you okay?"

"Of course," Skye said quickly. She wrapped her arms around her wife and then kissed her deeply before their tongues started to roll around one another until Mary pulled away. She wasn't surprised when her wife rubbed her clit and she sighed before saying in French, " _I'd prefer your tongue_."

" _I had a feeling_ ," Mary replied with a smile. " _And I'd like the same_."

" _Believe me, you'll get it_ ," Skye said in a rush as her wife hadn't stopped touching her. She moaned softly as her fingers slid down to her folds and she reached up to the pillow under her head. Her eyes were closed so it was a shock, when she arched her back, to feel her wife's mouth on her left breast. " _Grá_ ," she managed to say in a slightly strangled tone.

Mary, looking up at her, didn't say anything and instead focused on both mounds, sucking fervently at her nipples until Skye was pushing at her shoulder. Breathing a little roughly she looked at each nub and the way both were extremely red. "I love them," she told her wife.

Skye could feel her cheeks were on fire and she then reached up to her, cupping her wife's face telling her, "I feel the same about yours."

Leaning over a little, Mary captured her wife's lips with her own before they parted, and she said, "Later." With that she then leaned down and kissed her one more time before she moved away and proceeded to trail her lips down her body until she had reached her clit. She glanced up at her wife for a moment and then proceeded to take the heavily swollen nub between her lips, sucking at it immediately as she was getting a vocal reaction from her wife.

Crying out heavily, Skye was clutching at the pillow, moving her hips instinctively while her wife's mouth was going all over her sex. She was a little lost in her pleasure, feeling Mary stopping a few times until she felt her body inching closer to her release. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as her orgasm struck her, crying her wife's name once before she was trying to handle everything she was giving her. She wasn't sure how long she was feeling the waves of pleasure going through her, only when it fully stopped, and she was limp on the bed but heavily gratified. She smiled and licked at her lower lip; tasting her wife there; when she was more recovered and then pushed herself up. "You're eager _grá_ ," she said, running her fingers through her wife's hair.

Groaning into Skye's thigh; where her face was pressed; Mary said, "I love doing that to you."

"I know," the investigator said, touching her shoulder. Relived when her wife pushed herself up, Skye grabbed her and moved her so she was laying down. As soon as her back was on the bed she kissed her, doing so gently before she went down to her breasts. She nuzzled her nipples and then began to take them with her mouth, much as Mary had done to her. She did her best to make sure she pulled away after a short amount of time and without any hesitation went between her legs. As she was pleasuring her wife thoroughly, she made a mental note to ask her to repeat their bout that night. Thinking of getting to do it again she was doubling her efforts and taking great pleasure listening to Mary's reactions, knowing they would need to be together once more.

* * *

"Amam," Josie was vocalizing.

"Don't say it," Beckett told her husband.

"What?" Castle said defensively. When his wife just looked at him he grinned and said, "She is speaking backwards." He wasn't surprised when she bowed her head and said, "You're going to get your hair wet," quickly.

"It'll dry," Beckett said simply. She turned her attention to Josie, in her tub, and said, "I'm sorry sweetie your daddy is…"

"Oh… should I be worried you won't finish that?" Castle commented jokingly. When he saw the smirk on his wife's face he shuddered inwardly and then kissed at the side of her head.

"Thank you," Beckett said when he handed her the baby's shampoo. "You're sure you don't want to take over?"

"You're fine," Castle said simply. He smiled when his wife glanced at him and told her, "Really, she's enjoying this bath I don't want to pause it."

Beckett shook her head before she heard footsteps behind her, looking to see that it was Skye and Mary. "Did you take a nap?" she asked.

"No, just laid down on the bed," the investigator said. "You could tell?"

"You mentioned this is week six, that's a long time," Beckett replied.

Skye nodded before she looked down at Josie in the tub and said, "They're outside?"

"On a walk with the dogs," Castle said. "Your dad arrived and he's out with them too."

"We'll head to the front to wait for them," Mary said, taking her wife's hand and not realizing that the writer was watching them as they walked to the entry.

"Rick," Beckett said to him.

"You think they realize they have a tell?" Castle told his wife, turning to her quickly to see if she needed anything.

"Probably, but they don't call attention to it," Beckett said wryly before she finished rinsing off the baby's body after washing her with soap. She took her out and carefully handed her to Castle, following her husband to the stairs and up until they were in Martha's room. She watched him drying the baby off before taking her to the changing table to put a new diaper on her and then into her top and pants. "Come here," she said to the baby, taking her into her arms. "Are you ready to go play?" she asked Josie.

Hearing the baby laughing, Castle couldn't help doing the same and asked, "What was that for?" as he came out into the bedroom from washing his hands quickly.

"Who knows," Beckett said with a smile. She kissed their youngest's cheek before she let Castle lead her out and she went to the right instead of the left. "No comment?" she asked her husband.

"Not really, I figured you'd want to catch them as they came in," Castle replied. "And take her outside," he said, smiling at the baby as she was doing so over her mother's shoulder.

"Exactly," Beckett said, opening the front door and stepping out onto the porch as Skye was turning to the house.

"Oh, she's all clean?" the investigator said, walking with her wife over to the steps.

"She is," Beckett replied. "They're not back yet?"

"I would imagine they went a bit far," Skye said.

"On purpose," Mary said in amusement. "But-" she started to say before they heard the door in the wall around the house opening before Fleur and Eliza were running in. "Girls," she said at the same time as Beckett.

"Hi Mommy!" Eliza said, hurrying over to her parents. "Did Josa have her bath?"

"She did," Beckett replied with a smile. "How was your walk?"

"Fun, the dogs pulled us all over," Julia said with a smile. "How long do we have left?"

"Not much," Castle said, looking at his watch. He then said, "Unless you want to stay?"

Making a face at him Julia said, "We'll play with her tomorrow… We'll have the chance to, right?"

"You will," Beckett said with a smile. "But for now, run around with them," she said, since the other kids and the dogs were doing so. She felt Josie grabbing her hair and she took the baby's hand, kissing it gently before she went to where there was a clear patch of grass. She sat down and smiled at her husband as he joined her telling him, "You can go with them."

Shaking his head Castle said, "I want to spend as much time with her as I can."

"Where did you get those?" Beckett asked with a smile as he was throwing one of Josie's foam shapes up and down.

"I grabbed them," Castle said easily before he handed the shape to Josie. He wasn't surprised when she brought it up to her mouth and he carefully took it before she was whimpering. "Hold on," he told her before he leaned over, kissing her. He laughed with his wife when the baby smacked his cheek before he said, "Point taken," giving the shape back as he sat up before his wife was squeezing his arm.

"I need to take a shower," Beckett told her husband when he looked at her questioningly.

"So do I," Castle replied before he looked at his watch. "How'd you know?"

"I'm wearing one too," Beckett told him teasingly as she had on her father's watch.

"Okay," Castle said, standing up and taking Josie once his wife held her up to him. He kissed her cheek and at her brief vocalization he said, "Now you get to spend time with your grandparents."

"We'll be back soon," Beckett told her father as her husband was handing the baby to him. She wasn't surprised when he merely nodded as he was holding Josie close and she took her husband's hand so they could hurry to the guesthouse after their daughter and her friends rushed to the main house. As they made their way into the shower she touched her husband's arm and told him, "We have tonight."

Since his wife had said that in a firm tone of voice, Castle nodded and followed her into the stall. They took a shower without doing anything more than helping each other bathe and he changed in the bedroom while his wife was still in the bathroom. He sat at the end of the bed waiting for her, standing up as soon as the door opened and she stepped out.

"Rick," Beckett said simply at her husband's reaction. "You've seen me wear this before."

"Yes," Castle said slowly, unable to help letting his gaze linger over her. "But the last time you were I was about to make love to you."

Beckett smiled and said, "I knew that was a risk. Should I change?"

"No," Castle said quickly. "You look great and I'll keep myself under control."

"Good," Beckett told him seriously before she kissed him briefly on the lips. When he grabbed her arms, she wasn't surprised as her white blouse was sheer at the arms of it and she told him, "Easy."

Groaning Castle let her go before he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close against him. "You look amazing."

"Thank you," Beckett said with a smile. "I'm sorry I'm not wearing my boots with this."

"It's alright," Castle told her quickly as he gave her black heels a brief look. "You still look great."

Giving him a gentle kiss, Beckett told him firmly, "We need to go." She was smiling again when he breathed out hard before he let her go and she told him, "You look great yourself."

"Thanks," Castle replied with a smile. He leaned down to her and they kissed tenderly before they went down the stairs together. When they were heading up to the main house he held her hand tightly, walking with her over the grass he squeezed it gently, smiling at her before they reached their family and friends to begin making their way to the show.

* * *

"Argh."

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked her daughter with a smile.

"Yeah," Julia said, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She sighed and turned to her mother saying, "I feel weird."

"You've seen pictures of official competitions sweetie," Beckett said gently, as the ballgown had a wider skirt than her daughter liked. "But you look beautiful." She smiled when Julia just shrugged; seeing herself at that age doing that; and she pulled her daughter to her, hugging her carefully as she didn't want to wrinkle the ice blue fabric.

"Thanks," Julia said when they let go of each other. She then smiled and said, "What will Dad say?"

"He's not going to like it," Beckett said. "But he knows it's just for this dance."

"He knows I'm going to keep dancing right," Julia said before she was distracted by her friend coming from around the screen. "Do you need help?"

"Yeah, the zipper," Mari said with a smile.

"Your dad knows you'll be dancing for a long time," Beckett said simply, smiling a little at Julia pulling the zipper up on the dress that Mari was wearing. It was the same as her daughter's and she thought the two looked very cute standing together. Her attention was caught by their hair; which was loose; and she was about to stand to tell them she would take care of it when there was a knock on the dressing room door.

"I'll get it," Julia said quickly.

"Mom!" Mari cried when she saw Rebecca on the other side once her friend had opened it. She rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her as tightly as she could, hugging her for some time before she pulled away slowly. "Dad, Dani!" she said as the two were in the hall behind her mother.

"You look great Mari," David said as he hugged his daughter. "And grown up."

Laughing softly Mari said, "I'm still your little girl Dad."  
"I know, I just wasn't expecting this dress," David told her.

"You look great too Julia," Rebecca told her. "You're not enjoying that dress, are you?"

Shaking her head Julia said, "No but I'll still dance in it."

"Of course," Rebecca said with a laugh, watching hers and David's daughters embracing. "Their hair?"

"I was just about to do it," Beckett answered. "Isaac and Genevieve are here?"

"They're with the boys," David answered as they went into the room and he closed the door behind them. "I'm assuming getting their hair done."

"Did you see them?" Mari asked.

"They're in their tuxedos?" Julia asked, though she was wondering what he'd meant by getting their hair done.

"Yes, and they need their hair slicked back," David replied.

"Stay still," Beckett told her daughter as she had been brushing her hair. She smiled when Julia suddenly became serious and she was quick to finished getting her hair smooth enough for her to put up into a bun. When she finished, with faux diamond barrettes the costuming department had given her, she said, "What do you think?"

"It's pretty," Julia said, startled as she was looking at herself in the mirror. She wasn't expecting how grown up she'd look, and she realized it made her look a little more like her mother with the shape of her cheekbones, wondering if Beckett had noticed.

"Sweetheart you look beautiful," Castle said, having slipped into the room then. He smiled when his and Beckett's second oldest straightened up and looked at his reflection before she was jumping out of her chair as she spoke.

"Dad!" Julia cried, hurrying to him and hugging him tightly.

"I'm not kidding," Castle said, holding her tightly. When they let each other go he held her by her shoulders and said, "You look even more like your mom."

"I thought so too," Julia said with a smile as they looked at Beckett.

"I noticed," she replied with a smile, moving out of the way of Rebecca. Walking to her husband and daughter Beckett said, "But we're not going to be doing this all the time."

"I still look like you," Julia pointed out.

"You were gifted with those cheekbones," Castle said.

"Rick," Beckett said gently though firmly as her husband's gaze was a little too intense on just her while they were with their daughter and friends. She knew he was talking directly to her; instead of both her and Julia; and she needed him to remember they weren't alone.

Forcing himself to look away, Castle smiled when he saw that Mari was covering her face while her mother was putting her hair up. He turned his attention to Julia and saw that she was watching her friend with a smile on her face as well.

"You can look now Mari," David said, squeezing his daughter's shoulder.

"Look!" Dani cried.

Julia, hearing her friend's gasp, rushed over to her and said, "You look really pretty, perfect to dance the Waltz."

Looking down at her, Mari smiled and climbed down so she could hug her friend, "You look pretty too," she whispered to him. "And thank you. I hope they don't remember-"

"Girls," Beckett said.

Groaning, Julia and Mari laughed together before they let go of each other and then went together to Beckett who was holding out their gloves for the costume.

"I wonder why Derek picked these," Julia said with a sigh as her mother helped her pull on the first elbow length glove.

"Knock," the pro said, smiling as the girls whirled around to him. "Sort of a nostalgic thing. But if you want to take them off then that's alright."

Sharing a look with her friend Julia said, "No, we'll keep them on. We're sorta doing a traditional dance in Vienna aren't we?"

"You are," Derek said before he looked behind her. "You're ready?"

"Very," Skye said with a smile. "Caught these two," she said jokingly as she took Peter and Clive by their arms.

"Doing what?" Isaac said, with Genevieve behind the two boys.

"Walking," Skye said, smiling when everyone laughed.

"So… you're going on safari," David commented.

"Not to hunt," Derek said.

"Oh no, to observe," Skye replied. "Or… what say you, the Nile?"

"Yeah!" the four kids said eagerly before they began to laugh together. They then hugged their parents, who promised they'd be sitting to the right of the judges table and learned Skye and Derek would be dancing last that night before they went with the pair to get their makeup done.

As soon as they'd entered the room, Skye gasped and then ran to the man that was talking with Tom saying, "You made it."

"Is that-" Clive started to say.

"Yeah," Julia said happily, hurrying to Ringo.

"Hullo again," the drummer said with a smile. "You're dancing as well."

"Did Skye tell you?" Julia asked, beaming at him.

"She did," Ringo replied as he hugged the girl with one arm when she did so to him. "You remember Barbara."

"Yeah, I'm happy to see you came too," Julia said shyly, hoping that didn't sound stupid.

"Where are your parents?" the actress asked.

"Out at the ballroom already. Oh, you should go so you can dance," Julia said.

"What about your partners, haven't met them yet," Ringo reminded her.

Smiling Julia and Mari introduced their partners and the former said, "Do you know what we'll dance to?"

"Both your songs," Ringo said, speaking quickly as one of the makeup ladies was calling to the group. "We'll see you."

"Break a leg," Barbara said.

Watching the couple leaving Clive asked, "Wasn't she in a James Bond movie?"

"She was," Skye said.

"Oh… my dad will be happy to meet her," Clive explained as he, Peter and Derek were getting onto chairs. "He loves those movies."

"My dad too," Mari said, Julia nodding in agreement. She then looked at Skye and asked, "Are you comfortable?"

"Surprisingly yes," the investigator said with a smile. She had her costume for hers and Derek's dance on already, a safari style outfit from the 1920's. It was all khaki, consisting of just below the knee wide trousers and a jacket in the same fabric. She had a white shirt and tie under the jacket, the tie a deep blue with thin white stripes, and she was wearing knee high lace up boots. "I'm not sure," she said as she noticed Julia was looking at her shoes. "We'll find out."

"Shouldn't you have practiced in those before today?" Mari asked.

"I did, when you guys weren't there to watch," Skye said with a smile.

"Girls," Derek said to get their attention.

"So you're not going to be with us?" Peter asked the dancer.

"We'll both be on the side to watch you," Derek told him. "Are you comfortable?" he asked with a smile as the boy was running his finger under his collar.

"Sorta," Peter said with a frown. "I can't wait until we wear the safari clothes like yours."

"I don't blame you," Derek said with a slight laugh. He was wearing khaki trousers and a white shirt with a faux leather jacket over it. "If I had a fedora…" he said jokingly as Skye and the girls were getting off their chairs.

"You still wouldn't look like Indiana Jones," the investigator commented with a smile. "Those boots?" she asked him as he was wearing knee high lace up boots himself. She laughed when he wrinkled his nose and they went together to the Sky Box so they could drop off the kids as it was nearing time for the episode to begin.

"Are you guys alright?" Derek asked the four.

"Yep, we have a good view," Peter said with a smile.

"Alright, we'll be right back up since we're last," Skye told them.

"Have fun," Julia said with a smile. When they were alone she said with a sigh, "I wish we were a little closer to the start."

"Me too," Mari said, squeezing her hand. "Should we practice?"

"It's a little hard," Clive said.

"Yeah, with that music going on…" Peter commented since it was playing for the people on the dance floor. He then smiled and said, "We know it though."

"You're just waiting for Derek to come back," Julia told him teasingly.

"Definitely," Peter said seriously before he looked at his partner and they started to laugh with their friends as the dance floor was clearing below them, the show about to begin.


	28. Till Your Dream Appears (Part 2)

Feeling her husband squeeze her hand Beckett smiled at him and said, "She's fine."

"I know, I just really hope that she'll be alright with her dress," Castle said.

"She will," Beckett reassured him. When he glanced at her she smiled and said, "They're there, I don't want her to see us concerned for her."

Turning to look at the dance floor, Castle smiled seeing that Julia was there with the other three and Derek. He waved with his wife at their daughter and he watched as the pro was giving them some last minute instructions; he assumed. He was about to ask Beckett if she thought it was much longer until the show was back when the music was playing.

"Welcome back," Tom said. "Next up is the second of our exhibition dances, brought back by demand from the viewers. Dancing the Viennese Waltz, the quartet of dancers from the Grey Dance Studio in the Hamptons."

Julia, standing next to Mari with their partners across from them, waited a little breathlessly before the sound of Paul counting off played and she and her friend curtsied to the boys before they bowed. At the first lyric she and Mari stepped forward and got into hold with their partners, immediately performing the basic waltz step for the rest of the verse as they were going around in the middle of the dance floor.

 _To me you are the loveliest thing I've seen all day  
You can't take that away  
No, you can't take that away_

At the second verse the girls picked up their skirts slightly while the boys spun them both around together until they were standing next to each other. On the last lyric they then spun Julia and Mari under their arms before they were dancing again into the next verse.

 _All my life I wondered why it couldn't be this way  
That was up until today  
Oh, it had to be this way_

Beckett was surprised when the pair got out of their hold at the first lyric of the verse, the boys holding onto the girls' waists so they were side by side and doing the steps that way until they were spinning Julia and Mari. She smiled when they got back into hold and were dancing normally for a bit more.

 _You seem to have a friendlier smile than all the rest  
Well I looked and you were best  
Yeah, I've looked at all the rest_

When the second lyric of the next verse began Peter and Clive spun Julia and Mari out and then did extensions of their arms that took them into another side by side spin. When they turned back to each other it was the last lyric and they were dancing together once more in a normal hold.

 _You can't imagine passionate words that I would say  
If only you would stay  
Oh, you know you gotta stay_

Beckett was surprised at the instrumental that began to play, though she knew it was more so they could focus on the lyrics that weren't about the lover leaving the singer. And watching the two pairs begin to alternate between their spin and standard steps, she was amazed the two girls weren't growing dizzy. But they managed to let go of one another and begin walking the rest of the way to the other end of the dance floor without any problems, getting back into hold right when the first lyric of the next verse began. They danced the standard steps through the rest of it, before walking hand in hand until they were even with the judge's table.

 _To me you are the loveliest thing I've seen all day  
And you can't take that away  
No, you can't take that away_

As she and Mari let the boys swing them gently before they slid in front of them, Julia made sure her foot stayed on the floor. At the second lyric Peter was helping her up while Clive was doing the same with Mari and they were being spun before getting back into hold. They danced the rest of the verse and with the instrumental that had been placed at the end she and Mari went up the steps while their partners were standing behind them, holding up their hand to them while they went.

 _But all my life I wondered why it couldn't be this way  
That was up until today  
Yeah, it had to be this way_

As soon as the music stopped, Julia went to Mari and hugged her as tightly as she could saying, "We did it!"

"Yeah, and we didn't trip on our skirts," the girl said with a laugh in response before they let go of each other and went down the stairs in a rush to their partners.

"Guys," Derek said, going to the group as they were jumping up and down together. "They want to talk to you very quickly."

Waving to her mother, Julia hurried with the others to the table and they waited for Tom to speak. She couldn't help looking at their families; since they were so close; and waved hurriedly again to them all.

"Now we need to move to Jonathon and Whitney, but I just want the judges to have a chance to say what they thought," the co-host was saying. "Carrie-Ann?"

"That was an interesting mix of a standard Viennese Waltz and a bit more of what's done here in this ballroom," the judge said. "But you handled it well. And thank you for making sure your feet were on the floor."

"We made sure," Julia said, Mari nodding rapidly at the same time.

"Bruno," Tom said as he was laughing with the others and some in the audience.

"Ah, that was like two princesses meeting their prince charmings," he said. Bruno laughed at the wrinkled noses of all four and told them, "I suppose not but you gave it the appearance of that. You're very good at your steps and I do have to commend you on your extensions; all of you."

"And Len?" Tom said to the judge in the middle.

"That takes me back," he said. "But you did a very good job with your basic steps. Thank you, Derek, for making these steps a proper Viennese Waltz, good for the kiddies to learn now. Wonderful job."

Laughing for a moment, Julia said thank you with her friends before she was surprised when Tom was talking to them and not throwing it to Jonathon and Whitney.

"Are you four enjoying dancing here with us?" the co-host asked.

"Yeah," Peter said first.

"It's fun," Clive said.

"And we have great songs too!" Mari said before they were all laughing together.

"And a great teacher," Julia said, smiling at Derek. She was startled when some people in the audience were making awe sounds and she blushed as she hadn't expected that reaction. She felt the dancer squeeze her shoulder from behind, smiling at him again before Tom was turning the attention to the next pair dancing. She breathed out and said, "I meant that."

"I know, and I'm glad you said it," Derek replied. "Lets them know I'm not slacking," he said, smiling as the kids were laughing. "Go to your parents, let them know that you need to change," he told them before he went to the end of the stairs to the Sky Box.

"You did great sweetie," Beckett said as Julia hugged her first.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at her father. She hugged him and her little sister before she went to her grandparents. Going back to her mother Julia told her, "I need to change."

"Okay," Beckett said, having been expecting that. "Let's go now." She squeezed her husband's hand in passing and hurried with her daughter and the others as Skye and Derek were going to be after Jonathon and Whitney. "Hopefully next time they'll give a little time in between the dances," she said to Rebecca while they were helping their daughters change and taking their hair down from the buns they were in.

"We might have to request that," Mari's mother said.

"Mari," Julia said.

"What?" the girl asked.

"Do you like the outfit?" Julia asked her.

"Of course!" Mari said with a giggle. "I didn't think that Stella would make these."

"Yeah…" Julia said slowly.

"What is it sweetie?" Beckett asked her with a smile.

"Well… is that why we're not saying they're safari clothes?" Julia said to her.

"Yes," Beckett replied. "You'll see when you dance why Stella was happy to make these."

"Is it the Nile trip?" Mari asked as she stepped around the screen.

"You look cool," Julia told her friend with a smile. She then looked down at her calf length khaki skirt, blue and white striped shirt and dark khaki vest.

"You too," Mari said, her outfit the same except for her shirt which was green and white.

"Come on, we need to go," Beckett said, taking their hands. Stepping out they saw that the boys were with their parents and they hurried to join them and drop their kids off with Skye and Derek. "Break a leg," she said, kissing the top of Julia's head.

"Thanks," the girl said. She watched her mother going and said, "I hope they like this."

"They will, don't worry," Skye told her. "Remember we'll see those pyramids."

"I want to," Clive said. "For real."

"I don't blame you," Skye said.

"Have you been there?" Peter asked her.

"Yep," Skye replied as she and Derek were directed to go to the wing of the stage before their introduction video began. "It was a vacation and Mary and I went to Giza. "We looked at Luxor as well. It was quite nice."

"Did you feel anything there?" Julia asked.

"I couldn't, so much history and so many souls…" Skye said before waving her hand up and down. "So if you ever go, be very, very careful."

Julia nodded and said, "Don't we need to go to the Sky Box?"

Shaking his head Derek said, "We want you to stand with us, on either side."

"Does it matter how we stand?" Julia asked.

"However you want, just wave to the camera a bit," the dancer told them.

"Can we wave our hats?" Clive asked as he and Peter were wearing pith helmets with their khaki trousers and jackets.

"Go ahead," Derek said.

"Alright, here we go," Skye said. She wasn't surprised when hearing the pair before them finishing talking to the judges. She watched the two go to the Sky Box and murmured, "Hopefully they did well."

"What dance did they have?" Mari asked.

"The Jive, set in Scotland," Derek said.

"Really?" Peter asked.

"He's Scottish," Julia said quickly. "Remember he told us? And his brother wore a kilt when he got married."

"I guess he's really Scottish," Clive commented.

"He's quite proud of that," Skye told the boy, squeezing his shoulder before the judges were giving their scores. She nodded, seeing him getting two nines and an eight and she commented, "I would imagine the Scottish part helped."

"That and not wearing a kilt for this dance," Derek said.

"Great for the audience," Skye said before they laughed before one of the crew members was calling them to the side of the stage.

Beckett, having been watching the group, smiled when they stood in the spotlight as Tom introduced them. The kids were all waving as Skye and Derek were looking around the ballroom through spyglasses before they turned to one another and playfully jumped. She had to turn her attention to the screen, as the intro started to play with the investigator speaking about the song first thing.

"We are dancing to Ringo Starr's version of the song _You Belong to Me_ ," Skye said as the footage was of Derek showing her the box step. "I've been interested in the Foxtrot, since it's a bit more… relaxed than the Waltz."

"Relaxed?" Derek asked, the footage changing to him and his partner standing in the studio.

"Less in hold?" Skye suggested.

"Oh… you've wounded me," Derek said in tearfully though he was laughing when Skye pushed him away playfully.

With the footage switching between the pair practicing, Derek was saying, "Skye's taken to the steps of this one, but again I think it's because of the song. She's also taken to singing it a few times, which I'm enjoying don't get me wrong."

Castle glanced at his wife as the footage showed Skye and Derek walking together around the dance floor of the room they were in, the investigator suddenly singing and making her partner jump. They shared a smile, as it was very in character for their friend to do, and he held Beckett's hand while they looked back to the screen.

" _Send me photographs and souvenirs, just remember till your dream appears, you belong to me_ ," Skye sang. She saw that Derek was watching her and asked, "What?" When she saw that he was nodding behind her she whirled around to the door and cried out for a moment before saying, "Ringo!"

Beckett's eyes widened for a moment before she glanced down their row of seats to the drummer. They'd greeted him and Barbara quickly when they'd come to their seats just after they'd stopped dancing. She saw he was smiling and then looked back at the screen again as the drummer himself was speaking.

"I sang this song ages ago," Ringo was saying to Skye and Derek. "Got a few who don't really enjoy it, but it's a classic and I hope you can do it justice."

"We will," Skye said with a nod.

The footage then changed to Skye and Derek dancing again and the investigator saying, "It's imperative that we do well on this dance, not just to keep going in the competition but to make sure we do Ringo's vocals justice."

In the last scene Skye and Derek were completing a step before the dancer said, "Alright, now we've got it," and they gave each other a high five before the logo for the show went over the screen and the music played.

Smiling; as the pair and the kids had moved to the 'ship railing' the crew had set up in front of the screen; Beckett watched Skye and Derek grabbing the kids as they were chasing after each other just as the announcer said, "Dancing the Foxtrot, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

"Alright, alright," Skye was saying to them. "If you can't enjoy the Nile then it's time for a lesson."

"No groaning," Derek said when the boys did so. "It's the biggest craze and you'll be glad you learned. Now, one… two… three," he told Julia as he was dancing with her while Skye was dancing with Peter to the music coming out of the phonograph.

Tristan walked out then and switched the records as the kids were pushing Skye and Derek to show them how to dance. Sharing a look, Derek took her hand and they walked down the stairs before the first verse was starting. They did the standard box step while they spun around to get to the middle of the dance floor and at the second half of it Derek spun Skye before she was raising her leg and they spun side by side.

 _See the pyramids across the Nile  
See the sunrise on a tropic isle  
_ _Just remember darling all the while  
You belong to me_

During the first lyric of the second verse Skye was back in hold with Derek and they danced the basic steps for two lyrics before they let go of each other. Skye was spun by her partner, but that time instead of raising her leg she spun back to Derek as he held her against him.

 _See the jungle when it's wet with rain  
See the ocean from a silver plane  
Just remember till you're home again  
You belong to me_

With the first lyric of the next verse they'd come to the pair were extending their legs as they went down the dance floor. When they'd gotten to the other end they got back in hold and danced that way for the two middle lyrics. Derek then spun Skye around three times quickly before they turned around back to back once and then faced each other.

 _See the market place in old Algiers  
Send me photographs and souvenirs  
Just remember till your dream appears  
You belong to me_

Skye and Derek danced for only the first lyric of the chorus before they were parting at the start of the second. They started to stride with their arms swinging before the investigator suddenly stumbled on one slide of her right foot when they were just getting to the judges table.

Beckett gasped, glad the music was covering her, and watched as Derek grabbed Skye before they were dancing the basic steps back to the steps leading to the stage where the kids were waiting.

 _Oh, I'll be so alone without you (Oh I will honey)  
Darling, darling, you'll be lonesome too  
And you're gonna be blue_

With the beginning lyric of the last verse Skye and Derek hooked their arms together and spun slowly while they were shading their eyes with their hands before they got into hold to dance the box step the last bit they needed to reach the stage. At the second to last lyric Derek ran up the steps before Skye followed and he took her hand, spinning her away from him before he got down on one knee and she spun back into him, sitting on his leg before they held up their arms at the end of the song.

 _See the pyramids across the Nile  
See the sunrise on a tropic isle  
Just remember darling all the while  
You belong to me  
You belong to me (Just to little ol' me)_

Beckett stood up as the kids were surrounding the pair and she murmured to Mary who was next to her, "It was just a little slip." She wasn't surprised when the doctor merely nodded and while the pair made their way to the judge's table with the kids she squeezed her arm reassuringly.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked Skye, making sure he wasn't talking into his microphone.

"Yeah, just a slip," the investigator replied.

"Alright, let's see what the judges think. Bruno?" Tom said.

"Oh darling," the Italian judge said. "I wish you hadn't stumbled as you did as the dance would have been good. But I think because you were so anxious with your guest here tonight it affected you." The audience was booing, and Bruno said quickly, "It wasn't just that slip up, it was her posture. You went back to how you were the first weeks which was a disappointment. But you should be proud as that was very entertaining."

"Carrie-Ann," Tom said as Skye and Derek were both nodding at the judge's comments.

"I have to agree with Bruno," the woman said. "There was something about this dance that didn't really agree with you. I noticed your posture and I think it was dancing in those boots that hurt you a little bit. You got used to your other shoes, didn't you?"

"I think so," Skye said with a smile.

"But you look great and the kids were very cute," Carrie-Ann told them quickly.

"Some words from you Len?" Tom asked the British judge.

"Well, there's not much I can say my colleagues have already," Len told the pair. "I wonder if you should stop the little stories you have," he began. When he heard the audience booing he then said, "But I don't think that's the case. If you come back next week, you'll need to work on your shoulders and your posture and be careful with your shoes."

"Thank you," Skye said with a nod before Tom had them stay where they were.

"Let's go ahead and get your scores," the co-host said.

Beckett, looking at Mary who'd grabbed her arm, wasn't surprised at the concern on her face as the dramatic music began and the announcer started with the first judge.

"Carrie-Ann Inaba," the man said.

"Seven," the woman said, holding up the paddle.

"Len Goodman," the announcer then said.

"Seven," the British judge said while he held up his paddle.

"Bruno Tonioli," the announcer said last.

"Seven," Bruno said, looking at the audience as they were booing.

"It's fair," Derek said, Skye nodding with him. "And we'll take it."

"And hope we'll be brought back for next week," the investigator said quickly.

"Well, I can tell you now that you and Derek," Tom began. He paused for a moment and then said, "Are safe."

Hugging Mary as she seemed to sag in her seat next to her, Beckett said, "She'll be alright next week too."

"Thanks," the doctor said with a smile as she embraced her briefly. Mary waved at her wife, watching her go with Derek to the stage for the announcement of who was getting voted off, seeing she appeared to be alright before the others were getting onto the stage too.

Beckett, waving to Julia as the kids were up in the Sky Box, turned her attention back to the others and listened to Tom soon calling Elijah and Lindsay, Oliver and Peta and Lisa and Keo down as they were in jeopardy. She wondered which of the three were most likely to go but found it hard to guess before the co-host was speaking again.

"After six weeks of competition the pair going home tonight are," Tom began. The dramatic music then played for some time until he finally said, "Oliver and Peta."

"Oh, I thought it might be them," Julia breathed out to her friends as they were watching the pair being hugged by the others. "But now we can go to our parents," she said before someone from the crew came over to them, letting them know they needed to stay there. She shared a confused expression with the other three, but they waited where they were for the remaining couples to join them in the box.

"Hey, are you guys okay?" Skye asked them. "Sorry about making you wait," she then continued with before they could say anything. "They wanted us to talk to the media now while we were in costume."

"Why are we here though?" Peter asked.

"And where are our parents?" Mari asked as they'd waved goodbye to their families while they'd been waiting.

"They'll be at our room where we need to practice," Derek said. "But they want to talk with us about next week."

"Alright everyone," one of the producers said. "Next week is going to be a very special one, Paul McCartney Night."

Covering her mouth; as she had squeaked in joy at that; Julia moved her hands and whispered, "Sorry," before the man was continuing.

"You'll have a dance at the opening and two dances; one will be the team dances; both will be Freestyle," the producer explained. "Now we had Tom mention the theme though I think the audience was a little too loud. But he did say that Stella McCartney was going to be a guest judge."

"Don't look at me, I don't know what she's doing," Skye was quick to say.

"She's right, it's not going to be her but Sir McCartney himself," the producer said before the others were talking to each other.

"Did you know?" Julia asked the investigator.

"I did, kept it quiet but I did need to," Skye replied with a smile.

"Okay," the man said to get their attention again. "He's going to be going in to see you all while you practice but he won't be seeing the team dance practicing. And he's judging the stories you'll have for the dances, not the dance itself. You'll get your individual songs and dances back at the studio but right now we'll take care of the teams. Jonathon and Whitney, you'll pick first since you're at the top of the leaderboard tonight. And Raul and Sharna you'll pick next."

"Skye and Derek," Jonathon said the second the producer had stopped. When the others laughed he smiled and said, "You're first to our team."

"Even after tonight?" Skye asked though Derek was leading her to the pair.

"Yeah, you're still good," Whitney said, smiling when the investigator squeezed her arm in thanks.

"Okay, Raul?" the producer said.

"Lisa and Keo," the baseball player said.

"Eddie and Emma," Jonathon then picked after he and his partner spoke together for a moment.

"We'll take Elijah and Lindsay," Raul said.

"You'll be with Jonathon and Whitney's team," the producer said to Daisy and Sasha. "And kids?" he said. "You'll be with Skye and Derek on their team. Now to be fair we're going to let you choose a pair from the pros that were eliminated, if you guys are okay with that," directing the last to Raul and Sharna's team.

"When the four pairs all nodded Raul then spoke with his team and he said, "We'll have Peta and Artem join us."

"Great," the producer said with a nod. He considered his papers and then told the four kids, "I've asked your parents already, but they said you have the final decision. We're having two performances from Paul so would you be alright dancing then too?"

"By ourselves both times?" Clive asked.

Shaking his head, the producer told them, "One with the troupe."

"You'll do great with them," Whitney said.

"Okay," Julia said, not surprised when her friends all nodded together.

"You can head over to the studios now," the producer said. "Teams are together first and then you'll break up individually."

Julia smiled when she felt Mari squeeze her hand and she took hers to squeeze back before they made their way backstage so they could change. She hoped their parents would be there at whatever room they were taking, so they could see what they would get to do for their team dance.

* * *

"Our song for our team dance is…" Derek said, opening the envelope they had. " _Queenie Eye_."

Laughing with the others as Skye and Julia gave whoops of joy, Beckett studied her daughter as Derek was speaking, wondering what was going through her mind at what he said.

"We need a story with this," the dancer was saying.

"What? I'm not a writer," Skye said before she then nodded over to Julia.

Though she didn't want it to happen, Julia began to blush and then said, "Um… are you sure?"

"Well that means we have our story doesn't it," Eddie said, snapping his fingers.

Giggling nervously Julia then said, speaking to the actor, "Well we should just go with the name of the game."

"It's an old game," Eddie explained as the others looked confused. He then began to chant, "Queenie, Queenie who's got the ball? Usually someone stands and throws a ball behind them and tries to guess who's hiding it." He looked around their group and said, "But there are a number of us here."

"It's not just that," Julia said with a smile as the others looked at her. "We play the game," she said, pointing to herself, her friends, Skye and Derek. "And then you four come in and take the ball and we… try to get it back." She shrugged and said, "I don't know how we'll do that, but that's the idea I got."

"I like it," Sasha said. "Should we switch said ball between the pairs?"

"Yeah, and have Julia get it at the end," Emma said.

"I have something in mind for that," Eddie said. "Derek, you'll throw her onto Jonathon's back and she'll cover his eyes, letting Skye get it from his pocket."

" _I haven't got it, it isn't in my pocket, O-U-T spells out, that's out_ ," Skye sang as they were moving to start getting the steps.

Beckett was surprised when the group managed to get the basics set, the order of the pairs and what they would do at the part of the song where the music slowed down. When the other three pairs left she looked at Derek and said, "I hope you'll open those envelopes; Rick's going crazy."

"Hey," Castle said in mock annoyance though he quickly squeezed her hand.

"Actually I am too, would love to see what our kids are going to dance," Isaac commented.

"Your dance first though," Mari said eagerly as the dancer was picking up the envelope.

"We have the Paso Doble," Derek read. "To _Hell to Pay_." He glanced over at Julia when she cheered and said, "Let me guess, you guys danced to this too."

"Yep," Peter said. "That was fun. What story are you going to do?"

"We'll figure that out soon," Derek said. "I need to see your dances."

Julia breathed out a bit as he was pulling the paper out of the other envelope before she said, "Wait, what about that opening dance?"

"Oh, I got more information about that," Derek said, looking over at her. "We'll be doing some dancing to the song _Ever Present Past_. Like in the music video for it." He then held up the paper he had and said, "Your first dance is the Foxtrot to _Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive_."

"And a performance too," Skye commented.

"You too?" Clive asked.

"With our band," Skye said, nodding towards her wife. "But next is your second dance."

"This one will be the Argentine Tango to _Friends to Go_ ," Derek read. He saw the kids looking at each other and said, "What is it?"

"Well… that one we've made up a dance to already," Peter said.

"I'll have to see that," Derek said. "And it's another performance. But are you guys sure that you can handle four dances?" he said suddenly.

"We can," Julia said. "We've been in competitions with five."

"We've practiced with them," Mari said.

"And we did give permission," David said.

"And you said too that if it's too much for them the troupe will take one song," Genevieve added.

"It's not," the four said before they started laughing together.

"What's their last dance?" Castle asked.

" _Twenty Fine Fingers_ ," Derek replied. When he saw the smiles on the kids' faces he said, "So we're ready?"

"We are," Skye replied as the kids were all nodding at the same time. She went over to her partner to start with the Paso Doble, focusing her attention on the steps so she would improve over their dance that night when they made it to the next episode.

* * *

"You think she'll be able to do it next week?" Castle was asking his wife as they walked up the stairs in the guesthouse to the bedroom.

"Skye or Julia?" Beckett said, stopping at the top and turning to him.

"Skye," Castle said quickly. "I don't doubt that Julia will handle the dances perfectly."

Beckett smiled at his firm tone of voice and said, "Neither do I. For Skye… you did hear her. She's used to her Windsors and she wasn't with the boots she wore tonight."  
"At least she has the performances. I just hope she makes it through," Castle said.

"She will," Beckett said. "The viewers like hers and Derek's partnership."

Nodding, as he'd seen the comments on social media, Castle shook his thoughts of that night's practice and said to his wife, "I'm glad you're alright with this."

Smiling Beckett said, "You do realize I want her to do what she loves most. Especially since it doesn't hurt her or anyone else and isn't-"

"Illegal," Castle finished for her. He nodded and said, "But she was tired."

"They all were," Beckett replied, as they'd had to stay later at the studio for the other dances. "But they won't practice for that long."

"There," Castle commented, pointing out with that word that the four would practice at home and elsewhere.

"I know," Beckett replied with a sigh. "But we'll keep an eye on them." When her husband nodded she moved out of the way of him and said, "At least we know now she's asleep."

"Yes," Castle said simply as he and Beckett looked at one another. He knew they moved at the same time but wasn't sure who reached who first as they were kissing passionately. Holding her close to him he ran his hands all over her back until they had to stop to breathe and he said, "I wonder if I should admit something to you."

"I think I know what that is," Beckett said with a smile. "You want to do something with my skirt don't you?"

"That would be nice," Castle said. "But what-" he started to say when she was crushing her lips against his. He groaned at the surprise but was soon distracted when his wife pushed on his arms that had immediately started holding onto her. He held her ass, as he could tell she wanted, and he then moved to pull up her skirt as the temptation for that was too great.

"Wait," Beckett said, breaking away with a slight gasp. She smiled at him and then told him, "That's a little too fast."

"What do you want?" Castle asked. He followed her when she tugged him over to the bed and then sat down quickly, looking up at her before she was placing her left foot on the bed next to him. When she moved the skirt out of the way she smiled at him and he was quick to move, reaching for the top of her stocking. "I'm surprised," he told her as he took off her garter.

"Oh I know, that was my plan," Beckett said.

"Did you have this on the whole night?" Castle asked her as he was sliding his hands down with the stocking to get it off her limb.

Beckett simply nodded her head, watching her husband shudder before she was letting him do the same to her right leg. When her stockings were off she pulled him up to her and they began kissing, wrapping her arms around his neck to begin sliding her fingers through his hair. After they parted she was about to tell him to undress when he was speaking first.

"I have a request," Castle said to her.

"First a confession and now a request?" Beckett asked teasingly. She leaned against him and brushed her lips to his saying, "Tell me." She was a little startled when he leaned down to her, murmuring into her ear, but that soon disappeared as a smile spread over her lips. "I think I can manage that," she told him.

Castle could feel his heart thudding in his chest in immediate reaction to her sultry voice, but he tried his best to ignore that and focus on watching her opening her blouse. He had in fact asked if he could undress her, but she was taking care of it herself so he contented himself with watching. "You…" he said as the fabric parted and he saw she was naked underneath.

"Yes?" Beckett asked simply.

"Nothing," Castle said, realizing that whatever bra she'd been wearing before had been removed once they'd returned from the studio. He waited for her to take off her skirt but when she just looked at him he said, "Are you…"

"You can check," Beckett told him. She bit at her lower lip to hide her smile when he visibly swallowed and allowed him to raise her skirt so he could she was naked there as well.

"So… we're ready," Castle stated when she gently made him let go of the black fabric.

Beckett's response to that was to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him hard, not surprised when he responded or when he grabbed her back. She raised her left leg on him, not surprised when he grabbed it to hold her in place as they became more and more passionate. When they slowly parted she tilted her head back a bit as he was nuzzling at her neck, making her gasp slightly in response to him. When he let her go she grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him to her before she said, "Don't stop me."

"I won't," Castle said, even as his wife was pulling at the blazer he still had on. He helped her and was surprised when she pushed him to the bed, not too taken aback when she let him go. He got onto it quickly before she was following him, getting on him before she reached for his shirt. He assisted her in pulling it out from his trousers and he watched her then grab one end of his tie to tug it loose and pull it away. "Kate…" he breathed to her, watching her while she tossed it behind her.

"I thought you might enjoy this," Beckett said as his hands were sliding over her sides.

"I do, but you need to," Castle told her while he was helping her in unbuttoning his shirt.

"I am," Beckett said reassuringly before the shirt was open and she gently raked her nails down his bare chest. She felt his shudder and then proceeded to pull him up so the shirt could come off. Once it had she was cupping the back of his head with both her hands so they could kiss again. While they were tangling their tongues together frantically she wasn't surprised when his hands were cupping her ass underneath her skirt, or when he gently squeezed her. After they parted she was going to get off him, so he could undress fully, when he was suddenly flipping her onto the bed to her gasp of surprise.

Castle crushed his lips to his wife's, feeling her holding onto his back tightly while his hand slid up her thigh and under her skirt. When they'd stopped kissing he said, slightly breathlessly, "Help me love."

Not needing to be told twice, Beckett reached for the fly of his trousers, unbuttoning and unzipping them before she reached inside of them. When he grunted at her attempt to grab his erection she pushed him away by his hips and watched him get up. She followed but stayed on her knees on the edge of the bed, watching him undress before she was tugging at his hand. After he had fallen back to the bed she got on top of him and kissed him while his hands were wandering all around her back and ass. She jumped when he slapped her; ending their kiss at the same time; and she smirked at him saying, "You're a pervert."  
"I am," Castle said before he raised his head slightly to kiss her. After they'd been doing that for a while he grasped her ass with both hands and squeezed, not surprised when she moved to get up on her knees. He was following her, and he held her by her waist, about to help her down on him when she pushed his hands away and got off him.

"It's in the way," Beckett explained to her husband as she stood next to the bed and let the fabric fall to the floor. She got back onto the bed and straddled him while he helped her, lowering herself while he held his erection. She sighed heavily as she moved down until their hips were meeting and she wrapped her arms around him. Kissing one another she didn't move, though her sex was throbbing nearly viciously to tell her that she needed to. When they parted she gently ran her hand over the back of his head as he held her by her sides. They were staring at one another and she breathed, " _I love you_ ," in Irish before she started to move.

" _I love you_ Kate," Castle groaned before he was holding her tighter while she was pushing herself up and down on him. She was going slowly but he could still feel the friction between them and he wanted to urge her to speed up as he wanted more. Somehow, she seemed to have read his mind and she was rocking against him, feeling her nails begin to dig into his back. He took her kiss that she gave him, running his hands all around her back to feel her body as it was moving, and he kissed her harder.

Beckett was experimenting once she and her husband parted from their kiss, rolling her hips after she'd rocked against him a few times. She tried rubbing her clit against him though it was a risk, and after she'd done that several times she wasn't surprised when her husband stopped her and suddenly flipped her onto her back. "I wanted you to do that," she told him with a brief smile.

Castle groaned and then kissed her as hard as he could, though he kept it short as he was beginning his thrusting. He mimicked what she had done, going slowly at first before he sped up and he debated if he should try to test some things out that he could do. But his wife's legs were tight around him and he decided he could do that another time as he was suddenly focusing on how he was moving to pleasure her while she was crying out in response.

"Please… don't stop," Beckett moaned heavily to him. She found that she was clutching at him a little harder every time he sank into her and she wasn't sure how much more she could take when he suddenly flipped them around so she was on her knees again. "Are we going to keep doing this?" she asked with a slight smile on her face.

"No, I want us to finish how we started," Castle told her before he brought her down to him so they could kiss. He wondered if they'd both forgotten to move but he was too involved in tasting her and feeling what he could of her body under his fingertips. When they parted he said, "Ready?"

Beckett's response was to kiss him, a second before she moved on him, staring out slowly so she could slide up on him until she let herself back down. They parted, and she sighed deeply when he was kissing at her neck, tilting her head back though he had to wait for her while she was pushing up with her knees. When his hand came up to cup the side of her neck she bit her lower lip, feeling him touching her pulse on the right side with his thumb. "Rick…" she whispered lovingly to him.

Leaning up a little, Castle started to kiss at her jaw until he reached her chin, going up over it until he was at her lower lip. He felt her stopping and sucked at it lightly telling her once he'd pulled away, " _Táim gafa leat_ ," which meant he was addicted to her. " _Mo bandia_ …" he breathed, calling her his goddess as their lips brushed together. When they parted he grabbed her by her hips and thought she would move when she cupped his face with her hands.

" _I gá duit_ ," Beckett told him firmly, telling him she needed him. " _Caithfidh mé a bheith agat_ ," she then said, which meant I have to have you.

" _You do_ ," Castle told her, still speaking in Irish. He wrapped his arms fully around her and brought her to him so they could kiss passionately which they did for some time. When they parted he reached down and gently rubbed at her clit saying, "Come for me love, you're close aren't you?"

"Should you have asked that in a different order?" Beckett tried to say jokingly though her voice was trembling while he was kissing her neck again.

"No," Castle said. He was startled when she moved off him suddenly, but quickly realized what she wanted, and he scrambled for a moment to get onto his knees. Once he was set he grabbed her and pulled her back onto his lap before they were coupled yet again. He kissed her hard on the lips but didn't let it last for long as she was moving again. He was relieved when she was going fast, and he held her tightly for a moment before he recalled why he was on his knees. Moving with her he shortly after heard their hips slapping together and he found it heavily erotic which made him go around her neck and shoulders. His length throbbed hard at the sounds his wife was making, and he knew she was close. "Love… come for me my love," he groaned into her skin as he felt himself inching closer to the edge.

Not sure how she managed it, Beckett was slamming down into her clit and after doing that twice she let go of her self-control as her body told her that it was time to find her release. Her orgasm was rough, and she was crying out heavily to her husband, calling his name as she was experiencing her ecstasy through her entire form. When she heard her husband joining her she let that add to her experience and take in what he was giving her. She held him against her as he was grasping her back and she could feel in his back how hard he was thrusting. She toed the line of a second climax, but she soon went limp, still holding onto him as he gave her his last thrusts before he nearly fell back on the bed while she held onto him to stop him from doing so.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Castle was quick to say as he knew his wife was concerned about him. "That was… a lot."

"I know," Beckett said, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "And it was amazing."

"It was," Castle said with a rapid nod. He then smiled and kissed her tenderly, lingering for as long as they could before he pulled away. "But I needed it."

"It's funny to see how much my clothes can affect you," Beckett said with a smile. Before her husband could say anything, she leaned down to kiss him briefly and told him, "And yours do the same for me."

"Just a plain suit?" Castle scoffed. He expected her to respond verbally to him, but when she moved off him he watched her with wide eyes before she was lying next to him. He turned quickly; trying to remember his knee as well so he wouldn't hurt it; and laid slightly on top of her. "Kate?" he asked her before she was grabbing his hand.

Leading him down in between her legs, Beckett worked with him to rub at her clit and she moaned softly since their fingers were working around together and it became harder for her to tell which fingers were touching the swollen nub. She eventually closed her eyes, and that kept her from seeing the way her husband was watching her. When she opened them at his fingers stopping she saw how intense the gaze was in his blue eyes and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Pulling him down to her she moved to whisper into his hear, "Fuck me lover."

With that Castle was slipping into his wife and didn't waste much time before he was thrusting. As she had asked he was going as fast as he could, kissing her hungrily and going around her neck and shoulders when they needed to breathe. He kept repeating that until they were breaking, very close together as he wanted to make sure she had her pleasure first. He was breathing heavily when they finally stopped, and he was doing his best not to put his full weight on her before she was kissing him.

"You can move," Beckett told him with a smile before he withdrew from her. She couldn't help sighing in disappointment but shook that quickly to lay with him, pressed against his side.

"Do we need to sleep?" Castle asked after they'd been laying in silence for a while.

Turning her head slightly, Beckett kissed his shoulder and said, "No, we have time. But we probably shouldn't stay up for that long."

"What is it?" Castle asked, looking at her as he had the sense that she had something on her mind with her tone of voice.

"No, I was thinking about going back to San Diego," Beckett replied.

"You're looking forward to it?" Castle asked.

"It's been a while since we've gone," Beckett said.

"What about San Francisco?" Castle asked her.

"That's going to need to wait," Beckett replied.

"It doesn't need to," Castle pointed out.

"For now, yes," Beckett said. "We have to go home." When her husband breathed out she embraced him the best she could and told him, "I know, but we'll get back there one day." She studied him as he simply nodded to her and she asked, "What're you thinking?"

"That I'm going to try and find the house," Castle said, turning to look at her.

"And then what? Someone else lives there I'm sure," Beckett said gently as she knew the thought of getting to own it was running through his mind.

Groaning, Castle turned around to the pillow under his head and buried his face there before he grunted as his wife kissed at the back of his head. He looked at her, turning his head to the side, and then said, "At least looking at it…"

"I know," Beckett said, leaning over and pressing her lips to his temple. She wasn't surprised when he wrapped his arm around her waist and she said. "What do you want now?"

"Here," Castle told her, making her lay down as he moved to his back again. He turned towards her the best he could, reaching up and gently running his fingers over her chin. "You're beautiful love," he told her.

With a smile Beckett leaned towards him and they kissed gently before she was pulling back telling him, "Now I know you want something."

Castle gently moved to brush her hair behind her ear and said, "I don't need anything, I'm just letting you know."

Kissing him again, Beckett caressed his cheek before she reached down to his chest, passing her hand over that for a while until she moved to kiss at his jaw. "I love you Rick," she murmured.

"I love you too Kate," Castle said, moving them both so he was above her. "I _adore_ you," he said insistently.

At their kiss, Beckett slung her leg around him, arching her hips up so he would know what she was wanting. She was extremely pleased when he pressed down into her firmly and after they were parting she murmured, "I've never needed someone this much."

"Neither have I," Castle said, pressing his forehead to hers so their lips were brushing together. He engaged her in a kiss and they became involved in that for some time until they parted, slowly and letting their tongues drag out into the air between them. "It's why I call you my goddess Kate, you're the one thing I need in my life," he told her seriously. When she placed her hands on the back of his head while they kissed he could feel her thanks for that, but he pulled away from her and said, " _Is mise mo anam mo grá_."

Closing her eyes at her husband telling her that she was his soul, and adding the words my love, Beckett took a moment before she said, " _I gcónaí mo anam_."

Kissing his wife as hard as he could; as she'd told him always my soul; Castle was rolling his tongue around hers as much as he could before he finally broke away from her. " _I gcónaí_ ," he murmured before they kissed again, sensuously.

Their joy in each other worked up Castle and Beckett again and he reached for the bedsheet while she was kissing at his jaw. Once it was drawn over the pair they proceeded to kiss and fervently before they were coupled once more. After they began to make love they whispered lovingly to one another, moving slowly so they could enjoy the sheer intimacy of the moment. But they knew they weren't going to have enough and it was that continuing need of satiation from one another that made them aroused for all they would have while their night carried on in each other's arms.


	29. Right To The San Diego Zoo

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _Just Because_ written by Joe Shelton, Sydney Robin and Bob Shelton, the version I've taken from is sung by Paul McCartney, on his album _CHOBA B CCCP_.

A/N #2: It was nice getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so I'll start on my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Really happy that you thought the last chapter had great writing. And I was pleased you liked how I had brought Ringo into the chapter too since I enjoyed writing him in!),

Emma (You're welcome for the chapter. And I'm glad to see that you're reading the story and loving it too. It was also nice to see everything you listed has been enjoyable, dancing and the friendships between everyone. I was so, so happy that you thought the loving of the couples is beautiful to read and I'm glad you thought it comes to life. You're welcome again!) and

Mb (Glad to see you thought the first half of the chapter was a sweet update. And I'm glad you love them all together, but not surprised you love how they love taking care of Josie and wanting to spend time with her. I wasn't surprised to see that you thought it was so cute with her being with the constant smiles as well as giggles along with those first teeth coming in, lol. I'm so, so happy that you think Skye and Mary are beautiful together. And that you can feel their passion as well as their love since I try to convey that. It was great that you could picture Julia and Mari in their costumes, since I do my best to convey what I've thought of. It was great that you could see too how they'd look grownup as well as looking so much like their mothers. I was happy to see your reaction to Ringo and Barbara there to watch the show. You're welcome for the first half! And of course, I was very pleased seeing you thought the second half of the chapter was a wonderful update too. I'm glad that you loved my description of the dances; I still worry about that; and how the judges reacted to the kids for both. I was wondering what readers would think about the mess up in Skye and Derek's dance and I'm not surprised you see that one as a let down dance but they're still safe. It was nice to read that you loved how confident how the kids are getting with their dances and getting more confidence as well as assurance from the others. I was happy again to see your reaction to Castle and Beckett, and really glad you see how they're so passionate and loving together. And really happy that you see them as what true love is since they have that passion, trust, lust and then that deep love you mentioned. I definitely see it growing and as you put it, it makes you whole in mind, body and soul so I see that with Castle and Beckett! And you caught a mistake I made, lol, I had forgotten to put in that they didn't talk to Alexis in the end as I couldn't work it in, but I should have made a not that they'd been late or something, so that's my mistake, lol. But glad you thought the second half was wonderfully written. You're welcome for the second half!).

Thanks so much for the reviews, I love reading them as always and I am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _San Diego Zoo_ by the 6ths.

Right To The San Diego Zoo

"Can we call her now?" Eliza asked her parents eagerly.

"Hold on," Beckett said with a smile as she was taking Josie out of her carrier so she could hold her on her hip.

"I'm calling her," Castle said with a smile. "Hopefully she'll answer."

"Are they up by the lake now?" Julia said.

"They should be," Martha commented as she looked at her watch.

"What time is it at home?" Eliza said.

"Hello?" Alexis said from her father's tablet.

"Hey, you're not in the car are you?" Castle asked as he looked at her.

"No, we made it to the B&B," Alexis replied. "Thank you for the room."

"You're welcome," Beckett said, as she and her husband had gotten it for them. "When did you get there?"

"About forty minutes ago," Alexis said, looking at her phone for a moment. "And good thing you called, we were just about to head out on the lake."

"In a canoe?" Julia asked.

"Hey Jules, Lizzy," Alexis said. "And you too Josa even though I don't know if you can hear me."

"She might be able to," Beckett said with a smile as the baby turned her head.

"Oh, and you too Gram, Grandpapa," Alexis said to the two she saw behind the five.

"Hello kiddo how is Lake Placid?" Martha asked.

"Good, stunning," Alexis replied.

"Where's Louis?" Jim asked then.

"He's talking to his family too," Alexis said with a slight laugh.

"Do you see the birdies 'lexis?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"I do," Alexis replied, seeing the flamingoes in the background. "You don't mind going to the same zoo again?" She laughed with her parents and grandparents at the girls cries of no before Josie was squealing. "Okay, then have fun and take a lot of pictures."

"We will," Julia and Eliza said together.

"Really quick," Alexis then said. "How's Josie?"

"She's okay, her teeth are still coming in," Castle said. He glanced at the baby, who was smiling, and then said, "Tooth."

Alexis laughed and then said, "You Lizzy?"

"Good, I wanna see the zoo again," Eliza said eagerly.

"I'm good," Julia said quickly.

"What about all your dances?" Alexis asked.

"We're good, really good," Julia said before she added, "The troupe and the other couples have been so nice to us."

"Good, I can't wait to watch on Monday," Alexis said. "Dad, Ma?"

"We're good, we've managed to write," Castle said first.

"Amazingly," Beckett said with a smile. She then added, "And with both stories."

"Great, but the twenties story…" Alexis said slowly.

"We had to rework the ending," Castle said. "So it'll be released at the beginning of December; for Christmas of course."

"And you stuck with your original title?" Alexis asked.

"We will," Beckett said, glancing at her husband as she had allowed him to choose it. He had gone with their method of using song lyrics, though that time he had merged two song titles together. Their first Mr. and Mrs. McNeil; as their publisher had suggested they name the series if they were asked to continue after that first one; book was going to be called _One Alone, Somebody's Lonely_. She hadn't been sure of the two song titles, from the year 1926, but their publisher had been extremely pleased with it and they had decided to use two titles the best they could.

"I can't wait to get a copy of it," Alexis said.

"We're fine darling," Martha said as she had seen her granddaughter looking at her and Jim.

"We are, we're enjoying being here as well," Beckett's father said.

"Good," Alexis replied.

"What about you?" Castle asked his daughter quickly.

"The same," Alexis replied, smiling. "And grateful for the break, even though it's only two nights. But we'll be there for the finale if Skye makes it."

"You both got those two days off for sure?" Beckett asked. When her oldest nodded she smiled and said, "Good, we'll look forward to seeing you."

"Us too," Julia said, Eliza nodding rapidly next to her.

"And so will we," Alexis said. She looked to her left and heard her boyfriend saying goodbye to his family before she looked at the screen of her tablet again. "I need to go," she said with a smile. "But I'll call you on Saturday okay?"

"That's fine, we'll be at home that day," Castle said.

"Okay, I'll see you then," Alexis replied. "Have fun and I love you all."

"Bye," Julia said, adding that she loved her as the others were doing. When the screen of the tablet went blue she said, "I wish she could come sooner."

"We'll talk to her a lot longer Saturday," Castle promised her. He gave the device to his mother who put it away in the bag his wife had for the items they would need at the zoo. "Okay, time for pictures," he said to the others.

After they'd had someone walking by take a family picture in front of the pink birds, Julia asked, "When are we going to meet up again?"

"Right now," Beckett replied. "At the Reptile House."

"What about Mary?" Castle asked her. He was a little startled when his wife was smiling at him and he frowned for a moment before they went together to the building to the left of the entrance.

"Hello again, how's Alexis?" Skye asked where the rest of the group was waiting for the family, her wife already hanging onto her arm.

"Great," Castle said first. "Is everyone going in here?"

"We are," Daisy said. "I didn't bring this camera for the scenery."

Laughing with the others, Julia watched as the other members of Team Queenie Eye; as they were calling themselves; walked inside. She couldn't help smiling at that point, thinking of how much fun it had been practicing the dances they had for the next week, especially the team one.

* * *

 _"Alright, Kate," Derek said to the woman. "The bell rings…"_

 _"Recess!" the four kids cried out._

 _"And us too," Whitney said as none of the stars said anything._

 _"Recess!" the four stars said before pretending to go crazy._

 _"Maybe not that much," Emma said with a laugh._

 _"Okay," Derek said. "Now we six head out together to the dance floor from the desks."_

 _"I have it," Skye said, holding up the small red rubber ball she would keep on her. The others had duplicates of it so it looked like they'd taken it from her, but they wouldn't have to exchange it by hand and risk dropping it. She stood in front of the four kids and her partner and then said, "Queenie Eye, Queenie Eye who's got the ball?"_

 _Beckett watched as the investigator mimicked throwing it before Jonathon was 'catching' it and Skye turned to him before the six got into a line together with Derek at the front. She was standing against the mirrored wall as the pros of the team had decided she would play the 'teacher' to their class. She hadn't been sure, but her daughter's delight in the prospect had led her to agree. Her husband had also urged her to join in the dance though she assumed he was eager to see her costume for her 'role'. She shook herself as the group was practicing their steps until Jonathon and Whitney started their dance they would have for a short time._

 _"Nice," Clive said when the pair stopped._

 _"Thanks," the TV star said. "Why aren't they getting their own part?"_

 _"They have three," Derek commented. "And I think their parents are very sure that's enough."_

 _"It is," Beckett said wryly._

 _"Okay, so I'll run out with Peter…" Derek said. He and the boy rushed to the pair and the pro picked him up. But Jonathon was picking up Whitney and Daisy and Sasha were dancing out and he set Peter down before they ran away._

 _"Nice," Emma said with a smile._

 _"He's a light little imp," Eddie said jokingly._

 _The group laughed together as Peter jokingly raised his arms to flex his muscles and he said, "One day I'll carry myself."_

 _Julia couldn't help slapping her hand to her forehead and saying, "I guess we're not going to do lifts when we're older," though she was speaking jokingly._

 _"Can you do that at all now?" Sasha asked her._

 _"Not really," the boy said. "I can pick her up but not for that long."_

 _"I can't," Clive said, shaking his head when some of the others looked at him._

 _"Okay, do you have what you're going to dance?" Derek asked the pair._

 _"Yeah," Sasha replied before he and his partner were dancing together._

 _Julia smiled at their moves before she ran with Mari to them and her friend knelt to cling to Sasha's leg. She was trying to reach for Daisy's hand; though she wasn't holding the red ball; and Sasha was getting Mari off him, throwing her with her help into Derek's arms. She held onto the dancer's arm as they were running to the steps in the room and turned back to see how the pros would say they'd done, Emma speaking first._

 _"Are your parents okay with you doing that?" the dancer said to the girl._

 _"Yeah, Derek told them," Mari said with a wide smile. "And my dad made him promise he'd catch me."_

 _"I will," the pro said. "Do you guys have yours?"_

 _"Not quite," Emma said. "Come on," she told Eddie. They danced what they had so far, and she said to the two other pros, "I'm not sure how to slide into where Skye and Derek will come in."_

 _"I said we should actually slide into it," Eddie commented. "But I'm sure you'll have better ideas."_

 _Beckett went to sit with her husband on the steps while the pros were talking together, not surprised when the kids joined them soon after as it took a while. "Okay?" she murmured to her daughter, wrapping her arm around her shoulder._

 _"Yep," Julia said with a smile. "I just hope this works."_

 _"It will," Castle said as he was listening to them. "You have time for all this to come together."_

 _"Speaking of which," Beckett said, seeing that Derek was looking around the room. "Go," she told the four._

 _Getting up with her friends, Julia smiled back at her mother when she squeezed her hand and she hurried to the others to show what they would be doing with Skye and Derek as their practice continued._

* * *

"We're here," Eliza said eagerly, looking back at their parents.

"I can see that," Castle said in amusement. "Go ahead," he told her, urging her to walk the rest of the way to the window.

"We'll bring Josie," Beckett said in amusement as the girls remained in place. Once they'd hurried ahead to where a tiger was laying against the window she turned to the stroller and took the baby out, holding her on her hip before she went with Castle after their daughters where they were watching the animal.

"At least you guys didn't drag us here first," Castle said jokingly.

"We want to see the okapis next," Eliza said, looking at her father and wrinkling her nose at him.

"This was on the way," Julia added before they turned to see Josie was reaching out to the window.

"Okay," Castle said with a slight laugh. He turned his attention to the baby as the tiger was getting up and he was glad that she would be able to see it as the animal was heading up towards the back of the habitat.

"Where's it going?" Mari asked.

"I think it's lunchtime," Sasha said.

"What about us?" Clive asked.

"Soon," Isaac assured his son before they left the habitat and headed up the trail to the next animal.

"Where are we going exactly?" Genevieve asked Skye while they were stopped at the okapi habitat.

"The boys are hungry I would assume?" the investigator asked.

"When they start talking about it, yes," Isaac commented.

"Here," Mary said with a smile as her wife glanced around them.

"You need a map?" Beckett asked her friend jokingly as she was holding that.

"Yes, I do," Skye replied. "We come just once a year."

"And yet you know Disneyland…" Beckett started to say.

Giving her a mock glare, the investigator then said, "It's a lot smaller. No trails like here."

"How?" Mary asked her then.

"Well… we can either go around or go to the path that's over here," Skye said, pointing it out to her on the map.

"Which would be a shorter way to go?" Castle asked.

"The way we came," Mary said wryly.

"She's right," Skye said after she saw the way the boys were watching them. "And I assume if we took the other paths they'd all be starving." She studied the map again and then said, "We should head up to the hippos that are next and then turn around to head down."

"Are we splitting up at all?" Emma asked.

"Did you want to?" Skye asked, looking at the others.

"I'm fine going with you guys," Derek said.

"I don't think any of us want to get lost," Whitney said in amusement.

"Okay," Skye said though she was fanning herself with the map. She heard the kids talking and she said, "I think we should get going."

"Are they going to revolt?" Derek asked as they were walking again.

"Essentially," Castle commented before they reached the viewing area for the hippos. "Though this helps out in distracting them."

"Don't hit the glass," Skye said firmly as Iris was doing that. "Don't worry," she said as the little girl cringed and looked at her. "You didn't know; now you do of course."

"Sorry," Iris said, looking at the hippo that was near the glass that she'd been trying to get to look at her.

"So… they're really dangerous?" Clive asked.

"Yes, you're learning about Ancient Egypt," Castle said when some of the others looked at him. "They had a goddess that they believed looked like a hippo, Taweret. She was the goddess of childbirth and fertility as well, anyone able to guess why that is?"

"If they were dangerous," Marie began as they began to walk down the path the way they'd come. "Then they thought that they would be good to protect ladies when they were having a baby?"

"Good thinking," Castle said with a nod. "And good answer."

Smiling Julia said, "I remember learning about them last year."

"Now?" Kathleen asked her jokingly before they started to laugh.

"I'm impressed," Mary said to Castle.

"Why?" he said in surprise.

"You managed to sneak in a lesson," Mary replied. "Are you going to continue?"

"Probably not," Castle said. "The opportunity was there, so I took it."

When they're reached the entrance of the zoo the family walked past it and to the right that time, the oldest McDouglas twins slipping into a gated area.

"Girls," Skye said with a sigh. "They like to go in here."

"Ducks!" Iris said eagerly.

"Walk through," Skye said to her daughters. "There aren't any chicks this time."

"You usually come in spring," Beckett stated to her.

"Usually," Skye said with a nod. She then walked over to Ivy who was looking at a weeping willow and told her, "Come on lass, we have much more to see."

"There are so many trees here," Ivy commented.

"Welcome to California," Skye said with a smile. "Especially in the south here, we love the trees though parts of it are desert."

"Are we going to take them to the desert ever Mum?" Kathleen asked as they walked past the pond and then out to the path they'd been on.

"Perhaps," Skye said slowly.

"I can take them if you don't want to go _grá_ ," Mary said with a smile.

"No, we should show them," Skye replied. "I'm not the biggest fan of the desert but that's more the heat," she told the others. "Though winter is coming."

"What about Las Vegas?" Mary asked her.

"We'll see," Skye said with a slight laugh.

"What is this?" Peter asked as they were at what he thought were totem poles.

"The Australia part," Julia said. "I remembered," she said with a smile as the older McDouglas girls looked at her.

"Oh cool!" Clive said, peering into an exhibit they were passing. "It's Taz!"

"You know these?" Emma asked him.

"Yeah, my dad told me about them," Clive said. "I thought it was weird but a little thing like that wouldn't scare Bugs Bunny." His eyes widened when he saw one of the Tasmanian Devils below them yawning and then said, "That would."

"I think they're cute," Eliza said. She looked up and saw the slight frown on Fleur's face telling her, "Not the teeth! They look like teddy bears."

"Are you gonna get one?" Fleur asked her, referencing if they saw any stuffed ones in the gift shops.

"No," Eliza said with a giggle. "Are you?"

"Maybe," Fleur said before they laughed together and walked to their parents as their group continued down the path.

"Okay," Skye said as they reached a building that had a sign that read _Sydney's Grill_. "We'll get tables since we'll need them but some of us can stay of course, I have the menu on my phone so whoever's staying take a look at it." She looked over at the trees they could see from the tables and saw the boys and her three youngest were studying them closely, knowing they were wondering why they were there. "That's where they have the koalas," she told them.

"Really?" Peter asked.

"Really, not sure if you can see them but they're there," Skye said before she saw Castle waving to her.

"I'll head in for you _grá_ ," Mary said with a smile at her once she'd reached them. "Enjoy with the kids."

"Oh sure, now that I've told them the koalas are right there," Skye said in mock annoyance. She watched her wife leave with the writer and then looked at Beckett, about to pose the idea they take the kids to look at the marsupials while they waited for their food when her friend was speaking first.

"I don't know if we should," Beckett said. She smiled when the investigator looked at her in surprise and said, "I guessed. But they wouldn't want to leave once they saw the koalas."

"But their stomachs…" Skye said jokingly before she turned with her friend at the laughter of the kids, seeing that Julia and Peter were dancing together. "Really?" she called to them.

"What? We do need to practice," the boy said jokingly. "Are you sure you don't want to dance with us?"

Shaking her head first Mari said, "You guys are better at that than we are."

"Yeah, we need more practice," Clive said. "You know Ms. Grey would say that."

"Okay," Julia said with a sigh. She then looked at Peter and said, "And we did that without Derek here."

"He's watching you guys," Emma said. When the pair looked at her with wide eyes she smiled and nodded to the entrance to the restaurant where the other dancer was looking outside.

"Well… I guess that's okay, he needs to see how we were doing," Julia said, sharing a look with her partner.

"I think you did very well," Emma said.

"She's right, but you're not used to picking her up yet are you?" Whitney then asked.

"Not really," Peter said truthfully. "But Derek's been talking to me about that since he's picked up ladies that were almost as tall as he was before."

"That's true," Whitney said with a smile, speaking quickly as some of the others were coming outside already.

When everyone had their food and were around the table they began to eat, the kids talking mostly as they were discussing the zoo with the other others; specifically the McDouglases.

"Could we go on that thing that's above?" Peter eventually asked.

"The Skyfari," Marie said quickly before she paused and then looked at her mother.

"The stroller can go in a car in front of you guys," Skye said, knowing why her daughter was looking at her. "And Josie will be alright being held."

"Sure," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"She will," Beckett said, remembering the aerial tram from their last visit though they hadn't had to worry about a stroller then. With that settled she listened with a smile as they finished eating with the kids who hadn't been there before asking about what other animals they would see. But they weren't really told and after they'd looked through the Outback section of the zoo they started walking to the Skyfari so they could head up to the other end of the zoo.

"What're we gonna see first?" Julia asked her parents as they were going up in their car.

"Probably the polar bears," Castle said, watching the girl squeezing Josie's leg gently since they were sitting together. He'd taken the baby and Beckett and Eliza were across from them and they went over the zoo, watching the view until a plane came in for a landing at the airport.

"That's so cool," Julia said.

"Yeah, we're gonna be there soon," Eliza said.

"The other way," Julia said.

"She's right," Beckett said, squeezing the little girl's shoulder. "Those are landing and when we take off we'll go in the opposite direction."

"Oh… that's cool too," Eliza said before she looked at the zoo.

Julia, covering her mouth so she wouldn't start laughing out loud, managed to control herself in time and she then asked, "What about dessert."

"I knew you were going to ask that," Beckett said.

"It took her a while though," Castle said with a smile.

"It did," Beckett said. She glanced at Eliza and seeing that she was staring back at her she could help laughing saying, "We were thinking of just letting you guys get Icee drinks."

"Kay," Eliza said eagerly.

"That decides it," Castle commented.

"We're almost there," Julia said as she could see the lines were going down. She prepared herself once they were near the exit and she hurried out before the rest of her family was joining her. "I got the stroller!" she said as she'd gone straight to it.

"Thank you, sweetie," Beckett told her as she watched Castle putting the baby there. But when Josie started to cry she said, "Let me take her."

"Will you be okay?" Castle asked as he remembered how steep it had been in places.

"The stroller isn't going that way," Beckett said.

"Your… dad?" Castle asked slowly.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Your mother."

"Ah… I thought she would go with the girls," Castle commented, watching their parents walking to them with Derek.

"We asked her," Julia said first as they were waiting for everyone to join them.

"But she said the map said another way was better," Eliza finished for her sister.

"It is," Beckett said when her husband looked at her. She then smiled and said, "Let her, better she's comfortable."

"How well I know that," Castle said jokingly. By then they were starting to walk down from the Skyfari a bit until they reached the Africa section. "Did we really need to go that way?"

"Yes, that's for Martha and Jim to know where we'll be meeting them," Skye said as she and Mary had pointed out where they'd be getting their dessert since the two parents would be resting during their wait for them.

"Are you sure we can't take Josie with us?" Jim was asking his daughter.

"I'm sure, she'll be fine with us," Beckett replied.

"Shouldn't she be napping?" Martha asked.

"If she does while we're still together then she can go with you," Beckett replied simply. When her mother in law nodded she headed into the Polar Bear Plunge with the others, not surprised at her husband coming over to her. "We're fine," she told him with a smile as he was looking down at the baby.

"Just making sure," Castle replied simply.

"Want to take her?" Beckett asked.

"Could I?" Castle said. When his wife just gave him the baby he said, "I'm too transparent."

"I think so," Beckett said, kissing their youngest on the cheek. When they walked up to the glass that looked under the water of the habitat she pointed to a polar bear that was just going in. "She should be able to see it," she commented, turning her attention to the baby.

When Josie seemed to jerk in his arms Castle laughed and said, "She must have."

Nodding, Beckett took the baby's hand and kissed at it before she watched the bear swimming by. When she turned back to her husband she was slightly startled to see their daughter hitting his jaw as she looked at him questioningly.

"I think she's excited," Castle told her.

"Keep going?" Beckett asked him.

"We should," Castle replied before they walked together to the next viewing area. The rest of their group was doing the same and they continued until they were at the windows looking at the upper part of the habitat. There was another bear there, walking until he came to what looked like a den of rocks. He glanced at Josie; to see if she was watching; when the bear that was there started to paw at the ground before it lowered its body and was soon asleep. "I think that's what you need to do," he said, kissing the baby's temple.

Seeing her yawning Beckett said, "Walk around with her love."

"I will," Castle said. "I'll be over there."

"Where did he go?" Clive asked.

"To go to where there aren't any animals, so she won't be distracted by them and fall asleep," Beckett replied, watching her husband before she turned her attention to her two middle daughters.

"Is Josa asleep?" Julia asked.

"I'm not sure," Beckett said, glancing over towards where her husband had gone. "But he's going to try and get her to sleep."

"Think he will?" Julia said though she was watching the polar bear sleeping.

"Probably," Beckett said, watching Eliza pressing her face up against the glass.

"Do we have to go?" the little girl asked as her mother put her hand on her shoulder to pull her away.

"We do sweetie, sorry," Beckett replied. "There's a lot more of the zoo to see."

Sighing Eliza then asked, "Could I go with Dani?"

"When we get to the level ground," Beckett said as they picked up Castle and Josie; the latter sleeping; on the way out of the habitat. When they were outside she wasn't surprised when the other parents requested for them to go to the other path that was less steep for the sake of the kids. As they were heading that way she expected the kids to start asking about dessert and wasn't disappointed when it started nearly the second they went past the Skyfari. She shared a smile with her husband and they turned their attention to their daughters to take them down the path to reach the structure so they could continue through the rest of the zoo.

* * *

"Why is there a lighthouse on the building?" Clive was asking the other kids as they started up the stairs.

"It's not real, but it's for the one that's down at the end of the…" Marie started to say before she looked at her twin sister.

"Pendinsula," Kathleen said as slowly as her twin had spoken at the end.

"Peninsula," Mary said gently. "Let's get the tables first and then we'll talk about that lighthouse." She made sure that the kids had set down their glasses at each table they'd need to take up and once they had enough seats she said to the kids who hadn't been to Point Loma Seafood before, "It's not what the Point Loma Lighthouse… the old one, looks like but it's a nod to it."

"Cool… what else?" Peter asked.

"What else?" Mary asked.

"I think there's more than just that," Mari said.

"It's haunted," Skye said. When the others looked at her she said, "Not as strongly as other places but there is something there."

"The food?" Mary asked her wife.

"I came back for a moment to check you got enough tables," Skye said since she was the only adult there.

"We do," Mary said. "Go or they'll have a hard time getting everything here."

Julia smiled at the investigator waving to them over her shoulder while she left and she turned to the railing, leaning against it and looking over the marina at Point Loma Seafood. Her attention quickly went to the view they had of downtown San Diego and she said, "I'm glad we came here."

"Me too," Mari said, going to her and standing next to her. She smiled and said, "It's really pretty here." She looked at the water and gasped saying, "What was that?"

"Is there a boat that returned?" Mary said, standing up.

"Yeah," Julia said. "Sea lions?"

"Or just one," the doctor said with a nod as she stood. Mary saw the head of a sea lion pop up and she said with a smile, "I suppose you guys were surprised, we were going to tell you that they will show up from time to time but not until after dinner."

"That's not fair," Clive said jokingly. He then turned with everyone to look over to the stairs where the first of the other adults were coming with their dinner. He went over to his father and sat with him at the table they were sharing with Peter and his mother. He and his friend then told their parents all about the sea lion they'd seen before they were pausing at the sound of a plane.

"Lufthansa," Skye said in amusement as some of the kids and the adults looked at her. "Just to Frankfurt but it still makes the airport international."

"So… what are we gonna do after this?" Julia asked her parents when they turned their attention back to their dinner.

"We'll go down to the boats; since you guys saw the sea lions," Castle said. "And then go to Old Town."

"Actually," Skye said, since she and Mary were sitting at the table behind the couple. "We should just head in since we do need to get to the airport at six forty-five."

"Is that why we left so early?" Derek asked.

"It is, but some of these kids are going to sleep on the plane," Skye said.

"Or in the airport before we even board," Castle said.

"Is LAX the last stop for our plane tonight?" Emma asked.

"It is," Skye said. "And then Friday it's back the other way around."

"Why not tomorrow?" Fleur asked.

"It's how the airline sets up the schedule," Mari said though she was soon looking at her mother for confirmation.

"It is," Skye replied with a smile. "Have we finished?"

"We have," Castle said, drinking the last of his iced tea. "I'll take everything," he said before his wife could stand up.

Though she wanted to tell him that she could help him, Beckett saw him picking up the items on their table rapidly and she smiled when Julia jumped up to help him. "Thank you, sweetie," she said to the girl.

"You're welcome," Julia said.

"Wait," Castle said, though he didn't stop getting everything on the trays they'd had. "What do you want?"

"It's probably dessert Richard," Martha told her son.

"I figured," Castle said with a smile. "And we will get something, but we need to get to Old Town first."

"Really?" Eliza asked.

"You had small Icees," Castle commented.

"Let's go girls," Beckett said as she stood up.

"Is Josa asleep yet?" Eliza asked, going to the stroller.

"Not yet," Jim said with a smile as he'd fed Josie her dinner.

"What's wrong Martha?" Beckett asked her mother in law as she'd noticed the look on her face. She was taken aback when Castle's mother held her back from everyone else as they were leaving the upper story eating area and said, "Is-"

"How are you doing kiddo?" Martha asked.

"Oh, I'm… okay," Beckett said slowly, realizing her mother in law was asking about her stopping nursing the baby. "As well as I can be."

"Has my son asked that of you?" Martha said.

"Of course, but it's still early," Beckett said. "Thank you for asking though."

"You didn't seem all that surprised," Martha commented. "I suppose since I asked when you stopped with Eliza."

"Kate, Mother?" Castle said, coming up the stairs at that moment.

"We're coming," Martha said. "We just needed a moment to speak."

After his mother had started down the stairs Castle asked, "What's wrong?"

Smiling, since she'd said that as well, Beckett told him quickly what they'd spoken of in Irish and said, "Rebecca asked me earlier."

"While we were at the zoo?" Castle asked.

Beckett nodded and said, "It's a mother thing."

"I noticed," Castle said with a smile. He squeezed her hand and led the way down the stairs so they could hurry to their cars before they were driving to Old Town. Once they were in the plaza of the park he watched as the kids immediately took off for the grass and started to run after each other, even Dani going as Eliza had pulled her along. He opened his mouth to speak about them doing that but decided with all the driving; some in traffic; they'd had to do he guessed it was alright for them. Eventually he was going to ask his wife if they shouldn't call them back when she was suddenly calling out to them with a firm tone of voice, getting their attention immediately.

"Stop running or we won't get dessert," Beckett told them. When they stopped she then gestured to Julia and when she was close she said, "Do you want to dance?"

"Yes but…" the girl said, looking around.

"I want to dance," Mari said, smiling at her friend.

"Do that," Kathleen said eagerly. "Mum and Mom can sing."

"What song though?" Marie asked.

Julia murmured to her three friends and she eventually pulled away, going to the investigator and her wife to talk to her.

"Well," Skye said when the girl had stopped talking. "Are you sure you want to do that now?"

"Yeah," Julia replied. She glanced around them again before she said, "It wouldn't be weird?"

"I don't think so," Mary said, looking at the others.

"Though if I'm singing you'll get attention," Skye said.

"There isn't really anyone here," Jonathon pointed out.

"Okay, so they want to dance a Jive," Skye said, looking at her partner.

"Another one you made up?" Derek asked Julia and Peter.

Smiling the former said, "We did, but we did it in our dance class so everyone else learned it."

"Us too," Clive commented.

"Let's go ahead and start," Skye said before she nodded to her wife. After Mary had started to play the music for the song she began to sing immediately while the two pairs were starting to dance.

 _Well, well, well  
Just because you think you're so pretty  
And just because your momma thinks you're hot  
Just because you think you've got something  
The nobody else hasn't got  
Well you know you made me spend all my money  
You laughed and called me old Santa Claus  
Well I'm telling you  
Baby I'm through with you  
Because well, well just because_

Beckett eventually noticed Eliza was jumping up and down and realized she knew the dance as well. She was about to put her hand on her shoulder when Derek came over, asking if she wanted to dance. She smiled when the little girl squealed and pulled the dancer's hand to the others, dancing with them as Skye started to sing again.

 _Well just because you think I'll be lonesome  
And just because you think that I'll be blue  
Just because you think I'll be foolish  
To stay at home and wait around for you  
Well now you make me drop all my girlfriends  
You laugh and call me old Santa Claus  
Well I'm telling you  
Baby I'm through with you  
Because well, well just because_

At the instrumental that was there Beckett was relieved when the kids paused; as did Derek so Eliza could rest. She murmured that to her husband before he was leaning over to whisper into her ear.

"They're not happy they have to," Castle commented.

"No," Beckett said softly with a smile. Glancing around she saw there were a few people that had stopped and at least one had their phone out. The music was beginning to change, and she glanced at Skye who was motioning to the kids to let them know that she was about to sing again.

 _Well there will come a time when you'll be lonesome  
And there will come a time when you'll be blue  
There will come a time when old Santa  
He won't pay the bills for you  
Well you say that I'm foolish  
Honey, you laughed and called me old Santa Claus  
I'm telling you, baby, I'm through with you  
Because well, well just because_

At yet another instrumental Castle whistled to Julia and Peter; as they'd continued dancing and he wasn't surprised when the former wrinkled her nose at him. Luckily that one didn't last as long as the first and he watch the pair become the first of the three to dance again as Skye was singing.

 _Well just because you're so pretty  
And just because your mama thinks you're the hottest thing in town  
Just because you think you've got something  
That nobody else hasn't got  
You made me spend all my money  
Honey, you laughed when you called me your old Santa Claus  
Well I'm telling you baby, I'm through with you  
Because well, well just because  
Because well, well just because  
Because well, well just because_

"Bow too," Skye called to the kids after she had stopped to the people watching applauding them. "Thank you," she called to them before they were walking together down the path past the buildings. "If anyone wants to stop at these stores," she told them. "Let us know and we'll wait." She was startled when someone touched her arm and she looked down at Julia before she nodded to her mother, watching the girl rush over to Beckett.

"Could we go to the Casa de Estudillo?" Julia asked.

"We can," Beckett replied. "Do you want to go to the Whaley House too?"

"We can't," Skye said, going over to them. "They've already closed, and I don't think I'd like to risk it."

"But this is alright?" Castle asked, nodding to the house they were approaching at the other end of the plaza.

"I'm going first, you don't recall?" Skye asked with a smile.

"Come on _grá_ ," Mary said to her wife as she reached her. "I'll go to the entrance to call you over."

After watching the two women leave Whitney said, "Is it for real? Her being able to see ghosts?"

"It is," Julia said softly.

"You can as well," Eddie said, looking down at the girl. He wasn't surprised when she shrugged, and he said, "Don't worry, I don't think any of us will really judge. We'd have to do that with Skye and we're not about to."

"Yeah I can…" Julia said, recalling she and Skye could speak to them but not wanting to say that. "But she's better at it than I am," she said to let them know that Mary was in the entrance to the house.

Beckett spoke quickly to Castle and then went to their daughter, holding her hand tightly before they went inside the house. She looked at Julia, studying her closely to make sure she would be alright before the girl was looking up at her.

"It's okay Mom it's… relaxed," Julia told her reassuringly. She then went to where Skye was, standing at the entrance to the sala. "Who is she?" she asked, sensing the woman that was there.

"I think one of the daughters of _Señor_ Estudillo," Skye replied. She took a deep breath and said, "This is her time for the house, before the others come out at night."

"Is she okay here?" Mari asked.

"Oh of course," Skye said. "This is where she was happiest." She looked around the room again and said, "We should head around quickly."

Julia nodded, and she walked with Mari around the rooms until they had finished with the house section. She hurried over to the fountain in the courtyard and took a picture of the cupola before she then went to some tiny flowers growing on the side of the path. She picked a few, knowing the others were blocking workers from her at that moment, and she took the blooms to sprinkle them in the water. She felt someone walk up to her and without looking up said, "I don't know why she wanted me to do that."

"I gather she wanted that just so," Skye replied with a slight smile on her face.

"Yeah," Julia said with a smile. She then looked up and said, "She's leaving."

"Yes," Skye said. "It's time to go," she then told the little girl, grabbing her hand so they could return with the others and walk back out to where they'd been walking along the shops before.

"Was everything okay?" Daisy asked Skye as they stopped to look at the store with decorative outdoor items.

"It was, but there were a number of spirits who wanted to come out," the investigator explained. "It would have been a bit too much for the baby."

"The baby is…" Derek said.

"She's the same as me and Lizzy," Julia said. When the two looked at her she told them, "Lizzy's the same as me, but she's only just starting to be able to see and talk to people who're spirits."

"How-" Daisy began.

Shaking her head Skye said, "It's Kate, but don't mention it to her she's more of a skeptic," before she excused herself to go to her daughters since the two oldest were tugging at Mary's hands.

"Easy girls," the doctor told them. "We will go, don't worry."

"Are we all going to fit in this store though?" Castle commented.

"We will, but I'm not sure about the stroller," Skye said.

"I'll stay-" Beckett began.

"No, no," Martha was quick to interrupt her. "The girls want you to go and I'll take a turn to look around if someone will come out to stay with her."

"I will," Jim said. After Castle's mother nodded he followed his daughter, son in law and granddaughters into the store, looking around it before he felt her hand on his arm.


	30. Right To The San Diego Zoo (Part 2)

"They have some items in the display cases over there you might like," Beckett told her father with a smile. "And books around the whole store."

"I remember the girls telling me about this place," Jim said with a nod.

Beckett could only smile at him as she had to turn her attention to Eliza who was pulling her after Castle and Julia. "No books," she said quickly when she saw her husband was stopping at the ghost related books.

"Oh, please Mom?" Julia asked.

"Just one," Castle suggested, watching his wife.

"Alright," Beckett said with a sigh as she knew Julia wouldn't leave her alone about that. She then said, "We'll look at the coloring books."

"I can't get a book too Mommy?" Eliza asked.

"No sweetie, I want you to get a coloring book instead," Beckett said gently, preparing herself for the little girl's protest.

"Kay," Eliza said before she started to look around the coloring books that were next to the ghost books. She paused at a few tomes but finally picked out one, showing it to her mother.

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked with a smile as it was a coloring book with a fairy flower alphabet.

"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly. "I wanna color all of them."

"Okay," Beckett said, taking her daughter's hand with her free one. "Let's see what your daddy and sister are doing now."

"We're here," Castle told his wife quickly as they were rounding the corner onto the aisle they were standing at.

"You found a book?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yeah, it's about haunted places in Washington," Julia replied, looking at her book. "Dad says it's the state and not DC."

"Interesting," Beckett said, not surprised when her husband studied her after that. She merely smiled at him and urged their second oldest to start looking around for the coloring book that she wanted. She felt Castle walking over to her and then glanced at him, not surprised he was avoiding looking at her before he spoke.

" _Interesting_?" Castle asked his wife in Irish.

" _I'm not going to take the book away from her_ ," Beckett said firmly. " _But don't ask me to read it_."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Castle said swiftly. When his wife looked at him with her eyebrow raised he grabbed her wrist, gently, pulling her to him before he kissed her. He had to keep that short and when they parted told her, "I needed to."

"I know," Beckett said. When she saw how he was studying her she said, "I understand what you mean."

"Yeah…" Castle said slowly, looking ahead of them at the girls. He was startled when they weren't paying attention to him and Beckett, instead talking together while looking at a book. He shared a smile with his wife and then cleared his throat saying, "Did you make a decision?"

"I'd like this one," Julia told them both, showing them the book that was of Mandalas.

"Okay," Beckett said. "Do you want any wax sticks for your seals?"

"Can I look at them?" Julia asked.

"Sure, but look with your grandpapa okay?" Beckett asked her.

"Okay," Julia replied, seeing out of the corner of her eye that her sister was nodding too. She smiled inwardly then, as it hadn't surprised her that her parents were asking them to do that, and she hoped they'd enjoy their time together as they reached Jim.

"Is she alright?" Castle asked, sitting down with his wife after he'd watched to check on the girls quickly.

"She is," Beckett said, rubbing the baby's arm gently.

"What do you think?" Castle asked.

"I don't think we'll be able to see that much, especially after we have that dessert," Beckett answered. She looked at her husband and seeing the expression on his face said, "What're you remembering?"

"I'll have to tell you later," Castle told her, standing up as he had just recalled something. "I need to go pay."

"Not to worry Richard," Martha told her son as she walked out of the store. "Jim will pay." She wasn't surprised when he frowned and was about to walk when she placed her hand on his arm. "He won't let you."

Breathing out hard Castle said, "I just hope it's not too much."  
"It won't be Rick," Beckett told him as he sat next to her again. She squeezed his hand gently and said, "Is there anywhere you'd like to go Martha?"

"I haven't really seen anything," Castle's mother replied. She smiled and then said, "But it's charming here. Historic."  
"The girls love it at least," Beckett replied. She glanced at her husband, seeing he was looking down the path and said, "Rick."

"What?" Castle said immediately. He saw the way his wife and mother were looking at him and said, "Just trying to figure out where the ice cream place was."

"It's nearby," Skye said, coming out with her family. "But I was just asking the others; they said they're alright just walking around the plaza in the corner."

"That's fine," Beckett said first. "We don't have the time and the stores are closing soon I'm assuming."

"Soon," Skye said before she looked behind them to watch the others starting to leave the store. Once she was sure they were all there she and her wife led the way to the plaza past the next shop where they would pick up dessert, taking turns to go inside since their group was a bit large for the smaller ice cream shop.

"What can we get?" Julia asked eagerly when it was their turn.

"Love," Beckett said in amusement, watching him looking at one of the menus.

"Yeah," Castle said simply.

"Can we get sundaes?" Julia asked hopefully.

"We'll share them," Beckett said firmly as she'd noticed them as well. "How?" she asked them all.

"We'll share with the girls," Jim said.

"Which one would you like Rick?" Beckett asked her husband as the girls paired off with their grandparents immediately after hearing that.

"You can choose," Castle told her.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I know you'll want one of them already."

"The churro one," Castle said immediately.

"Alright," Beckett said.

"Pick the ice cream," Castle told her quickly. "Seriously."

Beckett couldn't help laughing at the way he spoke, and she was looking at the flavors while their parents were getting churro sundaes as well. When it was her turn to get the ice cream she told the worker, "Strawberry Fresca and Cookies and Cream."

"This is… awesome," Castle said once they were sitting together at a table outside with their ice cream.

"And there's two!" Eliza said happily. "So we can share them," she told her grandmother, sharing the sundae with her. She took one of the churro pieces and dipped it in the mint chocolate chip they'd gotten and then ate the pastry.

"What did you get for the ice cream?" Julia asked her parents. When her mother told her she smiled and said, "I thought you'd get the strawberry one."

"I hope you let your grandpapa pick one ice cream," Beckett told her.

"She did," Jim said gently. "Rocky Road."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said, knowing her father loved that flavor. "Luckily it goes with coconut and pineapple."

"We got strawberries too Mommy!" Eliza said, holding up the last of her churro.

"Do you want my half kiddo?" Martha asked her. She was startled when her granddaughter shook her head seriously and then said, "Well if you're sure."

"Try it Gram, it's so good," Eliza said firmly.

Martha did her best to do that and not laugh at how the little girl was speaking, soon telling her, "You are right it's very good."

Beckett, watching the two with the others, smiled at the way Eliza hugged Castle's mother and then said, "Keep eating your sundae, we'll run out of time."

"I wish we could stay," Julia said with a sigh.

"I wish too," Castle commented, finishing a spoonful of ice cream. "But at least we could see what we did today you know."

"Mom," Julia started to say before her mother was talking.

"We're not going to make it to San Francisco this time," Beckett said firmly.

Sighing Julia asked, "Then tell us a story."

"I remembered something," Castle said with a smile as his wife glanced at him then. "But it's better if we wait for the airport," he told them. He laughed with the other three as the girls groaned together and said, "It's better if I do that, that way we don't mind the wait until we get on the plane." He expected them to just accept that and return to their ice cream but was surprised when Eliza was asking him a question he'd thought her sister would inquire instead.

"What is it about?" the little girl said.

Castle smiled and said, "I think because we're so close to Halloween I'm remembering one we celebrated."

"What year?" Julia couldn't help asking.

"You'll see," Castle said simply.

Sighing Julia said, "Why do we need to wait?"

"Because I'll need time to tell you about it," Castle said simply. "But don't worry, I'll tell you eventually."

Looking at her little sister, Julia shrugged and they finished their sundaes with their grandparents before they were walking again. "Where are we going now?" she asked, walking with her mother after they had checked on Josie who was sleeping.

"Probably just around the other side," Beckett said, squeezing her shoulder.

"Do you think the mules are open?" Julia asked her.

"I'm not sure," Beckett replied. "We'll find out."

Julia nodded as they walked around the end of the park and she looked ahead to where she knew the mules were kept. But she noticed that the entrance was closed off and she sighed saying, "It's not."

"I know sweetie," Beckett said. "But at least you got dessert," she pointed out to her, not surprised her daughter laughed heavily.

"Are we just gonna walk?" Eliza asked.

"I think so," Castle said, squeezing her leg since she was on his shoulders. "We need to get to the airport soon."

"It was a fun day," Eliza replied.

"It's not over yet," Eddie said, having been walking near them. "Though I suppose that's all there is here."

"Not quite," Skye said.

Walking past the Cosmopolitan Hotel, shops and a restaurant the group went into the plaza in the corner to look at the shops there. Though they'd intended to go around those quickly some ended up going inside before they reached the toy store.

"Should we?" Jonathon asked as the younger kids were tugging their parents' hands.

"We'll need to," Mary said in amusement. She then looked at hers and Skye's daughters and said firmly, "We're just looking though."

Eliza, when her mother told her the same, pursed her lips but finally nodded and said, "I have money."

Beckett laughed and gently tugged the little girl's braid before saying, "We'll see if you have enough for anything."

"Yeah," Eliza said happily before she hurried ahead of her mother to go with Fleur and the younger McDouglas twins to look at the different toys for sale.

"She doesn't have enough for much," Castle murmured to his wife as they stood by the entrance with Josie.

"I know," Beckett replied easily, looking over at the baby.

"So… what if she finds one of the cheaper toys?" Castle asked.

Turning her attention to her husband Beckett then said, "Then we'll tell her she'll need to decide if she wants to spend her money on it."

"Does she need that lesson now?" Castle asked.

"I know it sounds harsh but-" Beckett started to say.

"Johanna and I taught that same lesson to Katie," Jim said. "And she's found something."

"That was fast," Castle said, walking with his wife to their second oldest.

"It doesn't really surprise me," Beckett said with a smile before they reached the little girl. "What did you find sweetie?" she asked her.

"Can I buy this?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Did you see how much it was?" Castle asked as she was playing with the cup and ball she had in her hand.

"Yeah, I think it says two dollars," Eliza said. "Did I read it right?"

"It'll be three dollars," Castle told her as he took the toy to check. "With the tax. Do you have enough?"

"Yeah, I gave Mommy five dollars," Eliza said, turning to her mother.

"Alright," Beckett said, going to her purse and getting that bill out of her wallet to hand to the little girl.

"Thanks," Eliza said eagerly.

"I'll take her," Castle told his wife quickly.

"The girls want the same," Skye said, walking up to her friend then when she was alone.

"Your youngest?" Beckett asked.

"Of course," Skye said.

"You didn't practice that much today," Beckett told her.

"No," Skye replied. "He's of a mind to do that at the airport… which I suppose we could do."

"There's room?" Beckett asked.

"There is," Skye said wryly. "But not for that long."

"What about the kids?" Beckett asked.

"I'll ask them if they want to do that," Derek said, walking over to them. "I get the feeling they will though."  
"Probably," Beckett said with a smile before they were heading back to the entrance to get ready to leave. She looked back to make sure that Eliza and Castle were finished and joining them before she took the stroller. As they were leaving the store and then the plaza she watched Eliza doing her best with her new toy, smiling while they walked back to their cars so they could leave for the airport.

* * *

"Your left foot Peter," Derek called.

"Shoot!" the boy said with a groan.

"It's alright," Julia said. "I made that mistake last time."

"She's right, you're not the first," Derek said. "Do you want to try one more time?"

"Sure," Peter said firmly.

Julia studied her partner until he turned to her and they waited for Derek to count them in before they started their Foxtrot again. When they managed to get past where Peter had made the mistake she would have smiled at him, but they were continuing until they reached the last bit before what would be their ending. "Great job," she told him seriously.

"Thanks," Peter said before they were turning their attention to Derek who told them the same.

"We'll keep practicing it," the pro told the four kids. "That way we won't forget."

"Sure," Mari said.

"But why do you say we?" Clive asked.

"I'm used to doing that," Derek said simply. He smiled when the kids looked confused and told them, "I'll be saying that to Skye right now."

"I'm sorry your families had to leave," Julia said quickly to her three friends when the pro had walked away from them.

"At least they'll come back next week," Mari said, though not very convincingly. She smiled when Julia hugged her before she then said, "And we have a lot to do still."

"Yeah, lessons," Clive said, crossing his eyes as the others laughed. He turned with them as Beckett was calling to them and they went over to watch while Skye and Derek practiced a bit of their Paso Doble.

"Are you going to practice the team dance now?" Julia asked.

"Not today, tomorrow," Eddie said.

"Are you tired?" Julia said to him with a smile.

"A bit, it was a lot of walking around that zoo of course," the actor replied.

"Did you like it?" Iris asked shyly.

"I did," Eddie said. "But I think it's more important to ask if you did since it was your first time here."  
Squeezing her twin's hand, as she knew she was confused by the actor's comment, Ivy said, "We did, and we're really glad that we get to come back."

"Good," Skye said. "Anyone want to come with us to the shops? Since we have the time now."

"You don't want to rest?" Mary asked.

"I will eventually on the plane," Skye pointed out to her wife.

Beckett watched as the others were soon leaving, not surprised that Skye and Mary promised to bring them some hot chocolate. And she wasn't taken aback either when Eliza rushed to Castle, throwing herself on his lap the best she could.

"The story Daddy! The story!" the little girl was saying before she squealed as he picked her up.

"So you remembered," Castle said jokingly.

"Dad," Julia said with a groan though she soon after smiled at him.

"Okay," Castle replied quickly as Eliza was pouting at him as well. He kissed her temple before he then began with, "It was Halloween of 1936 so Julia you were fourteen, Eliza you were nine, Alexis was eight and Josie was six though she was six and a half by then of course." He glanced at his wife and wasn't surprised that she seemed to be recalling it as well while he continued with their morning that Saturday in Mill Valley.

* * *

 _"Can't I have more pancakes Ma?" Alexandra asked, going to her mother at the stove._

 _"I think you've had enough honey," Kate told her daughter with a smile. "And we need to wash everything up."_

 _"Why do we need to head into town?" Rick asked as he brought over the stack of the other plates they'd used to eat breakfast._

 _"To get the last of the food and drinks," Kate replied._

 _"Are you sure you should have a party?" Johanna asked her daughter._

 _"It's alright Ma," Kate said reassuringly as her husband gently moved her away from the sink by her hips. "We've done this before for Alexandra's birthday."_

 _"Yeah," the little girl said, having gone to her grandmother. She smiled when Johanna hugged her and said, "My friends are coming over."_

 _"I know," Kate's mother replied. "You'll help your mother, won't you?"_

 _"They will, but that is why Rosie, Mary and Patrick are going to be here," Kate replied._

 _"But why don't they have a party at the club?" Julia asked. "They can serve hooch now."_

 _"Julia," Kate said firmly._

 _"Sorry Ma," Julia said with a sigh. "But that's what they serve."_

 _"Yes, but there aren't many that go to clubs tonight," Rick said from the sink. "They'll have the kiddies to take out."_

 _"Our costumes are ready," Elizabeth said with a smile. "I can't wait for you to see Grandma."_

 _"I can't either," Johanna assured them._

 _"Alright," Kate said as she was watching her husband nearly finished. "Get your jackets."_

 _"Thank goodness it's cooled down," Johanna said as she stood from the table. "This summer was far too hot."_

 _"It was," Rick said in agreement. "And we're nearly to winter."_

 _"Hope that it won't rain tonight," Kate said with a smile. She then left them to check on the girls, seeing the three youngest were gathering around their big sister while they looked outside. She smiled and then cleared her throat, watching them jump before Julia closed the door a little harder than she knew the young woman meant._

 _"Sorry Ma, they wanted to make sure there weren't any clouds," the girl said with a slightly abashed smile. "Are we ready?"_

 _"Not yet," Kate told her._

 _"Can we listen to the radio?" Elizabeth then asked hopefully._

 _Shaking her head Kate went to get her handbag and said, "We'll go right now."_

 _"What's first Ma?" Josephine asked, taking her mother's hand._

 _Kate was about to answer when her mother and husband were leaving the dining room and she smiled as the latter was struggling to button the cuffs on his shirt. She stopped him when he reached her and did it for him before she went to get his jacket. She was about to tell him they could go when he was speaking first though it was mostly to the girls._

 _"You forgot your hats," Rick said while he was grabbing his._

 _"We were just about to get them," Kate said simply. "Are you alright staying here Ma?" she then asked._

 _"I am, go on and I'll see if Rosie and the others make their way here early," Johanna told them._

 _"They have a key to the house," Julia said._

 _"No, leave her be," Rick told her. "She'll be alright here."_

 _"Come on," Kate then told the girls. "We'll be back soon Ma," she told Johanna who followed them over to the door._

 _"Have fun," Kate's mother told them. "And be safe."_

 _"We will," Rick said as he held the gate for the girls and his wife. They waved to his mother in law and then walked together to the main street. "Oh, I should have told your ma to meet us for lunch," he said, pausing before they were too far from their street._

 _"I can go," Elizabeth said eagerly._

 _"Alright, but don't run," Kate told her. "We'll walk to the end of the street to watch you." She half expected the little girl to protest but when she was hurrying away after her father had told her what to say to her grandmother, she looked at her husband and slid her arm through his before they went to the end of their street. She saw that Elizabeth was soon going through the gate and she turned to her husband saying, "We'll need to stop at the tailor's."_

 _"Your dress is ready," Julia told her littlest sister._

 _"Thanks," Josephine said with a wide smile._

 _Julia couldn't help laughing at how earnest the little girl was and she said, "I didn't fix it. But don't try to climb the fence at home next time."_

 _"She's right," Kate said in amusement as Josephine had looked to her._

 _"And don't ask me to help you," Rick said. He grunted when his wife nudged him; though she hadn't hit him too hard; and he said, "Again."_

 _"There's Elizabeth," Alexandra said quickly._

 _"Gram said she'll be at the café," the little girl said once she had reached her family. She took Alexandra's hand and they walked together behind their big sister and little sister in front of their parents. When they reached the first shop she asked, "Where are we going first?"_

 _"To the tailor's?" Rick asked his wife._

 _"Yes," Kate said. "You girls have your bags."_

 _"I get to carry it?" Josephine asked._

 _"Of course, it's your dress," Kate told her._

 _"What will we do then?" Alexandra asked._

 _"You'll find out soon," Rick told the little girl in amusement before he was moving ahead of his wife to open the door for them all._

 _"Good morning," the woman said behind the counter as she looked up at the bell ringing on the door. "You're here for your daughter's dress?"_

 _"I am," Kate said with a nod. She paid for the wrapped package and let Josephine take it so she could place it into the bag she carried. After they had left the shop she said, "We need to go to the grocer's now," before Alexandra was suddenly speaking._

 _"Will we have to carry the groceries too?" the little girl said._

 _"I will," Kate assured her. "We'll just get a few items for the sandwiches here and then go to the market to get our apples and some lettuce. Those I hope you'll carry for us."_

 _"Oh, I want to carry the apples," Elizabeth said._

 _"Let your sister carry them," Rick said, placing his hand on Julia's shoulder. "But we need to get two heads of lettuce so you two can carry those," he said to the little girl and Alexandra._

 _"Come on," Kate told them, opening the door and ushering the girls inside._

 _Rick held the bag for his wife while she was choosing some coffee, cheese and oatmeal. "Oats?" he asked her._

 _"For the morning, I nearly forgot we'd needed it," Kate told him. She smiled at her husband and then went with him over to the registers, allowing him to purchase the items before they were leaving._

 _Watching their parents murmuring, Julia tried not to smile too widely as she knew already where they would be heading next. She let her father take Josephine by the hand and then went to her mother asking softly, "Are we going to the bookstore?"_

 _"Of course, it's time you all had some books," Kate said simply._

 _Julia tried not to gasp too loudly and asked, "Is it here?"_

 _"It is," Kate replied. "And you'll be able to get your own book."_

 _"Oh Ma, that's swell," Julia said so excitedly she was nearly tripping over her words. "I can get one of Ms. Christie's books, can't I?"_

 _"Yes, but you'll need to let me see it," Kate told her before they were disappearing into the book store._

 _"You've told her?" Rick asked his wife as they were watching their daughters hurrying ahead of them to the children's books._

 _"Of course" Kate replied._

 _"Then we'll help Elizabeth and Alexandra find theirs," Rick said. When his wife nodded he walked after her, getting their daughters' attention so they could start looking through the tomes._

* * *

 _"There's Grandma!" Josephine said, waving._

 _"Easy honey," Rick told the little girl. "She sees us."_

 _"I'm glad you made it Ma," Kate said as her mother sat at their table._

 _"Did you bring the Ford?" Rick asked._

 _"I did, though I would imagine the girls will be fine goin' with you after this," Johanna said with a smile. She then turned her attention to her granddaughters asking them, "How was your mornin'?"_

 _Kate wasn't surprised when the girls were talking at the same time and she smiled at her husband calming them down quickly before she spoke first. "You'll need to go one at a time. I would suggest you let your big sister tell the order and we'll let your grandma ask us any questions about what we have bought."_

 _"It looks like it's quite a bit," Johanna commented._

 _Rick nodded and then said, "They're eager to tell you." He smiled when his mother in law did and they turned to look at Julia who was swift to begin with their first stop at the stores in town._

 _"And we went to the bookstore last," the young woman said with a smile._

 _"We were there an awfully long time, but we got to get books!" Josephine said happily._

 _"I'm not surprised that you did," Johanna commented. "What did you get?"_

 _"I got_ Ferdinand _," Josephine said after her mother told her to say first._

 _"Oh, it came in?" Johanna asked her daughter and son in law._

 _"Finally," Rick said. "Girls?" he said, looking at Alexandra and Elizabeth._

 _"I got_ A Pony for Jean _," the former said first with a smile._

 _"That sounds like the perfect book for you," Johanna said. "What did you get?" she then asked Elizabeth._

 _"_ Ballet Shoes _," Elizabeth replied. "Ma says it's from England."_

 _"The author is British," Rick explained._

 _"Where are the books?" Johanna asked._

 _"In my other bag," Kate explained. "Julia got a book as well."_

 _"Hmm, is it one of Agatha Christie's?" Johanna asked her eldest granddaughter with a smile._

 _"_ Cards on the Table _," Julia said. "Susan has read it and she says it's the cat's meow."_

 _"Are you sure it's alright for her to read those books?" Johanna asked her daughter._

 _"She listens to her father's stories," Kate replied, speaking quickly as the waitress was coming over to their table._

 _Though she'd had something else to ask Johanna waited for them to order before she said to her daughter and son in law, "What have you gotten?"_

 _"I picked up_ The Lady in the Morgue _," Rick said first at his wife's nod. He kept his voice down so the youngest girls wouldn't hear the title._

 _"And you Katie?" Johanna asked her daughter, smiling at her son in law's choice since he read largely crime novels._

 _"_ The Crimson Patch _," Kate said, not surprised when her mother still smiled as she enjoyed whodunnit novels, especially the Asey Mayo books._

 _"Oh, we didn't tell Grandma about her book!" Alexandra said suddenly._

 _"They had the_ Oxford Book of Modern Verse _," Kate told her mother._

 _"They did? Wonderful," Johanna said happily. "I'll look forward to readin' that tonight."_

 _"Thank you for staying with the candies Ma," Kate said after the girls had spoken about where they wanted to go most in the neighborhood._

 _"Well, I wouldn't want to walk around the entire neighborhood," Johanna said. "And you'll have fun with Josephine."_

 _"How long can we go out Ma?" Elizabeth asked then._

 _"When we say it's time to stop you'll stop," Rick said. He wasn't surprised when the girls protested; except for Julia since she was going to spend the night at her friend's house down the street; and said, "Really, it's Sunday tomorrow but we can't stay out all night."_

 _"And we're going to eat," Kate said firmly as she could see their food was coming then. She was pleased when the girls didn't say anything else and they started their meal._

 _When they had finished their meal Rick and Kate gathered their daughters and after seeing off her mother in the car walked to the Mill Valley Market. The girls had gone to look at the pumpkins, while their parents were looking at the apples._

 _"I think you should go with them Rick," Kate told her husband, picking out a deep red apple and setting it into her bag._

 _"They're fine," he told her firmly. When their youngest started to cry, Rick said, "I'll go now." He wasn't surprised when his wife smiled at him and he hurried to the girls, seeing that Julia was just helping Josephine up. "What is it honey?" he asked the little girl picking her up._

 _"She was skipping and she fell," Alexandra explained._

 _"Ah, best not let your ma hear that," Rick told her, kissing Josephine's cheek. "Are you hurt?" When the little girl shook her head, he kissed her cheek again and said, "And now you know to be careful."_

 _"I will Da," Josephine said, leaning her cheek against her father's._

 _"Come on girls," Rick told them. "Your ma might be finished, and she'll need your bags for our produce." He took the four to where Kate was in line at the register, seeing that she was speaking to their neighbor, Mrs. McTavish. "Good afternoon Maisel," he told the woman tipping his hat with his free hand._

 _"Good afternoon Rick, girls," the woman said with a smile at them. "Billy can't wait for your party tonight. Luckily he and his papa went to fish in the ocean so he'll be busy until then. But I have some last touches on his costume so I'll see you soon."_

 _After they'd said goodbye to the woman and she'd paid for the apples and lettuce Kate said, "What happened?" as they were walking back home._

 _"I tripped Ma," Josephine said softly as she was walking hand in hand with her mother._

 _"I thought so," Kate replied. "You know better honey," she told her youngest gently._

 _"Yes Ma," Josephine said. "Can we try on our costume when we get home?"_

 _"Costumes," Kate corrected her. "And yes, you can but after you help me in getting everything set up."_

 _"Okay," Josephine said happily._

 _Kate, as the little girl was going to her sisters, went to her husband and slid her arm through his. They listened to their daughter's chatter while they walked and glanced at each other, smiling before they followed the four past the fence to head inside their abode._

* * *

 _"What do you think Ma?" Julia said as she walked into the kitchen later that evening._

 _"You look perfect," Kate said with a smile as her oldest was wearing the costume of a hula dancer from Hawaii. They'd made the skirt together, using pieces of green crepe to attach to the green skirt she'd bought. She was wearing a gingham shirt in white and green with leis around her neck that covered it. "Will you take this out to the table?" she asked her daughter, handing her the large punch bowl. "I'll be changing into my costume." When her daughter nodded she went up the stairs and then to the master bedroom, slipping in just as her husband was leaving the bathroom._

 _"I'm not sure about this," Rick told her._

 _"Well… the girls did say we should dress up," Kate replied, doing her best to keep a straight face at the sight of her husband. He was dressed as a prospector, what their daughters had suggested to them to wear, but wasn't sure he wasn't appearing to be a fool in a plaid shirt and Levi's._

 _"You'll look better than I will," Rick said firmly._

 _"You say that without seeing me," Kate replied simply before she went over to the closet to get her clothes._

 _Rick was about to say he would soon, but she was closing the door behind her and he went over to it to let her know he could help her when she was calling out from the other side._

 _"Go with the girls, make sure they're okay," Kate said._

 _"Alright," Rick said though he was hesitating for a moment. He finally shook himself and headed down the stairs before heading down the flight that went to the living room. "Well, I see we're all ready."_

 _"Yeah," Elizabeth said eagerly. "Are you ready to go diggin' Da?"_

 _"King's English, Elizabeth," Rick told her teasingly. He gently tugged on the braid in her hair; the little girl dressed as a cat; and he said, "I suppose I am. We'll have a long drive up to Sutter's Mill."_

 _"I'm ready," Julia said._

 _"Me too!" Josephine said eagerly, tugging on her father's hand._

 _"You look beautiful," Rick told the little girl with a smile as she was dressed as a fairy. "And you as well Alexandra," he said as his second oldest was holding onto his other hand by then._

 _"Thank you Da," the little girl replied, her costume a clown._

 _"Where's your grandma?" Rick asked._

 _"In the kitchen," Julia answered. "She's just checking on everything."_

 _"Everythin's ready," Johanna said, walking over to them. "We just need to wait for guests."_

 _"It's Aunt Rose!" Josephine squealed when they heard a car going past the side of the house._

 _"I wonder why she's running a bit late," Kate said, coming down the stairs. She smiled when Josephine rushed to her, hugging her around the waist and she leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head._

 _"Are they dressing up?" Julia asked._

 _"I'm not sure, Rosie never mentioned she would," Kate replied as they were heading over to the back door to greet the arrivals as they were walking over to them._

 _"Well, well, you're off to Yosemite, aren't you?" Rose asked when she spotted her twin._

 _"You can't pan for gold there," Kate said jokingly before she and her sister hugged. "A witch?" she asked._

 _"Oh… it was the best we could do," Rose said in amusement._

 _"I told her I shouldn't wear this," Patrick said as the twins looked at him. He was dressed as an old-time telegrapher, down to the striped shirt, vest, sleeve protectors and visor hat._

 _As the girls were greeting their aunts and uncle Rick and Kate ushered them inside so they could prepare for the start of the party. They were able to calm down in time for the doorbell ringing and they turned their attention to their guests to begin letting them in._

* * *

 _"Stay together with us girls," Kate told her daughters as they walked out onto the sidewalk. Their party had gone well and though it hadn't lasted for very long she knew the girls didn't mind at all as they wanted to go out for trick or treating._

 _"We will," Julia said. She looked down at her little sister; walking with Alexandra; before they made their way up to the first house._

 _"I'm surprised they're letting us stay with them," Rick commented._

 _"We have to stay with the youngest," Kate said simply, as she knew Julia had wanted to go on her own with her friends._

 _"At least we didn't have words," Rick said._

 _"With our daughter?" Kate asked. She smiled when he shrugged, as she knew he hadn't really had much else to say, and she squeezed his arm that she was holding onto before their daughters were returning to them. "What did you get?" she asked._

 _"Cookies!" Elizabeth said eagerly, holding up the cellophane bag with the tiny cookies inside them._

 _"Wonderful, Maisel makes the best sugar cookies," Rick said._

 _"You're only having one of them," Kate told him._

 _"Can we share with the aunts and Uncle Patrick?" Julia said._

 _"You knew I was going to ask that of you already," Kate told her. She laughed softly when her oldest nodded before she could hear her sister calling to them behind her._

 _"Did they already go to a house?" Rose asked once they were gathered together again._

 _"This one," Elizabeth said._

 _"Is Ma alright?" Kate asked while they were continuing again._

 _"Of course," Rose said._

 _"She was giving the candies out already when we left," Mary said. "And enjoying the costumes."_

 _"She always loved Halloween," Kate said with a smile before they were stopping at the next house. She watched with the others as the four children walked up to the front door, smiling as they chorused out their, "Tricks or treats!" at the same time. She felt her husband kiss her cheek suddenly and glanced at him, squeezing his hand in response before they were continuing through their neighborhood again._

* * *

"Love?" Castle asked, standing at the doorway to the room downstairs in the guesthouse later that night.

"Yes?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Is she alright?" Castle said.

"She's fine," Beckett replied as she walked back to her husband.

"Are you sure you don't want to sleep here?" Castle said.

"I'm sure," Beckett said easily as she then took her husband's hand and pulled him with her over to the stairs. They'd been back from San Diego for a half hour and she'd finally managed to get Josie to stay with them. "I wonder why your mother's so eager to keep Josie with her," she said once they were up in their room and could talk at a normal volume.

"I think she's recalling she's heading back to the city after New Year's," Castle reminded her.

"She doesn't want to move in yet?" Beckett asked as she was taking off her robe.

"Not yet," Castle replied, doing the same to his own and then following her onto the bed. "At least she's set for now," he told his wife.

"For now," Beckett said with a smile. She waited for her husband to get settled before she wrapped her arms around him and said, "Did your mind go past that second house?"

"Not really," Castle replied, recalling his memory swiftly. Luckily it had taken him right until they'd needed to board their plane to tell it so their kids had stayed calm. He put his free hand behind his head and said, "I thought about that night."

Since her husband was looking pointedly at her Beckett said, "I remembered too," with a sigh though she smiled when he squeezed her against him a little hard. "We forgot again."

"Yes," Castle replied. "Twice."

"I think I was too close to my next period," Beckett said after thinking that over. "I wasn't receptive to you. At least in that way."

"Yeah," Castle said slowly. He laughed when she nudged him, and he turned his head, pressing his lips to the top of her head. "You know I wanted you even though we were wearing those stupid costumes."

"They weren't really," Beckett said with a smile. "Plaid shirts and jeans?"  
"We could have sung _The Lumberjack Song_ … if it had existed then," Castle said. At her second nudge to his side he said, "Why are you beating me up?"

Giving him a look, though she didn't mean it, Beckett then said, "What happened once we'd finished?"

Though he knew he could give her a great smart-ass comment, Castle decided he had better things to say and he said, "We were together… off and on."

"Luckily my sister, Mary and Patrick stayed over," Beckett commented, recalling suddenly how tired they had been the next day.

"When we stopped it was dawn the next day," Castle told her.

"What time was that?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Six thirty," Castle replied, the time coming to him suddenly. He kissed her temple before he then told her about their discussion that morning though he knew she was aware of what they'd said already.

* * *

 _"Do we really need to stop love?" Rick asked his wife, caressing her hair._

 _"The sun's almost up," Kate told him, raising her head though the window behind their bed was covered with curtains. "And we need sleep."_

 _"I'm sure your Ma and Rose can take care of them," Rick said._

 _Kate smiled and kissed her shoulder lightly before she pressed her cheek to it saying, "I think we've done enough love."_

 _Sighing Rick said, "Next year I'm a prince." He wasn't surprised when his wife laughed, and he told her, "Well… not a prince but better than a grubby prospector."_

 _"Oh, it wasn't so bad Rick," Kate said, raising her head. She smiled at him, slightly smirking as well, before she told him, "It didn't stop us did it?"_

 _Shuddering, recalling their intense lovemaking Rick said, "You're a Sheba."_

 _Leaning down enough to reach him, Kate kissed him as hard as she could, not surprised when he reached up to her and tangled his fingers through her hair carefully. Once they stopped, she traced his lips with her index finger telling him, "I love being with you like this Rick."_

 _"As much as I do?" he asked her.  
"We'd have to spend far too much time discussing that," Kate told him. She leaned down and gently brushed her lips against his before she told him, "I love you."_

 _"I love you Kate," Rick said quickly. "Do you think I could touch you?"_

 _"We can't, we need to sleep," Kate replied._

 _Breathing out hard, Rick watched her tug the covers over her shoulder and he held her close to let her fall asleep before he joined her while the next day was beginning._

* * *

"Should I be worried we haven't done that for a while?" Castle asked.

"How can we?" Beckett replied. "I prefer it during the day anyway."

"So do I," Castle replied before he yawned.

"It's not our ages," Beckett said quickly as she knew what was on his mind as he looked like was about to speak.

"Mine," Castle said. He was a little startled at how intently his wife had looked at him and said, "Kate-"

Shaking her head, surprised that that had stopped him from continuing, Beckett said, "I know Rick, but you do realize in other ways you're impressive." When he didn't say anything she said, "Should we stop?"

"I think so," Castle replied since he was holding himself tense. He looked at her and then asked, "Could I kiss you at least?"

"That's more if you think you can," Beckett replied. She expected her husband to instantly kiss her, so once he did she was responding nearly immediately, and they were holding onto one another tightly. When they had finally parted she said, "That we can't really push."

"Not at all," Castle said, hugging her a little tighter. They both suddenly froze at hearing Josie making some noises but when she didn't start crying they relaxed though they listened to the monitor for a bit more time. "Kate," he then said as he thought of something. "Are you okay?"

"I am," Beckett told him. "You don't have to keep asking me."

"I worry hugging you," Castle told her.

"I know but I'll let you know if it's too much," Beckett replied gently. She leaned against him and they shared a tender kiss before they parted, and she said, "It's interesting we're not going anywhere next week."

Smiling as he knew that was a distraction, Castle went along with it saying, "I think Skye wants a break. Speaking of being exhausted…" He then looked at his wife and asked, "Would you ever do it?"

"Not unless I was dancing with you," Beckett replied.

"I agree," Castle said before they kissed. They lingered a bit with that before he pulled away from her first and was about to speak when she put her fingers to his lips so she could talk first, letting her do that willingly since he was kissing her fingertips.

"Stop," Beckett said in amusement.

"I'm not sorry," Castle said.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I know, neither am I." She leaned over and kissed him tenderly before pulling away and telling him, "We should lay down."

"Do we have to?" Castle asked.

"Yes," Beckett told him firmly before she moved away from him and watched him lay down. She hurried to join him but paused before she settled against his side and she pushed herself back up.

"Is she okay?" Castle asked while he was pushing himself up to sit up.

"She is," Beckett said with a smile. She turned her tablet over to him and watched him looking at their baby who was still fast asleep. "For now."

"Yeah," Castle said absently. He let her put the device away while he set aside his glasses before he was laying back down, reaching for her and holding her tightly to him. "Kate?" he said after they were quiet for a minute.

"Hmm?" Beckett said.

"I love you," Castle said meaningfully. He watched her raise her head and he was ready for her kiss, responding to her as deeply as he could before their tongues were rolling around each other hungrily. When they'd parted slowly he caressed her hair, beginning to run his fingers through her locks before she whispered against his lips.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett told him. When he kissed her she wasn't surprised, parting her lips for him until they needed to breathe again. "We have to stop," she told him.

"That sounds horrible," Castle commented, rubbing her back though her shirt.

"For now," Beckett said, rolling her eyes though she was smiling at the same time. When he reached over to the light on his nightstand she went to the one on hers and once they were off she was back in his arms. "Night love," she told him.

"You're no fun," Castle said jokingly as she'd stopped his hand from sliding up and down on her side. He hugged her to him gently and pressed his lips to the top of her head telling her, "Night Kate." He felt her settling against him and they lay still, listening to their breathing and Josie's breathing from the monitor. He smiled slightly when his wife fell asleep as he could feel it and he let himself follow her. He still wanted her but with her and their daughter in their repose he contented himself with his dreams of his wife, knowing she was doing the same while they slept peacefully in each other's embrace.


	31. Taking Chances, Every Dance

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Ever Present Past_ (I highly recommend seeing the music video for it to see the movements they're doing in the chapter) by Paul McCartney, from his album _Memory Almost Full_ , _Hell to Pay_ by Paul as well, from his album _New_ , _Turned Out_ by Paul McCartney, from the deluxe edition of his album _New_. _Friends to Go_ by Paul, from his album _Chaos and Creation in the Backyard_ , _Twenty Fine Fingers_ by Paul and Elvis Costello from Paul's remastered album _Flowers in the Dirt_ , _Queenie Eye_ by Paul and Paul Epworth, from Paul McCartney's album _New_ and _Comfort of Love_ by Paul.

A/N #2: I was really happy that I got the feedback for the last chapter I did so I'll go ahead and get started on my thank yous for them! MsNYC (I'm not surprised you were glad Beckett was okay not nursing Josie anymore. And I was pleased reading that you thought it was great that everyone was still having fun, but you're right it is!),

TORONTOSUN (Glad to see you think it's great that Castle and Beckett have great family and friends in the story. I do try my best writing that!) and

Mb (Really nice to read you thought this chapter was really good and an interesting update too. I wasn't surprised you thought it was good they could Skype with Alexis. And I'm glad that you liked the fact that they were at a B&B at Lake Placid for the weekend with Castle and Beckett getting that for them. I figured it was time for an update about their books so I did want to include that, lol, glad you liked that. Not surprised you mentioned them being there for the final if Skye and Derek make it, lol. And I'm really pleased you liked them at the zoo; since I've written about it before; and the singing and dancing at Old Town. I wasn't surprised that you weren't at that bit at the Casa de Estudillo happening with the spirits; San Diego is haunted. I also wasn't surprised that you mentioned that though Julia was being asked about being spirits and her sisters do as well and it's from Beckett that Beckett is still skeptic, it's how I see her really. Interesting to hear about Derek, I did know that he sang since he did on DWTS when he was still on the show and he can play I believe guitar and drums. I'm going to have him back in the future, I'll see about singing with Skye and Mary. Great you thought the first half was another fantastic update. You're welcome for it! It was nice to see that you thought the chapter was a wonderful filler chapter too. And I'm glad that you liked them getting excited about bookstores and books since I get that way myself, lol, especially the store I described in Old Town. But yeah, I understand what you meant about not being able to pass a bookstore, too difficult to do! Very, very happy that you're still enjoying the memories that they're having since I really love writing them. I'm not surprised that you mentioned the fact that they're missing their mothers in the previous life and then the current one; not sure why I did that for the past life, but it just came to me though you're right it is sad. I had wondered if anyone would mention what Martha said about moving to the Hamptons. And I'm not surprised that you did with her wanting to keep Josie close. And I'm not surprised either that you're hoping she'll move like Jim did since everyone's there in the Hamptons. You're welcome for sharing the second half!).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them all as usual and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is are parts of two lyrics from the song _Queenie Eye_ , information in the A/N above.

Taking Chances, Every Dance

Looking at herself, Julia breathed out roughly and then called over to her mother, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Beckett said. "You might need to help me with the zipper though."

"Okay," Julia said, waiting for her mother to come around the screen in the dressing room. Though they weren't at the point where the show started; and the team dance would be at the last twenty minutes of the show; her mother had been asked to change. That made her think of something and she said, "Are you gonna be able to go out and dance with Dad?"

"I will, I'll feel very weird," Beckett commented as she walked out to her daughter. "But it's a dress."

"You look really nice Mom," Julia said quickly and with a wide smile.

"Thank you, grab the zipper," Beckett told her, turning around. Since the team dance was supposed to be during the fifties; when Paul had been in the school whose uniforms the team was wearing recreations of; her dress was in that style but very simple. She hadn't minded that part but wasn't sure about the cut.

"Dad's gonna be annoyed," Julia suddenly said after she'd closed the zipper on her mother's periwinkle blue dress.

"Why?" Beckett said in surprise.

"It's up," Julia said firmly, talking about her hair.

Though she knew she should tell her daughter that he wouldn't mind, Beckett stopped herself as she didn't want to explain why exactly. "Alright, we should go-" she began before a knock interrupted her.

"I bet it's Dad," Julia said with a wide smile at her.

Watching as her daughter opened the door, Beckett was smiling herself at the sight of her husband on the other side. "She guessed," she told him as he walked inside.

"You look beautiful," Castle told her, hugging her tightly and kissing her. When they parted he paused and then turned to their daughter saying, "You look great too Julia."

Laughing softly the girl said, "That's okay, I knew you were gonna notice Mom first."

"I meant what I said though," Castle told her firmly.

"Thanks," Julia said with a smile. She and her friends would be dancing the Foxtrot first and Stella had designed their costumes for that dance and hers and Peter's Argentine Tango. She had been surprised; as she'd drawn the costumes for everyone that night; but understood it was a little easier for the designer since she was in between collections and she was a bit simple in her designs. She and Mari were wearing matching dresses, 50's style but for a party as opposed to her mother's school dress. Hers was a dark green with a white feather pattern and while she knew her friend's dress had the same pattern, Mari's was a blue shade to match her eyes. She was about to tell her parents about going to dance when suddenly there was a knock on the wall outside. She jumped when she saw who it was and bolted into their arms as they spoke laughingly.

"I suppose you're happy to see me," Paul said.

"Yeah, are you ready?" Julia asked.

The singer laughed out loud and told her, "I am. But I was about to ask you the same."

"Oh, I am," Julia said eagerly. "So's my mom."

"Hello again," Beckett said, going to the singer and embracing him quickly.

"Hullo to you both," Paul said. "Stella told me you were going to be there during their team dance."

"It's a good dance," Julia said quickly, hoping someone had told her mother not to tell the singer about the 'plot' of their dance.

"Someone told me sweetie," Beckett told her with a smile. "I'm under a confidentiality agreement," she told the singer jokingly.

"I had a feeling," Paul said before he heard gasps behind him in the hall. "Ah, this must be the rest of the little imps."

"Eddie told you about us?" Mari asked with a smile as the singer squeezed her shoulder since she'd gone to stand next to him.

"That he did," Paul replied. "So these are your partners."

"This is Peter Waterson and Clive Lennox," Julia said quickly, not having to say which she danced with since Paul knew already. "Are you ready to judge?"

"I am," Paul replied. "But have you seen Skye? I haven't seen a peek of her."

"I'm here," the investigator said suddenly. "And there are some introductions to be made," Skye told them as the other kids' parents were there. After everyone had been introduced she said, "The music's just about to start, so I'll keep the kids with us as usual."

"Is it alright for you to be with him right now?" Isaac couldn't help asking.

Skye smiled and said, "We're going to makeup, he needs some as well so we'll all be together."

"I'll be back sweetie," Beckett told Julia after Castle had given their second oldest a big hug.

"I know," the girl said. "I'll see you Dad."

"Break a leg sweetheart," Castle told her seriously. He wasn't surprised when she hugged him again and after they parted he squeezed her shoulder before he took Beckett's hand and led her out to the ballroom so they could dance. He was startled the first song to play was _Ballroom Dancing_ , and as he and his wife began dancing with Eliza he asked, "Think Skye had anything to do with this?"

"That'd be me," Mary said next to them. She smiled when the pair looked at her in surprise and she said, "I picked Skye's songs, they came to me for more. Though I did have help; your daughter."

"That doesn't surprise us," Castle said, not shocked when his wife was laughing.

In the Sky Box the four kids had watched their parents for a bit before they started to practice their Foxtrot. They'd gone to it by themselves, but they were soon being joined by Skye and Derek, Peter asking the pro a question about his costume.

"You don't feel weird?" the boy was saying.

"Not really," Derek said.

"I do," Skye mumbled. She laughed when her partner glared at her though he was smiling shortly after and she said, "Luckily you're not topless."

"Or you, the women were in the music video for the song," Julia told the investigator.

"And that wasn't going to happen," Skye said firmly. She looked out at the ending strains of _My Love_ and sighed saying, "Your parents are lucky."

"Is my mom dancing?" Peter asked suddenly.

"Is my dad?" Clive asked.

"No," Mari said. "Just mine and Julia's."

Watching the two boys watching their parents who were talking to each other at their seats Julia felt a little uncomfortable since hers were dancing in each other's arms. Sharing a glance with Mari she wasn't surprised to see her friend was obviously feeling the same and she smiled at her before the song was ending. "Bye," she said to Skye and Derek who were leaving in a rush.

"This should be fun," Clive commented as they went back to the railing to watch again.

Sitting with her husband to the right of the judges, Beckett murmured to Stella and Nancy McCartney; who'd made it to the broadcast, "I really hope he enjoys it."

"He will," the designer said with a smile as they watched the intro.

Julia was jumping up and down against the railing as the first thing that was talked about was Paul's career and they showed swift clips of his live performances and music videos. When they showed the different couples practicing and then the team dancers walking together in a line to the cameras she began to blush as they were with their team in the clip. "Good thing we're not dancing first thing," she whispered quickly. She wasn't surprised when her friends nodded in agreement and then looked down at the ballroom floor. The pairs were standing at the sides of the floor and she smiled as they walked out onto it just as the music was beginning. She wondered if the audience; except for their families and the McDouglases were curious about why the stage where the band normally was was covered by a sheet. She shared a smile with her friends while Paul began to sing, and the pairs down below were posing and serious at different points during the first two lyrics of the first verse while on the sheet Paul from the music video; by himself; was projected.

 _I've got too much on my plate  
Don't have no time to be a decent lover  
I hope it isn't too late  
Searching for the time that has gone so fast  
The time that I thought would last  
My ever present past_

At the third line, all the stars and the pros were mimicking the way Paul was moving on the projection and Beckett was impressed they still had the footage of the singer by himself.

"How'd they get the projection of two of him?" Castle couldn't help murmuring to his wife as that was on the screen at the end before the second one of the singer was walking through a door.

Squeezing his hand, Beckett shook her head and watched with him as the pairs were walking around that time, pausing here and there until the second lyric of the next verse where they began to mimic Paul again.

 _I've got too much on my mind  
I think of everything to be discovered  
I hope there's something to find  
Searching for the time that has gone so fast  
The time that I thought would last  
My ever present past_

With the first playing of the chorus, Julia tore her gaze away from the projection, watching the pros and stars mimicking Paul again eventually. She smiled at their movements, since Paul in the music video had made up his moves and had always said he wasn't the best dancer. But she thought it was great as the fourteen people in front of the screen were gathering for the next verse since they would be mimicking Paul once more.

 _The things I think I did  
I did, I did, I did  
The things I think I did  
When I was a kid_

 _I couldn't understand a word that they were saying  
But still I hung around and took it all in  
I wouldn't join in with the games that they were playing  
It went by, it went, in flash  
It flew by, it flew by, in a flash_

Beckett smiled as the fourteen all moved their hips and legs as Paul was doing at the end, glancing at Nancy and Stella. Seeing the smile on the singer's wife and the designer's face she had her answer as to if they were enjoying watching it and she turned her attention to the dance floor as the instrumental was brief. While it had been going the pairs were breaking off together and during it and the first three lyrics of the next verse their names and phone numbers were appearing on the screen that they could see at the other end of the ballroom. She glanced up at the Sky Box at her daughter just before they began to copy Paul again, smiling as she turned back to the dancers since Julia was obviously very happy.

 _There's far too much on my plate  
Don't have no time to be a decent lover  
I hope it's never too late  
Searching for the time that has gone so fast  
The time that I thought would last  
My ever present past_

With the last two instances of the chorus, Julia could feel the excitement building and she took Mari's hand next to her, squeezing it tightly as she waited for what would happen at the very end of the song.

 _The things I think I did  
I did, I did, I did  
The things I think I did  
When I was a kid  
When I was a…_

 _The things I think I did  
I did, I did, I did  
The things I think I did  
When I was a kid  
When I was a kid_

By the second to last line the pairs were lined up on either side of Paul on the screen while his projection was still dancing. But as he knelt there, the screen dropped, and the singer himself was revealed. It took a moment for the audience to react, but they were applauding, some cheering, as Tom was saying, "Welcome our guest judge tonight, Sir Paul McCartney!"

Beckett, though she didn't want to, had to leave as she needed to go to the kids and she kissed Eliza so she could take her seat; having been on Martha's lap until that point. She kissed her husband's cheek in passing and just as Tom was speaking to Paul she was going up to the Sky Box, using the stairs backstage. "Okay?" she asked the four as she joined them at the railing.

"Good," Julia said before they were looking back down as Tom was explaining what Paul would be doing as a judge.

"Tonight Sir Paul will be judging each story that's presented in the dances," the co-host began. "And not on the execution of the dance. It's wonderful to have you here sir-"

"Just Paul," the singer said with a smile.

"Paul," Tom said. "Join our judges at the table and we hope you'll enjoy tonight's dances."

As the singer went to sit between Len and Bruno, shaking all three judges' hands, Tom introduced Daisy and Sasha and the other couples went backstage. Beckett knew that Skye and Derek would be joining them soon as the kids would be dancing right before their Paso Doble. She turned her attention to Julia; as Daisy and Sasha's intro was still playing; and said, "How're you feeling sweetie?"

Beaming up at her mother Julia said, "I'm good, you wanted to ask me before when you were sitting with Dad huh?"

"I did," Beckett replied before she leaned down and kissed the top of her daughter's head. She knew she should have probably refrained from doing that; since the other dancers and stars were around them in the box; but she wasn't regretting it as Julia wrapped her arm around her while they were watching the duo on the dance floor were dancing their Viennese Waltz to Paul's song _I Don't Know_. When it finished she asked, "What do you think?"

"Their dance was really good," Julia replied. "I wonder if Len will like it since it wasn't a really normal Viennese Waltz," she said, being able to talk since the show had gone to commercial. "Hey," she said with a gasp as she spotted Skye and Derek walking in then.

"Oh good, I wanted there to be surprise," the latter said with a smile.

"You guys look great," Beckett told them.

"Thanks," Skye replied. "Though the makeup isn't too 80's isn't it?"

"No," Beckett said, unable to help laughing. "If it was you'd have some… stripes under your eyes or something."

"I told her," Derek said.

Skye squeezed Julia's shoulder, since she was touching the side of her coat and she asked her, "Long enough?"

"Yeah," the girl said, as she'd been wondering how her costume would work since it wouldn't be a dress. Julia then said to Derek, "She's ready?"

"I'm right here," Skye said in mock indignation.

Laughing Derek replied, "She's more than ready."

"I think it depends more on the fans last week," Skye commented. She then looked at Derek and said, "One practice before they go down."

"Right," the dancer replied, and they moved together in the opening steps of their dance.

Julia was smiling widely at the way their coats were able to spin out with them as they were long and a little wide under the waist. She had to wonder why they were black coats with higher collars and why Skye had darker green eyeshadow and heavy eyeliner on. But she had no chance to ask as they were getting out of the way of Daisy, Sasha, Erin and the cameras since the show was coming back. They didn't have a chance to see the judges and Paul comment on their dance as they were taken down to the dance floor for their Foxtrot. She breathed out and then smiled at her mother asking, "Where will you be?"

"Here on the side," Beckett replied. "I'll be able to see you."

"Come on," Derek said, getting the girl's attention.

Giving her mother a quick hug, Julia rushed to the pro and they went out to the middle of the dance floor where he spoke to the four rapidly before he needed to leave as the cameras were cutting back to Tom who was near them.

"Next we have our troupe from the Hamptons," the co-host was saying. "Dancing a Foxtrot to the song covered by Paul, _Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive_."

Castle could see his wife just barely on the other side of the dance floor and he wished he could have gone over to her before their daughter began dancing with Peter. He had to tear his attention to the kids, watching them with a smile as they had helped Derek with their choreography. He could see that Julia was enjoying it, and luckily the other three were as well until they finished with the boys dipping the girls. He applauded, waving as soon as his and Beckett's second oldest was coming over to speak with the judges and Paul as well.

"We'll start with our special judge," Tom said with a smile; having asked the kids first if they'd been scared at all dancing for the singer and getting resounding no's in response. "What did you think?"

"I thought it was quite nice," Paul said. "Took me back to dances when I was a lad," he told the kids with a smile. "And I've been told you danced it very well."

Julia smiled, pleased when the three judges agreed with what the singer had said, and she rocked a little on her feet once. When they could leave she went straight to her mother and hugged her as tightly as she could. "We were good?" she asked.

"You heard what Paul said," Beckett told her with a smile. "Come on, we need to go up, they're dancing after the commercial."

Nodding rapidly, Julia took her mother's hand and pulled at it when she started to walk away. She pulled her and said, "We can see Dad, really fast."

Though she wanted to protest, Beckett knew her daughter wouldn't try that if anyone from the crew would stop them. So she followed Julia across the ballroom hurriedly until they came to their family. She let her husband hug their daughter first and while the others were greeting her she then shared a brief hug with her husband. "You didn't really have to," she told him teasingly.

"I'm not taking that back," Castle replied. "Do you need to sit?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "There are chairs up in the Sky Box."

"And you need to go soon don't you?" Castle asked.

"I do," Beckett said. "And that's all of us," she told him. "Julia," she said.

Hurrying over to her, the girl took her mother's hand and said, "I wish we could have stayed longer."

"I know," Beckett replied. "But we'll see them after."

"What about Paul?" Julia asked after waving to him while they passed the table.

"I'm not sure," Beckett said.

"Ooh… Skye might know," Julia said jokingly.

"Come on," Beckett said in amusement, tugging her hand though her daughter had only weakly pulled at hers. After they were back in the Sky Box she apologized to the kids who were at the railing saying, "We should have let you go to your families."

"It's okay," Clive said first. "We'll see them at the next commercial."

"You'll have to run," Beckett pointed out. She laughed softly when the boy nodded firmly and turned her attention when the music indicating the show was coming back started to play.

"Welcome back," Tom was saying. "Our next dance tonight is from Skye and Derek, can they Paso Doble back up in the leaderboard after their Foxtrot last week?"

The intro to the pair began with Tom talking about the dance the previous week while showing when Skye had stumbled.

"Last week wasn't exactly the best," the investigator said herself before it played some of what Bruno had said. "But there's always the hope that we can improve this week."

"This week's the Paso Doble," Derek said. "And I think that it's a good chance for us to improve after last week, since Skye's a very big fan of the dance."

" _First you take me to the limit then expect me to stop_ ," the investigator sang while she and Derek were in the studio.

"What song is this one? What album?" the pro asked his partner.

" _Hell to Pay_ , from his album _New_ ," Skye replied. "From the deluxe edition so people might not know this one as well as the others that will be danced to. But it has a solid base for the Paso."

"I'm eager to learn this," the investigator was saying as the scene went to her sitting on a chair in another room. "I do know a bit of Flamenco, but this is a different dance and I just hope I can catch on to it."

The footage showed the pair learning and Derek began to speak saying, "Skye's determined to get this right, since of course she does know Paul."

The scene then went to a studio room and Paul was entering through the door saying, "Hullo, hullo," before Skye was jogging the short distance to him.

"Oh you made it, I'm so glad," the investigator told him as she embraced him. "Derek," Skye then said as her partner was walking to him. "This is Paul McCartney," she told him watching the two shake hands before the pro was telling the singer; at his questioning; what they were doing.

"It's the Paso Doble," Derek was saying. "We can show you some steps if you'd like."

The pair were shown dancing in front of Paul while Skye was saying in a voice over, "Since he's been to Spain several times, luckily Paul can understand what we're doing. He just doesn't know why yet. We'll be two spies… Spy vs. Spy." The scene went next to the investigator sitting on an armchair again, Derek next to her in another, and she said, "Now we just need to bring it together with the dance."

"And we will," the pro said before he was laughing with Skye.

Beckett looked down at Julia with a smile, as she'd squeezed her hand when the music played while the footage ended, and she hurriedly squeezed back as the announcer was saying, "Dancing the Paso Doble, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

The music started with Skye and Derek on either end at the bottom of the flight of stairs from the stage with 'search lights' and a helicopter sound playing briefly before the music took over. The two were looking around, using the collars of their coats to hide the sides of their faces. When the first lyric began they started walking diagonally quickly so they could meet at the beginning of the second lyric. As soon as they had Derek was grabbing Skye's hand and they were getting into hold before he was spinning her around, the investigator's left foot firmly on the floor while the other was against the outside of his legs. At the last two lyrics of the verse, and when she was standing straight, they jerked their heads and Skye pushed Derek away.

 _First you take me to the limit then expect me to stop  
You know I'm sick and tired of waiting for the penny to drop  
You make a living out of making people think you give it all away  
But you and I know very well  
There's always gonna be a price to pay_

Julia's eyes widened slightly when she heard the chorus beginning, as they'd skipped a verse, but realized why quickly since the more Paso Doble music began there. She smiled when Skye and Derek started to clap to the music; as she and Peter had done themselves; before they came back together and danced closely for the last two lyrics, the pro spinning them around at the last lyric.

 _You've had it all your way  
You've got to know some day  
You'll have to share or there'll be hell to pay_

Separating Skye picked up the sides of her coat and held them out as she and Derek danced across from each other and she started to advance on him while moving her coat at the same time. Her partner was on his knees moving backward, the lights flashing on the ballroom, until he stood at the end of the last line and they got into hold again.

 _There will be hell to pay  
There will be hell to pay  
There will be hell to pay  
There's gonna be hell to pay_

After the shortened instrumental following the chorus, the first verse played again, and Skye and Derek came back into hold and on the word stop at the end of it they froze. At the beginning of the second lyric Skye was sweeping her leg out and Derek was spinning them both around before they strode forward, still in hold until they let go of each other and he spun her away from him on the last lyric.

 _First you take me to the limit then expect me to stop  
You know I'm sick and tired of waiting for the penny to drop  
You make a living out of making people think you give it all away  
But you and I know very well there's always gonna be a price to pay_

With another instrumental, Julia smiled as the lights were flashing again and the two were dancing aggressively together before parting and at the very end of the song they started repeating Skye moving her coat back and forth and Derek on his knees moving backwards. They only lasted for a few lyrics and were going back in hold and she was pleased to see them alternating between spinning and steps for a few more. The lights were still flashing around as the pair had made it to the middle of the dance floor and she was soon crying out in exhilaration as the two were dancing a step forward and then Derek spun her away before they were meeting again for the last five lyrics.

 _There's gonna be  
There's gonna be  
There's gonna be hell to pay  
There's gonna be  
There's gonna be  
Oh yeah there's gonna be hell to pay  
Gonna be hell to pay  
Oh yeah  
There's gonna be hell to pay  
There's gonna be hell to pay  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

At the very end the lights stopped flashing and came on to Skye standing in front of Derek who was laying on the floor, her hands clenched into fists and her arms held out at her sides. She was breathing hard but as soon as her partner moved she was laughing and then wrapping her arms around him after helping him stand.

"That was fantastic," Derek said into her ear as the audience was loud.

Skye was a little startled to see how many people were standing and applauding and she smiled as she waved before they hurried to the table and Tom who was calling them over. She waved to her wife and daughters before turning her attention to Paul who the co-host had called on first.

"Well," the singer said, having to stop as the audience was still applauding. "Can we please have quiet!" he said. He heard Julia up in the Sky Box let out a whoop and said, "Calm down you lot," jokingly. He turned back to Skye and Derek and said, "Eighties Berlin?"

"Basically," Skye said in laughter, nodding as Derek was laughing next to her.

"You didn't lose the story, I had the thought you might but with your coats you managed to portray spies," Paul said. "And with those moves you did portray you were quite antagonistic towards one another. Wonderful little movie I was watching."

"Carrie-Ann," Tom then said to the female judge before she was raising her arms and moving them.

"Whoo that's how you do it!" the woman said when she stopped, laughing. "You improved vastly from last week and you did a great job with your steps. Your posture was good, that was amazing."

"Len," Tom said as Derek and Skye were jumping up and down at the same time and hugging each other.

"You did a nice job with your heels leads and your lines," the British judge was saying. "But I'm not sure I liked the constant attack."

While the audience was booing Bruno was saying jokingly, "It's the Paso!"

"You've done a good job," Len said to the pair. "And it's not quite to my tastes, your added moves, but I will say that you danced them well."

"Let's hear from you last Bruno, quickly," Tom told the judge on the end.

"You said Berlin?" the Italian judge asked the singer. When he nodded he stood up and said, "No! We were in Seville and there was danger and excitement!"

"Don't," Tom began as he was laughing, along with the pair and the audience. "Don't take out the guest judge."

"I'm sorry," Bruno told Paul as he was sitting down, laughing himself as the singer had playfully leaned away from him while he'd stood and gesticulated. "But it was a very good Paso, your Spanish lines were superb, and you were spy versus spy and you were victorious!"

"Go ahead up to the Sky Box to get your scores," Tom said, still laughing as the pair was doing so too.

Though she knew she didn't have much time, Skye rushed to her wife and squeezed her tightly, squeezing their second oldest's hand since she was close and telling Stella a swift thank you. She went over to the stairs, going up in front of Derek until they came to the top and stepped into the box. "Thank you, girls," she said as Julia and Mari hugged her quickly, telling her the dance was great. She hugged Beckett hurriedly and went with her partner to stand with Erin in front of the camera.

"Great comments from the judges and Paul," the co-host said. "How do you feel with this dance after last week's?"

"I'm very satisfied," Skye said. "Definitely enjoyed the steps and I really had fun with the song too."

"How did it feel dancing in front of Paul McCartney the first time tonight?" Erin said, having asked a similar question of Daisy and Sasha before them.

"Surreal," Skye said, which was what the photojournalist had said. "But it was a lot of fun."

"Alright, let's get your scores," Erin said.

Beckett, feeling Julia squeezing her hand again as the dramatic music started, smiled down at her but had to look to the screen in the box to watch while the announcer was saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Ten," the woman said, holding up the paddle while up in the Sky Box, Skye and Derek were hugging each other.

"Len Goodman," the announcer said.

"Nine," he said with the paddle, holding up his right hand when the audience started to boo him.

"Paul McCartney," the announcer said though it was partially drowned out before the singer was holding up his score paddle.

"Ten!" Paul said, waving it in the air.

"One more!" Peter said exuberantly just before the announcer was saying Bruno's name.

"Ten!" the Italian judge said, he and Paul waving their paddles as fans while the audience was cheering.

"That gives you a thirty-nine out of forty so far," Erin was saying as Skye and Derek were hugging each other tightly. "How do you feel."

"Thank you so much," the investigator said meaningfully. "Everyone."

"We're very happy with that score," Derek said. "And we're ready for the team dance."

"Team Queenie Eye!" Skye said, turning to look for the other members. When they cheered; since they weren't dancing yet; she held up her hand and laughed before Erin was talking about how the viewers could vote for her and Derek. The show went to commercial and she went to Beckett saying, "Gotta change, all of us."

"They didn't want me to take them," she said with a smile.

"We had to see your dance," Julia said in protest while she was taking her mother's hand. They left the Sky Box and went backstage to the dressing rooms before they split up into their different rooms.

"Are you two okay?" Beckett asked the girls.

"Yeah," Mari called from behind the screen, where she'd gone to swiftly after Julia's mother had unzipped her dress for her.

"S-" Beckett began as she turned to her daughter and saw that she hadn't moved to take off her dress.

"I hope you don't mind my dress," Julia said hurriedly.

"Would I?" Beckett asked. When her daughter shrugged she frowned slightly and then went to the garment bag, taking out the dress for her daughter's Argentine Tango. Studying it she said, "What was Stella going for? And do you have a story?"

"Not really, we didn't have one for the Foxtrot," Julia said, shaking her head. "Is it really bad? Too grown up?"

"No, but your dad is not going to be happy," Beckett said. She was a bit startled when her daughter shrugged and said, "You're expecting that already aren't you?"

"Yep," Julia said. She then smiled and said, "Skye said he wouldn't like the side of it. But I need it Mom."

"Don't worry, I know," Beckett said. "But it's not that bad and you'll be covered enough."

Nodding Julia then said, "I have shorts for underneath." She jumped when, in the pause between them, her friend called her name and she was running over to the screen to say, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but can I come out now?" Mari asked.

"Yeah," Julia said, moving away. She beamed at her friend for her costume for the Jive they'd be dancing to Paul's performance later and said, "Dad'll be happy about that one."

"Probably," Beckett said. "Okay, Julia needs to change so hopefully you won't mind."

"I won't," Mari said before she sat on one of the chairs in the room and watched Julia change from the fifties Foxtrot dress before she slipped on her dark green Argentine Tango dress. "It looks so cool," she breathed when her friend looked at her. "The color changes."

"She's right," Beckett told her daughter as she looked up at her. She ushered the girl to the mirror, watching her move to see the fabric of her dress was doing that. She studied the cut of it and smiled slightly, thinking of her husband's reaction. Her daughter's dress was sleeveless with a tight waist, the skirt falling in pleats and was to her knee on the left and down to just above her ankle on the right. She hugged Julia when she came to her and then said, "We should get going."

"What about our hair?" Mari asked, smiling at her friend.

"I'll ask Derek," Beckett said. "But I'll go ahead and brush it first," she said as she studied them. She followed them to the vanity helping them get their hair out of their ponytails before she brushed it quickly. They went to the door and when she opened it looked down at the girls who gasped at Skye on the other side. "We were just leaving, we're not late, are we?"

"No, but I'm glad I caught you before you left," the investigator told her. "Their hair," she explained to her friend's slightly confused expression.

"I was just about to go find Derek," Beckett explained to her. "How?"

"For Mari back up in a ponytail," Skye said. "He asked me to decide by the by. Though I'm not sure what you should do for Julia right now."

"Like it is," Beckett said.

Nodding, Skye said, "Alright, Elijah and Lindsay are dancing now."

"What song?" Mari asked.

Smiling the investigator said, " _Monkberry Moon Delight_."

"What dance did they have?" Beckett asked in confusion as she finished putting Mari's hair up into a ponytail.

"Argentine Tango," Julia said quickly. She smiled when her mother looked at her and told her, "They told us when they found out we were dancing that too."

"He's quite good singing that," Skye commented as they were leaving the dressing room.

"You are too," Derek said as they approached where he was standing with the boys and Eddie.

"Aren't you going soon?" Skye said to the actor.

"Oh of course," Eddie replied. "Give us a song," he said.

Rolling her eyes, Skye took in a deep breath and then sang, " _Well now it's done and out of nowhere, I can go wherever pleases me_. Alright, get out of here."

"What's he dancing to for that song?" Beckett asked.

"Jazz, he should do well," Skye said.

"Are you gonna go see Dad again?" Julia said, grabbing her mother's hand before they headed over to the stairs to the Sky Box to wait for when she and Peter would dance. She glanced down the hall for a moment, seeing her partner standing there, and waved to him saying, "The hat makes him really look like a tango dancer."

Beckett laughed, the boy wearing a black vest, white shirt and trousers with a black fedora, and said, "He does. And I'm not going to have the chance to, you'll have to change again and there won't be that many dances before your team dance."

"Jonathon's," Julia said immediately.

"Come on," Beckett said with a laugh. She wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders, going down the hall after the others and glad to hear her laughter before her next dance began.

* * *

"I'm so glad you put up my hair Mom," Julia said after she and Peter had finished another step for their dance.

"So am I," Beckett replied with a smile. She turned with her daughter and Peter as a crew member was calling the two over to the stage; since they were off stage by then; and she said, "A hug?"

"Yeah," Julia said with a wide smile, going to her and squeezing her around the waist. "Thanks Mom," she said as Beckett was embracing her back as tightly.

"Break a leg sweetie," she replied. Beckett leaned down and kissed the top of her daughter's head quickly, watching her go to Peter before the two walked together after the crew member. She was amused that they were together but not holding hands and she then hurried as fast as she could in her low-heeled shoes to head to the Sky Box. When she neared it, she slowed down when she saw a familiar figure in front of her and said, "Rick?"

"Hey," Castle said with a smile at her. When she was close enough to him he grabbed her, gently taking her into his arms before he said, "I hate lipstick right now."  
"Me too, but we'll have time later," Beckett said, careful not to press her cheek to his jacket since she didn't want to get her makeup on it.

"Yeah," Castle said. "And your hair…"

Beckett laughed softly and said, "Julia said you'd hate that too."

"It does look nice though," Castle said, letting her go to touch the braid that was around the bottom of her hair that was up. "Impressive."

"Thank you, come on," Beckett said, pulling him to the stairs so they could go up.

"Oh good, you made it," Skye said with a smile.

"Did you get him permission to come up here?" Beckett asked her friend. When the investigator nodded she squeezed her hand telling her, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," Skye replied, still smiling since her friend's voice was so heartfelt. "Come on, they're about to start."

"Wait, why are you up here?" Castle asked.

"This one was all Derek's," Skye said with a smile at them. She then moved to the railing with them, looking down with the slightly anxious parents as Tom was about to speak. "And Paul's; I'm with him for the troupe dance," she explained swiftly. She smiled when the two nodded, not having turned away from the dance floor down below.

"We have another dance from the Hamptons troupe tonight," the co-host began with. After the audience had stopped applauding he said, "Just one half this time. Peter and Julia will be dancing an Argentine Tango and they'll be accompanied by a special performance from Paul McCartney. This is _Friends to Go_."

Paul, in the middle of the stage, was sitting on a tall stool and holding an acoustic guitar. He began by strumming it and then proceeded to sing the first verse. He was watching the two kids, Peter taking Julia's hand before she turned to him and they started with simple steps before, at the end, the boy was spinning her around as her legs were spread for a moment before he set her down. While he sang the second verse the two were dancing slowly, as they were going to be there for his entire performance.

 _I've been waiting on the other side  
For your friends to leave so I don't have to hide  
I prefer they didn't know  
So I've been waiting on the other side  
For your friends to go_

 _I've been sliding down a slippy slope  
I've been climbing up a slowly burning rope  
But the flame is getting low  
I've been waiting on the other side  
For your friends to go_

When the next verse began, Peter was extending his right leg, letting Julia sit on it. She didn't do it for long and he was helping her into a sliding split before they were holding onto one another tightly and stepping and turning around.

 _You never need to worry about me  
I'll be fine on my own  
Someone else can worry about me  
I've spent a lot of time on my own  
I've spent a lot of time on my own_

At the next verse the music was stronger, and Peter held Julia's leg under his arm before he was holding her up fully and setting her down a second later. They were back in hold and then moving around together until the end of the verse. At the next one they were moving a little slower until Peter took Julia's leg as she raised it and held it by the ankle, dragging her for the rest of the lyrics until they were at the steps and he let her stand before they were sitting at the bottom to watch Paul as a spotlight focused on him.

 _I've been waiting 'till the danger passed  
I don't know how long the storm is gonna last  
If we're going to carry on  
I'll be waiting on the other side  
'Till your friends have gone_

 _So tell me what I want to know  
I'll be waiting on the other side  
For your friends to go_

"I'm glad they get a break," Castle murmured to his wife. He wasn't surprised when she nodded, and he squeezed her arm gently before he murmured, "Her dress?"

"It's modest enough," Beckett said firmly.

"And low enough," Skye said, murmuring as well.

Castle debated if he wanted to question that, but he knew his wife wasn't going to be happy about it. And he recalled that Stella herself had drawn the design, so he decided he didn't need to say anything about the cut of it. Instead he leaned over to his wife's ear before he murmured, "It's a nice color." He expected her to reply to that, but when she turned to him and murmured into his ear he was startled by what she said instead.

"Tell her she looks pretty when you see her," Beckett told him firmly.

"Of course," Castle said quickly as he knew Paul was going to start singing soon. He smiled when his wife did at him and they looked down together at their daughter and Peter, watching as the boy stood up just as the singer was starting the first lyric. His eyes widened in surprise when Julia got up and she put her arms around his neck, her toes on the floor so the boy could drag her to the middle of the ballroom. When she stood up he was smiling again as Julia was lifting her legs for Peter to hold as he spun around until the end of the verse which wasn't very long.

 _Someone else can worry about me  
I've spent a lot of time on my own  
I've spent a lot of time on my own_

As soon as she was standing again, and at the first lyric of the next verse, Julia was stepping away from Peter before he grabbed her and let him pull her to him. They danced a few steps together into the second lyric and then sped up slightly as they were going in a wide circle to make their way back to the bottom of the stairs at the end of the verse.

 _I've been waiting on the other side  
For your friends to leave so I don't have to hide  
I'd prefer they didn't know  
So I've been waiting on the other side  
For your friends to go_

With the beginning of the first lyric, Peter was picking up Julia so she could bend her left leg at the knee while her right leg was extending. It was only for a moment and she was pleased as Paul's way of singing the second lyric gave her the chills. But she focused on their steps which were similar to their ones going around the dance floor though that time they stayed at the end of the steps.

 _I've been waiting on the other side  
I've been waiting on the other side  
For your friends to go_

When the music ended, Peter was bent slightly, holding Julia as she was bending her left knee and extending her right leg. As soon as they could they let go of each other, her leading her partner up the steps to Paul. "That was so good!" she said happily as they hugged.

"Quite a good dance," the singer told her with a smile, pinching her cheek teasingly before he hugged her partner briefly. The show had to go to commercial then and Paul told the kids, "Here come your parents."

Turning, Julia saw that he was right, and she hugged Paul hurriedly again saying, "Thanks for letting us dance!" before she raced down the stairs and across the dance floor. She went to her mother first, wrapping her arms around her tightly and just barely hearing what she was telling her as her heart was still beating rapidly from her performance to the singer himself singing.

"I'm so proud of you sweetie," Beckett told her, caressing the top of her head once. "It was a beautiful dance."

"It was," Castle said as the girl looked over at him with a shy smile. "And you looked beautiful yourself." When Julia went over to him he hugged her tightly, smiling at his wife as she mouthed the words thank you, though he'd intended to say that already.

"Julia," Derek said suddenly, standing with Peter. "The judges wanted to talk to you very fast."

"I'll be backstage," Beckett told her daughter as Castle kissed their second oldest on the cheek quickly since he needed to go back to his seat.

Julia nodded and then went with Derek and Peter to the table before Len was speaking to them first.

"Very nice lines," the British just said to Julia herself. "You do well with your legs. And I heard you've never done lifts before this dance."

"Not like that," Peter replied.

"You handled that very well," Bruno said. "It's not always easy to lift a woman."

"And I'm not a woman," Julia said suddenly. She started to blush at what she'd said but was smiling as the Italian judge started to laugh.

"Also you had the mannerisms down," Carrie-Ann said. "And you said you two are like siblings?" When the pair nodded firmly she laughed and said, "You could have fooled me."

"We'll be happy to see how you do on your next dance," Len then said.

"We can't wait for the performance!" Julia said eagerly. She and Peter had to hurry backstage so they could change, and she was soon ducking into the room to find her mother there holding her outfit.

"What'd they say?" Beckett asked.

"They liked it, and that I'm good with my legs," Julia began before she told her mother what Bruno and Carrie-Ann had told them as well.

"I'm glad they liked it," Beckett said.

"You did too?" Julia asked her, turning to her and smiling.

"Of course, and I'm glad you were comfortable dancing with Peter that way," Beckett replied, finishing helping her by zipping up the back of her dress.

"It's just a dance," Julia replied, turning to her with a smile. For the Jive she and Mari were wearing fifties style dresses; she knew the women dancing with them would be wearing tops and skirts that looked like they were from that era. Hers was just a sky-blue color though the fabric made it seem like it was shining. She also had sequins around the hem and up the side of the skirt a little and looking at it made her say, "Skye's lucky she's not wearing this."

"She wouldn't be," Beckett said before she and her daughter laughed together. They hugged each other tightly before she then took her hand, pulling her back outside so they could watch the other dances before the performance and Jive.


	32. Taking Chances, Every Dance (Part 2)

"Before our team dances begin," Tom was saying, standing with Erin at the end of the ballroom with the stage behind them and the dancers in front of the stage already. "We have another special performance from our guest judge, Sir Paul McCartney. I love saying that," he said in an aside to his co-host.

"It's a duet with our contestant Skye McDouglas and her band The Rambling O'Dells," Erin said with a smile. "So give it up for Paul McCartney and The Rambling O'Dells singing _Twenty Fine Fingers_ with some help from our pros and Hamptons troupe," she said before the cameras went to the stage and the singer.

Beckett, up in the Sky Box with the other stars, smiled when Paul counted them in as Elvis Costello had done in the song before he and Skye were singing together. While they were doing that the dancers were starting on the dance floor and she watched her daughter specifically, seeing the kids were following the others in their kicks and flicks for the Jive as well as some other moves.

 _Twenty fine fingers baby  
I love your nails I love your touch  
I love to touch you baby  
It never fails to kill me  
Some say gimmie five  
But I'll give you ten  
You could make it twenty  
But you're holding out again  
Think it over think it over baby  
Well think it over think it over baby  
_

 _I will always love you  
That can't be denied  
Love you up until the day  
Heaven knows I've tried_

 _For the time being I will tell you this  
I'd love to love you love to love you  
But there's something missing  
Baby listen unconditionally  
Put your hand in my hand and surrender to me  
Think it over think it over baby  
Well think it over think it over baby_

 _Twenty fine fingers feel so divine  
Twenty fine fingers wish you were mine  
Wish you were mine_

 _Well so our hands met and twenty fingers entwined  
I couldn't help I couldn't help but see  
She didn't quite believe me  
She said listen cause there's one little thing  
Where did you get that lovely wedding ring?_

 _Think it over think it over baby  
Well think it over think it over baby  
Some things are forbidden  
Never meant to be  
Well that might be all right for you  
But not for you and me_

 _Twenty fine fingers feel so divine  
Twenty fine fingers wish you were mine  
Wish you were mine  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)  
Wish you were mine (twenty fine fingers)_

"They did a good job," Eddie said to Beckett as the show went to commercial at that point so the pros and the kids could change for the team dances.

"Thanks," she replied before she was hurrying out and down the stairs to meet Julia and Mari. "Quickly girls," she said, taking them to the dressing room where their final costumes for the night were laid out already. "Make sure you get the right clothes," she told them jokingly.

"We will," Julia said, already getting out of her dress. She stepped into her trousers and shirt, her mother urging them both to tuck the latter into the former.

"Paul really wore this when he went to school?" Mari asked when Beckett was helping them with their ties.

"He did," she said with a nod. Beckett then smiled and said, "That's how it is at some schools."

"Yeah but the boys at ours don't have to wear one if they don't want to," Julia said teasingly. "At least now you're wearing your dress for a reason Mom," she told her.

"Which I'm glad for, I feel weird wearing it for so long," Beckett replied. She then squeezed her daughter's hand and said, "Are you ready?"

"Our hair?" Mari asked in surprise.

"It's fine," Beckett assured them as it was still up in ponytails for them both. She went out with them and over to the where they'd go to the ballroom, seeing that Skye and Derek were waiting for them with the boys.

"Oh good," the investigator said with a smile, spotting them first. "We need to go to the back for a moment before we head on the dance floor."

Julia squeezed her mother's hand as they made their way to the point backstage and she managed to see the floor, where she saw a school room set was ready for them. She smiled up at Beckett before they hurried to get into their places, the other stars and pros in their team getting ready as well before Tom was speaking.

"Welcome back, we end tonight with the first of our two freestyle dances," Tom said. "With the addition of the Hamptons troupe. Here's a look," he added as the camera went to the team that was backstage and 'posing' for a school picture with Beckett next to them.

On the screen the footage began of the team in the studio the night they'd found out the song they'd be dancing to. After that it showed them practicing their steps with some of the stars and pros talking about the dance, their team and their competition in the other team before it went back to the ballroom where the team had moved to with Beckett.

The announcer, as the kids, stars and pros were pretending to watch Beckett from their 'desks,' then said, "Dancing together, please welcome Team Queenie Eye!" After a moment the bell rang and Beckett, standing at the chalkboard called, "Recess, be back here when the bell rings again," as the pros had decided to change that while the previous week had gone on. The group in front of her left the desks, splitting up and the kids went to the open space of the dance floor, starting to play with the red ball together so the crew could get the set out of the way before the investigator finally stopped and got their attention just as the opening music began.

"Queenie eye, queenie eye who's got the ball!" Skye called out, her back turned to the other five. She then pretended to throw the red ball she'd held before Jonathon was 'catching' it just as the first lyric began. She turned to the TV star and was about to walk after him when he turned from her. But the others were crowding around her so she ran to Derek and the kids before he was trying to go towards them, the other five in a line behind him. The other three pairs had gotten together and were dancing, Sasha picking up Daisy and spinning her around so Derek was spinning away from them and everyone behind him did that in opposite directions which was the end of the verse.

 _There were rules you never told me  
Never came up with a plan  
All the stories that you sold me  
Didn't help me understand  
But I had to get it worked out  
Had nobody who could help  
So that in the end it turned out  
That I had to do it by myself_

Eddie and Emma danced together first for the next verse, dancing quickly towards the stage in steps that had them moving their feet back and forth rapidly. When they'd gotten to the stairs he picked up his partner and spun her before letting her down. She kicked her legs behind her and they moved together by stretching their legs out from left to right. At the end they stopped by Jonathon; on the side of the stage; who 'gave' Emma the ball who was 'giving' it to Eddie.

With the second verse Eddie spun Emma out before they skipped together towards Skye, Derek and the kids who were at different points along the edges of the dance floor. They stopped at the pro who tried to grab them both and they were moving together away from him easily. Eddie took his own ball from his pocket and tossed it up and down, standing in place while Emma danced towards him. The ball was tucked into Eddie's pocket and as they were finishing their last steps with a quick lift of his partner, he 'handed' the ball to Daisy so she and Sasha could start next.

 _Life's a game  
Rags from riches  
Dogs and bitches  
Hunt for fame  
Difficult to know which way to turn_

 _Lay the blame  
On the snitches  
Wicked witches  
Fan the flame  
Careful what you touch in case you burn_

As the chorus started, Skye climbed up onto a bench that had been placed there and mouthed the first two lyrics before Daisy was pulling her down with Sasha and they were dancing a kind of a simple Tango step all together. The investigator stepped away when the other two playfully pushed her and she went to Derek before the pair were dancing.

At the last four lyrics, Sasha helped Daisy do the splits before he helped her up and they were tossing the red ball that she'd had between them. Skye and Derek weren't there, so they did that four times before Sasha was picking up Daisy fully and carrying her to the judge's table. With the next verse that started, the pair were sitting on the edge, moving their legs in unison until Sasha was jumping off. He took her in his arms with her legs wrapped around his waist and spun around before they were suddenly doing a rolly polly together until they were going to Jonathon and Whitney standing on the opposite side from the table. Daisy was helped up by the latter, Sasha the former; and she 'handed' the ball off to the TV star for them to dance next.

 _Queenie Eye, Queenie Eye  
Who's got the ball  
I haven't got it  
It isn't in my pocket  
O.U.T spells out  
Out  
That's out  
Out  
Without a shadow of a doubt  
Cause you been putting it about  
Hear the people shout  
Hear the people shout_

 _Play the game  
Take your chances  
Every dance is  
Much the same  
Doesn't matter which of them you choose_

The second that he 'had' the ball, Jonathon was taking Whitney and they were spinning away before he kept spinning and was raising her up in the air. She came down and they moved together in slow motions with their feet before she stood in front of him and he raised her up so she was on his shoulders. As soon as she was set he flipped her upside down and then set her down an instant after at Skye and Derek as they moved to the chorus.

As she had done with Daisy and Sasha, Skye was pulled into Tango steps with Jonathon and Whitney until they pushed her away. But at the very last two lyrics Mari raced to Jonathon and wrapped her arms around his leg; what they'd changed the dance to instead of her doing that with Sasha; since the kids were around them as well as they'd been staying with Beckett. Jonathon reached down for the girl as he and Whitney stopped and he 'threw' her to Derek before the other three kids were chasing after him and his partner, leaving Skye and Derek to dance the rest of the chorus together. They were spinning, and she was doing the splits once so they could make their way to the judges table, talking at the same time without moving their lips too much.

"Good?" Derek was saying to her. He saw the determined look on her face but had no reply, about to repeat his question when she was suddenly speaking to him before they were too close to the table.

"Good, keep going!" Skye called to him before they would hit the verse after the chorus.

 _Never blame  
Circumstances  
If romances seldom came  
Never pick a fight you're gonna lose_

 _Queenie Eye, Queenie Eye  
Who's got the ball  
I haven't got it  
It isn't in my pocket  
O.U.T spells out  
Out  
That's out  
Out  
Without a shadow of a doubt  
Cause you been putting it about  
Hear the people shout  
Hear the people shout_

The music slowed down, and Derek and Skye were up on the judges' table while the rest of the team were on the dance floor, dancing as slowly too. They did that for the rest of it as the music remained measured until in between it and the next verse.

 _It's a long way  
To the finish  
When you've never been before  
I was nervous but I did it  
Now I'm going back for more_

When the music sped up, the dancers all did so as well, Skye and Derek dancing together before he jumped down and caught the investigator when she did the same a second later. They began to dance on their own right at the end of the verse, that was largely Paul vocalizing, before they moved into the chorus. There the two danced side by side and on the first lyric of the verse Derek spun Skye to him and he helped her flip as she ran with him. They did steps side by side until they were in the middle of the ballroom, the rest of the team standing on either side of them.

There Derek and Skye posed for a moment, with her leg extended and him leaning into her. As soon as the lyric they'd done that on was over the entire team was dancing in their pairs before they reached the last four lyrics. When they got there Skye and Derek let go of each other, the latter picking up Julia and putting her on Jonathon's back before she covered his eyes. While he was pretending to try and get her off Peter reached into his blazer pocket and took the ball there before Julia was set down and they ran to hand it to Skye. On the last two lyrics the other three couples were walking towards them the investigator held up the red ball in her hand and the six in front of her fell back on the floor.

 _That's out  
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey  
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey  
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey  
_ _Hear the people shout  
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey  
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey  
Yeah, hey, yeah, hey_

 _Queenie Eye, Queenie Eye  
Who's got the ball  
I haven't got it  
It isn't in my pocket  
O.U.T spells out  
Out  
_ _That's out  
Out  
Without a shadow of a doubt  
Cause you been putting it about  
Hear the people shout  
Hear the people shout_

With the song ending but the music not stopping just yet, Skye turned to the others and said, "Let's play again!" before a whistle was blowing.

"Recess is over, back inside," Beckett called from the other end of the dance floor before the pair were groaning with the kids just as the music stopped.

"Where'd the music come from?" Julia asked after she hugged her friends and Skye before they were all being ushered to the side of the judges' table.

"Paul added that for us," Skye told her swiftly. When they were all together they hugged tightly and turned to the table as Tom was calling to the singer to go first.

"That took me far back to Liverpool, not just because of your costumes," Paul said to the group with a smile. "And it was a wonderful story, though it's a shame you never got to play. Shame on the six of you, you should have just asked to play with them," he said in a mock stern tone of voice, shaking his finger at the three pairs. "But a good, solid story; wonderful idea Julia."

Beckett looked down at her daughter, and seeing that she was blushing, hugged her from behind for a moment before they turned their attention to Carrie-Ann.

"I almost thought you weren't going to dance together but I see you were leaving it for your big finale," she began. "And each of you had a great stretch of the dance separate as well. But I loved you kids being included, and you were dancing with them. That was a big risk and you did a good job with it too."

"I wasn't sure," Len said when Tom called to him next. "About the team part of the dance either but I was pleased to see at the end. And your uniforms took me back to school myself. You had good steps when your feet were on the floor. And kids? Wonderful job keeping up with them."

Julia jumped up and down with her friends before they hugged each other, and Bruno was going next.

"I agree with everything they said and that was a wonderful dance done as a team," the judge replied. "Though you were a little at odds," Bruno added with a laugh. "But you were dancing perfectly and though you didn't get to your game you still had a lot of fun."

"Stay here," Tom told the group quickly as the audience was applauding. "We'll get your scores here."

Beckett was surprised when her daughter grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly as the music began and the announcer was saying Carrie-Ann's name. When she said, "Ten," and held up the paddle she smiled and hugged her daughter as she turned to her.

As Len, Paul and then Bruno held up the ten paddle as well, Julia was nearly screaming and trying to hug everyone before Tom talked about the next team dance and the show went to commercial.

"We don't have to change, do we?" Clive asked.

"No, not until the show's fully over," Skye assured him.

"We need to get up to the Sky Box," Derek commented. "And wait until the end to see how things go."

Looking at the investigator, Beckett saw she seemed okay so she took Julia's hand as they all went over to their families to greet them before they headed up for the last dance of the show.

* * *

"Skye and Derek," Tom said to the two, the pairs gathered on the steps and stage at the very end of the show. The Band on the Run team dance had gotten one point less than the Queenie Eye one and they had gone from the scores to the results. He paused while the music was playing and then said, "You are in jeopardy."

Up in the Sky Box, Julia gasped and looked at Mari before she turned to her mother, Beckett still with them. "Mom-" she started to say.

"She expected it," Beckett told her reassuringly.

Julia frowned and then looked down at the stage in time to see that Lisa and Keo, and Elijah and Lindsay were told they were in jeopardy too. She bit at the inside of her mouth before she grabbed Mari's hand next to her and they waited for Tom to announce who it was while the dramatic music was playing.

"Elijah and Lindsay," the co-host finally said.

Sagging against Derek slightly, Skye went over to the singer and embraced him saying, "I'm so sorry."

"That's alright," Elijah replied. "We'll be back."

Nodding her head, Skye watched them go to speak with Tom and Erin before she said to her partner, "That was close."

"I know," Derek said. "We'll be alright," he said. "After this week."

With a quick nod, since they were in first ahead of Raul and Sharna by one point, Skye looked over to her family, smiling at her wife and the others. She glanced up at the Sky Box, smiling at the kids when they waved before she went down with her partners and the others to hug the pair that had been voted off that episode.

* * *

"I wonder if I can ask now what you'll be dancing to next week," Paul said.

"Oh…" Julia said, looking over towards Skye. It was later that night and they were gathering together in the McDouglas family room after having a later dinner.

"Go ahead and tell him Julia," the investigator said, looking over from the kitchen where she and Mary were talking together at the stove.

"Oh, well it's going to be Legends night and first Skye's going to sing with the band," Julia said. She paused and then asked with a smile. "Not you too?"

"Not this week, we've a performance in San Francisco next week," Paul told her, smiling as well.

"It's a Queen song," Peter said eagerly. " _Radio Ga Ga_."

"You like that one?" Paul asked the boy.

"Skye should do a great job with that one," Nancy said with a smile. "We saw her performing that Queen song this summer."

"That was at Busch Gardens," Julia said quickly.

"They asked her to perform there," Mari added.

"What else is there?" Paul asked. "What about you four?"

"Well, first they're going to dance the Quickstep," Julia said with another smile. "To the song _Rattled_ , from the Traveling Wilburys."

"Oh… George would be happy to hear that," Paul replied.

"After we'll have a dance," Clive said then. "The Paso Doble to another Queen song, _Another One Bites the Dust_."

"Very nice," Paul said. "I'm regretting not being there."

"You can watch on the TV maybe," Julia said quickly.

"Yeah," Mari told him. "You can do that and see Skye too."

"Does she have any other dances?" Paul asked, nodding towards the investigator.

"She and Derek have Jazz," Julia said with a wide smile, looking at her friends who all looked eager suddenly. "To _Lady Madonna_."

"Hmm, whose song is that?" Paul asked.

"Yours!" Eliza said eagerly as she was near them with the McDouglas girls. She giggled when the singer hugged her quickly and she said, "You gotta see that one."

"I will now that I know," Paul replied.

"That'll be special," Skye said, walking to them.

"Why are you looking at me?" Beckett asked her friend when she looked at her. She sighed as Skye shrugged her shoulders but then smiled and said to everyone, "We're going to Las Vegas."

Skye laughed when Beckett glared at her; as everyone started to talk at once except for the singer and his wife; and she soon was quieting them down. "I know it's sudden, but Derek and I would like this to be a bit like the performance at _Love_. We will be using your version from _Rock Show_ Paul."

"I had a feeling," the singer replied with a nod.

"We'll head out there on Thursday," Skye said, looking at the parents there temporarily apologetically. "I'm so sorry but there's no performance Tuesday or Wednesday and that's the best we can do."

"What are you going to do exactly?" David asked.

"We'll head in the morning to the theater, they'll see us and teach us the choreography they have," Skye replied.

"And then we'll be able to stay for the first show that night," Mary took up. "So we're making a day of it."

"We'll fly in the evening before, have dinner… somewhere," Skye said. "Go to the Mirage to stay and the next morning we'll go to the theater and work with them for an hour or so."

"And after?" Castle asked hopefully.

"What do you have in mind?" Skye asked with a smile.

"Girls," Castle said to the two. As they ran to him he murmured to him telling them, "Pick a place," before Julia was suddenly whirling around before he could even finish.

"The Clark County Museum," the girl said.

"And the kitties," Eliza said eagerly.

"Have you been to them?" Beckett asked the two women as they were looking at each other.

"The 'kitties' we've been to," Mary said. "Not the museum."

"It's a bit out from the city," Skye said. When her wife looked at her she said, "Dad and I have gone."

"I hope Grandda is okay," Marie said, Liam having stayed at home that evening since he'd come down with a cold.

"I'll call him again tomorrow," Skye assured her. "But he'll be fine, just a cold." She then turned to Paul and Nancy telling them, "There's one more dance."

"Three?" the latter said in surprise.

"Sort of," Skye said. "It's a marathon Freestyle to the song _Twistin' the Night Away_."

"Oh, fantastic. Sam Cooke," Paul said with a nod. "I like that. Would you four join in?"

"We will, just at the start though," Clive said.

"Yeah, they're not making us do the marathon," Peter said.

"Surprising that you don't want to," Paul told them.

"Actually we don't want them to," Genevieve said. "Since it's a lot to dance to."

"Yes, leave it to the stars," Skye said jokingly.

After everyone had stopped laughing Beckett stood up and said, "I'll be back, I want to go check on Josie."

"Go Richard," Martha said as she could easily see her son was watching his wife.

Though a part of him did want to say he was fine staying with them, Castle stood and went after his wife up the stairs. When he got to the top he said, "Should I be surprised you're waiting for me?"

"No," Beckett replied. She shared a kiss with him and said, "But I really did want to check on Josie."

"I knew you were serious," Castle said firmly, taking her hand before they walked together to the room his mother was staying in.

Approaching the crib, Beckett smiled when she saw their baby fast asleep still inside with her stuffed animals around her. She fixed the thin blanket on her and ran her hand over Josie's hair gently before she moved so her husband could do the same. When they were out of the room and walking down the hall she said, "I'm glad you managed to get the villa again."

"Not as much as I was," Castle told her, squeezing her hand tightly. He was startled when she was stopping them both and asked, "What's wrong?"

Beckett turned and leaned close so she could whisper, "I want a bath tonight."

"We will," Castle said swiftly.

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smile.

"Of course I am," Castle said seriously before they were kissing each other. After they had parted he led them down first so they could go to the others in the family room.

"Is she okay?" Jim asked since he was the first person they walked to.

"She is, are they singing?" Beckett asked since Paul and Skye had instruments.

"We are," the latter replied. "Did you close the door for the baby?"

"Yeah," Castle said.

"Okay, should we have dancing as well?" Skye asked the singer.

"That's up to them," Paul replied.

"What are we singing?" Raj asked.

" _Comfort of Love_ ," Paul said. "You know that?"

"We know it," Barry said, sitting behind a drum. "This is enough?"

"It will be," Paul replied. "Now we don't have the clock sound…"

"We don't," Skye said, smiling as she knew he was checking to see if they were okay with that.

"Alright, then we can begin," Paul said. "Anyone can dance to this one." He counted them in and after Raj started playing the keyboard he had in front of him he waited until he needed to sing.

 _There once was a time when I thought if I had a house, I'd be happy  
There once was a time when I thought if I had a car, I'd be made  
One by one I achieved my ambitions  
But it didn't feel like I wanted to feel  
Didn't feel like I wanted it to feel  
I didn't feel like I wanted to feel_

Beckett, holding Castle's hand, was smiling at Julia as she and Mary were the first to pop up from where they were sitting, and they began to dance together before the other kids were following them. When the band got to the chorus she continued to smile when Skye was singing with Paul and she watched Julia and Eliza while they were dancing with the other kids for the song.

 _I needed a comfort of love  
Any place and anytime  
I needed a comfort of love  
Just to get me some piece of mind, wo-oh_

At the instrumental, Castle was watching the guitarists playing their chords, wondering if they should tell the kids to stop and take a break. He felt his wife squeeze his hand and he looked at her before he leaned over knowing she wanted to talk to him.

"It would be impossible to stop them, even with the four those two had," Beckett said, indicating Julia and Peter who were still dancing together as Paul was singing again, Skye joining him on the instrumental. She leaned against her husband, watching the kids again and smiling as he held her close with the lyrics being sung.

 _I long for the time when the world is a better place, to be happy  
I long the day when the people who went to sleep, will awake_

 _One by one I improved my conditions  
But it doesn't feel like I wanted to feel  
Doesn't feel like I wanted it to feel  
Doesn't feel like I wanted to feel_

 _I needed the comfort of love  
Any place and anytime  
I need the comfort of love  
To just to get me some piece of mind, wo-oh_

 _I needed a comfort of love  
Any place and anytime  
I needed a comfort of love  
To just to get me some piece of mind_

 _Well, I needed the comfort  
I needed the comfort  
I needed the comfort of love_

 _I needed the comfort  
I needed the comfort  
I needed the comfort of love_

* * *

"Kate?" Castle asked his wife, leaning down and kissing her shoulder.

"Hmm?" Beckett asked in pleasure as she enjoyed his kiss.

"Is it weird I really connect to that song?" Castle said.

"No, I had a feeling you were," Beckett replied. She felt her husband squeeze her and she smiled explaining, "The way you were holding me I could tell."

"Ah," Castle said. "My tell."

Beckett laughed softly and then squeezed his arms that were around her saying, "Another tell."

Castle was confused when his wife was suddenly pressing back against his erection and he let out a heavy groan saying, "Is this why you wanted the bath?" He was startled when she shook her head and suddenly stood, making him scramble to follow before they were getting out and drying off.

Not saying a word, Beckett wrapped her towel around herself once she was finished and took her hair down from the makeshift bun she'd put it in. When she had thrown the holder onto the counter she went out into the bedroom, turning to her husband when she was at the end of the bed. She still didn't speak, wrapping her arms around him tightly and kissing him. She was pleased when he responded to her and she reached down his back until she drifted down. As she forcibly pulled his towel off him she felt him freeze and smiled, ending their kiss and she took the time to say, "I'm hoping you'll want the same."

"Don't worry," Castle said, moving away enough to allow his towel to collapse to the floor. The second it was there he was grabbing his wife and then pulling her against him since he could open her towel there. Pulling it apart he stared outright at her bare body and murmured, "Believe me I need it."

Beckett helped him get the towel off her and she kissed him once it was with his on the floor. She ended it with a sudden cry as her husband picked her up and carried her around the bed, laying her down. "I thought you were going to throw me," she said jokingly to him.

"No," Castle said simply before he was following his wife since she had cupped his face with her hands, pulling her to him. They kissed passionately, and he ran his right hand around where he could, avoiding her breasts before he held onto her hip. When they parted he was a little surprised when she raised her head to kiss him but responded to her quickly. He was curious as to why she wasn't starting things already, but he was too busy dueling her tongue with his own before they were breathing. "What do you want love?" he asked her before she could kiss him again.

Shaking her head, Beckett closed the gap between them and they began kissing once more which would be the first of many. She found herself leading several times as her husband obviously wanted to start. But she wasn't ready until she could feel her lips were swollen and she sighed as she moved a little underneath him.

Finding himself cradled by his wife's sex, Castle was groaning heavily and moving so he could slide within her. He was groaning again at the sensation and she was gasping into his ear which was arousing him even more. Finally, their hips were meeting and he kissed her for a time before he moved over to her ear whispering, "Tell me what you want my love."

"Fuck me lover," Beckett told him, raising her hips as high as she could and making them both groan in reaction to the immediate pleasure that caused. " _Chomh crua agus is féidir leat_ ," instructing him to do it as hard as he could, hoping she also meant as fast as he could too. His first few thrusts were both and she was crying out in joy at the friction, and they were soon kissing through their quickie.

Castle wasn't sure she also wanted things short but guessed there was a reason for that and he began to thrust a little more though there wasn't much more he could do than he already was. After a bit more of that he could tell his wife was close and he wanted to beg her for more but decided he wanted to wait until they were finished. That thought was lost as he was responding to her orgasm with his own, his head almost spinning in the pure pleasure that raced throughout his form. When he had calmed down, having taken a bit longer than her to stop moving, he breathed her name and whispered, " _Tá tú iontach_ ," which meant she was amazing.

"As much as you are," Beckett replied with a smile, speaking in English. She was caressing his hair and she said, "Next time we won't delay."

"That was more you," Castle commented, raising his head as he felt a little stronger. He studied her expression and was about to speak before he frowned and she looked startled.

"What?" Beckett asked him.

"It's one of those times isn't it?" Castle said with a brief sigh before he withdrew from her and then moved to lay on his back. "Kate?" he asked her when she turned to him and pressed her face to his shoulder. "You know you don't need to do that," he commented as she didn't reply to him at all.

"I don't," Beckett said with a sigh, raising her head. "Your comment about the song made me… it made me think I needed to do something a little… more," she tried to say, struggling a bit at the end.

"I should never have told you," Castle replied, sighing himself. He wrapped his arm around her and began rubbing her back gently saying, "But at least I told you that you're way better." He was startled when she pressed her face into his shoulder again and said, "I'm serious Kate."

Groaning heavily, Beckett mumbled into her skin, "I believe you." She then lifted her head so he could hear as she told him, "I just… want to make sure," she said, relieved to find the words of what she wanted to express.

"You did a great job of that," Castle replied.

"Pervert," Beckett told him with a smile. She leaned over a little more so they could kiss and once they had she sighed and said, "You have what you want?"

"The song's right," Castle said, not surprised that she was making sure. "You can only buy so much before you realize it's just a hollow gesture." He kissed her that time and then said, "Now it's a lot better."

"That's because you're buying things for us," Beckett told him, smiling again. She then grew serious and told him, "And you discuss things with me… except for the surprises."

Castle couldn't help laughing and he kissed her gently before saying, "Those I have the most joy getting."

"I thought you would," Beckett said with a nod. She then laid down on him and said, "We're not finished," feeling him shifting under her that made her smile before she raised her head.

"I was hoping," Castle said honestly. When she gave him a rough kiss on the lips he made a muffled sound of surprise at how hard she was doing that but lost it as he was hurrying to respond to her. Their tongues met in between their mouths, and after rubbing against each other for some time they parted, letting them stay out in the air. "I really should have just said," he commented.

"You should have," Beckett replied, smiling as he was running his fingers through her hair gently. "The way I was demanding of you…"

Castle shuddered in pleasure at her tone of voice and he said, "I don't want to push you too far."

Beckett couldn't help smiling at that and she told him, "Which explains why we're as good together as we are. But-" There she got up onto her knees and once he was sitting up with her she pushed her hair over her shoulders and continued what she was saying telling him, "We luckily spend sometimes not bothering to worry about things like that." She was crying out shortly when her husband was grabbing her, flipping her onto her back before she wrapped her legs and arms around him. They were rough and passionate before Castle was moving and then sliding into her sex, ending their fifth or sixth kiss. "Rick…" she breathed before he started to thrust, and they were soon together in that though hers were limited. She was pleased when he was moving fast but not as much as before, and she held onto him as tightly as she could before she lost herself in their bodies and their pleasure.

Relieved he was able to make their bout last for far longer that time, Castle kept his face pressed against his wife's neck once they'd both climaxed. Only when she pressed on his shoulder did he move and looked down at her with a slight smile saying, "I enjoy it there."

"Apparently," Beckett replied with a smile on her face. She waited for him to move and once he was next to her she moved to lay on her side with him. "I love you Rick," she told him earnestly.

"I adore you Kate," Castle said, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "And I love you; desperately." Their lips met as they were moving towards one another and after they had begun he placed his hand firmly on her back before their fronts were pressed together. He could feel himself growing aroused easily and after a while he pulled away abruptly to push himself away from her.

"Easy Rick," Beckett said with a smile, watching him.

"Easy for you," Castle said, groaning. He went to the edge of the bed and sat there, rubbing his face with his hands before he felt her behind him. "Kate," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Don't worry," Beckett said as he'd started to inch his hand towards her breasts.

"What if I'd ended up touching you?" Castle said, turning his head slightly to look at her.

Pressing her lips to his shoulder, Beckett did that a few times before she said gently, "It would have been an accident and I know you would have apologized." She moved away from him before she made him turn to her and she told him, "But it didn't, come on."

"We're still not done?" Castle asked her before she was pulling him over to her.

"No," Beckett said simply before he was laying on her and they were kissing again. She wasn't surprised when her husband turned them around and she was straddling him. She smiled for a moment before he was pulling her down to him for a kiss and they were losing themselves in one another swiftly. As they began to make love again she knew she and Castle were going to be hard pressed to stop as the ecstasy they were bringing to one another was intense. But the thought of the next day was far from her mind and she gave in to her desire for satiation, feeling her husband needing the same with her as their desire continued to rise while time passed unnoticed happily by them both.


	33. With Your Neon Flashin'

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _Sweet Sweet Memories_ by Paul McCartney.

A/N #2: It was very nice getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so I'll go ahead to my thank yous for that! MsNYC (I was so, so happy of course that you were able to picture the dances, since it's what I want for readers of course. And yeah, seeing the show already definitely helps with seeing the stage! I was glad you thought the dance with the kids was great and that you could easily picture it since that's important to me of course. I wasn't surprised that you were glad Skye and Derek got to stay. And I definitely agree, it's hard watching the pairs having to go home. So happy that you thought the lovemaking was tasteful as usual along with being nice and steamy, lol. And happy to see you thought it was great writing as usual!),

TORONTOSUN (It was nice to see you thought it was great writing. And I'm glad that you thought they were great songs from Paul) and

Mb (Really nice to see that you thought the chapter was a great update. And I'm so, so relieved that you could easily picture both the costumes and the dances as well since I wanted that to happen of course. I'm glad that you mentioned the surprise of Paul being there to judge and perform was nice, I figured it would be. And it was great that you mentioned the song that he sang for the Argentine Tango that Julia and Peter had since I enjoyed writing that one. It was funny to see that you mentioned too Castle's reaction and as you put it reluctance about Julia's dress since it was more grown up, but I knew it would happen, lol, as you said it's like all fathers to be like that. Nice to see you thought it was good having Beckett part of the team dance as the teacher, I thought it would be fun to include her. I'm pleased to see you thought the first half was wonderfully written. And you're welcome for the first half as well! Great that you thought the second half was a fabulous update. I'm glad that you thought the team dance was fun though it was a bit complex and energetic since the song is, lol. Not surprised you mentioned Skye and Derek's scores making up for the previous week or being fantastic since they were of course. No surprise either that you were glad they survived being on the bottom for that week too. I'm happy to see you think Castle and Beckett together are really special, that they have a love and passion for each other as I think that myself. And I am glad you mentioned their love for their family too, but yeah it would make them and others have that calmness that you mentioned of course. And with the being unsure thing, I think that slips into my mind to write because of their relationship from the time they first met. I really should ease up on that but I think what happens is I love them talking together and working it out in the end, lol, because of their love. You're welcome for the second half!).

Thank you for the reviews, loved reading them as always and I'm grateful for the time taken to write them and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Viva Las Vegas_ written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, sung by Elvis.

With Your Neon Flashin'

"Wow," Mari said after they turned past some gambling tables. "That's the theater?"

"It's over there," Julia said, smiling at her friend. It was the twenty-ninth of October and they were walking through the casino floor of the Mirage in Las Vegas going to the Love Theater. She looked over at Clive and Peter and seeing their reactions said, "What do you think?"

"It's cool," the latter said. "The colors change and everything."

"Are we going straight in?" Mary asked her wife.

"Yeah, we'll meet someone at the entrance by the concession," Skye replied.

"Concession?" Derek asked.

"You haven't seen this show?" Julia said, turning back to him.

"Not yet," the pro said, smiling when the girl wrinkled her nose.

"You'll really like it," Julia told him. "I think you'll like the dancing too."

"It's different?" Peter asked her. He grinned when partner nodded and then looked down at the floor as they were walking over it leading to the theater.

"Oh, here he is," Skye said, spotting the man standing to the left of the end of the path.

"Ms. McDouglas?" the worker asked. When she nodded in the affirmative he shook her hand and said, "Is this everyone?"

"It is," Derek said.

"Then follow me," the worker, who had introduced himself as Wayne said before he led them up the flight of stairs to the right and into the theater.

"Whoa, it's big," Clive said once they were in the theater.

"Yeah," Julia said with a smile. "It needs to be for what they do." She was startled when her sister suddenly grabbed her hand and looked at Eliza.

"Is that someone in the show?" the little girl asked.

"It is," Julia said, looking down at the stage and spotting someone they'd seen when they'd first gone to the show. "It's the Sugar Plum Fairy," she added.

"Come on," Skye said. She followed Wayne to the stage and was first onto it with Derek, glancing back at the others as they were instructed to remain at the seats.

"Aren't we going up?" Marie asked her mother as they took their seats.

"Soon, just give it some time," Mary said gently.

"It's great to meet you," Skye said, shaking the dancer, Neo's, hand.

"It is very nice to meet you both," Neo told them. He then said, "I was surprised you wanted to come here."

"It was her instance," Derek made sure to say. "She recalled your performance and wanted us to include that."

"What exactly is the Jazz dance that you'll be doing?" Neo asked. He watched the pair show him and he said, "What about my dance? How will you work that into yours?"

"At the beginning, and maybe a couple steps if I see some I need to include," Derek told him.

Julia looked at the camera that was there in the theater with them and smiled as they were filming for the show. She was distracted when Derek was calling for the kids to join them and she quickly got up to go with all of them, holding her little sister's hand.

"Are you filming?" Beckett asked her husband as he was holding his phone.

"Of course," Castle replied, smiling at her as he was doing that for their parents since they'd remained with Josie at their villa. He continued smiling, watching the kids learning some of the dancing, as even the McDouglas girls were doing their best to take it in. "That's a lot of kids," he commented to Mary who was on the other side of his wife.

"That's basically the plot of the song," the woman replied, smiling back at him. She then looked back to the stage and said, "I wonder if he'll want to practice now."  
Beckett was about to say that he might when the boys were starting to chase each other, and she called, "Watch the sides of the stage," to them.

"She's right," Skye told them. "You have a harder time seeing it here."

"What else are we doing?" Julia asked as they had finished their instruction then.

"They're letting us practice," Derek told her. "But only for so long since they need to give tours."

Julia wanted to ask if they could do that, but she knew the answer already since they would have had to pay for it. But she reminded herself they'd get to see the show that night and focused her attention to Derek who was calling Mary so they could take things from the start.

"They learned quick," Castle commented, speaking about the McDouglas girls.

"It's easier than the ballroom dances," Beckett replied, smiling as the three youngest seemed to be enjoying stomping their feet in the dance.

"Obviously," Castle said. They stayed in the theater for another fifteen minutes until Derek called for them to stop and he said to his wife, "Good thing, nearly lunch time."

"I noticed," Beckett said, glancing at her husband since she knew he was hungry. "Hey girls," she said with a smile as the two were at the end of the stage in front of them. "You're ready?"

"I'm hungry," Eliza said immediately.

Laughing Beckett said, "Alright," while she and Castle were standing up. She watched her husband get them down and told them, "Want to let your dad pick?"

"Sure," Julia said.

"Are we gonna go to the deli?" Eliza asked, turning to Castle immediately.

"No, we can go there at home," he replied. "I want to go try the _Paradise Café_ ," Castle told them. "And after we'll go to see the cats."

"Not go to the museum?" Julia asked in surprise as she watched her father helping the other kids down.

"We'll go after, it works out better that way," Skye said. "Did you call your parents?" she asked Castle and Beckett.

"I texted my dad," the former said. "They'll meet us there with Josie." Beckett took Eliza's hand and they walked out of the theater and over to the café which had seating outside. As she had said hers and Castle's parents met them there with Josie at a table that was near some waterfalls, not surprised when her husband's mother was asking the kids about their time in the theater as soon as they were close enough.

"How was your performance?" Martha asked

Shaking her head, Julia hugged her grandmother and told her, "It wasn't a performance, it was a practice… a lesson."

"But you had fun," Jim commented.

Julia laughed and nodded before she hugged him quickly and moved aside to let her sister do the same. "How's Josa?" she asked.

"She's good," Martha replied since the baby was awake. "Are we still going to the museum?" she asked her son as the others were sitting down.

"We are we're going to the garden first," Castle replied. "Since we're close to it."

"Will she be able to see them?" Eliza asked her mother a she was helping her with the menu.

"She will," Beckett said in reassurance.

"Cool," Eliza said with a smile.

Kissing the top of her head, Beckett made sure she had picked something before she turned her attention to the baby to her right as her husband had moved the high chair in between them. Smoothing down her hair, she kissed Josie's temple, smiling when the baby let out a coo and touched her arm. "Are you all ready?" she asked Julia.

"Yeah, what about Josa?" the girl said, smiling at her sister as the baby was suddenly wriggling in her seat.

"I fed her before we came out here," Jim told his daughter.

"Then she's had her lunch," Beckett said. She turned her attention to the waiters that were coming out to the table so they could order and when they were waiting she was about to speak to her husband when Josie started to whimper.

"Here," Castle said, handing the baby her teething mitten. He made sure she was chewing at it and he said, "I was wondering," to his wife as they glanced at each other over the baby's head.

"So was I," Beckett said. "Hopefully she'll be awake when we go to the garden." Before her husband could say anything, she said firmly, "Do not keep her awake."

"Do you think I did that with Alexis?" Castle said simply.

"He wouldn't," Martha said with a smile as she'd been listening to the two across the table.

"You might want to tell the girls that," Castle told her.

Glancing at the two, Beckett nodded and said, "Eventually," since they were talking to their friends. Skye was getting her attention across the table and they were soon talking together until their food arrived and they ate lunch.

"There are a lot of planes Mummy," Ivy said as another was going above them after they'd finished and had left the café.

"It's Las Vegas lass," Skye said with a smile. "It's a very busy airport."

"In October?" Martha asked.

"In October," Skye replied with a nod. When they had neared the entrance to the garden she said, "This is very small," to her three youngest. "But we'll take our time to watch everything."

"They know a little Mum," Kathleen commented.

"Yeah, they have dolphins," Clive began.

"And cats," Peter said.

Eliza giggled and said, "Sorry," since the boys had been looking at her.

"It's alright, you only know what's there," Skye said.

"We'll find out what it looks like now," Mary said before they walked over to give their tickets.

Once they were inside, Beckett watched Eliza take off from Castle; having been holding his hand; and she went to him to grab his arm before he could go after her. She smiled when he turned to her and she told him, "She's alright."

"Really?" Castle asked.

"She's not that far away," Beckett said with a smile, squeezing his arm before she turned to her father and went to get Josie from her stroller.

"Will we need this?" Jim asked her.

"If she falls asleep," Beckett replied, smiling at Josie as the baby was laughing. She carried her over to the pool where there were some dolphins swimming around in front of them. She looked at Josie when they were near and thought she might have seen them, but she was soon turning her head.

"Ahh-ba-ah," Josie said before she was smiling as her father walked up to her.

"Dolphin?" Castle said.

"I don't think so," Beckett said with a smile.

"Dog?" Castle asked the baby directly.

"Ba!" Josie said before she was wriggling around in her mother's arms.

"Rick, you're going to make her a little too excited," Beckett said laughingly. She handed him the baby and said, "Teach her but be careful."

"Sure," Castle replied, gently bouncing Josie to her laughter.

Beckett went over to Julia and touched her shoulder before asking, "Are you getting pictures?"

"Kinda," the girl replied, looking at her over her shoulder. "When they slow down." Julia studied her mother for a moment and asked, "You're not going to take pictures?"

"I will," Beckett said simply before she grabbed her camera and then headed over to her husband. She took several pictures of him with the baby before she was doing the same with Julia and Eliza. She took more of Mari, Clive and Peter; for their parents who hadn't been able to get to Las Vegas; and then stood with Skye as she was standing on her own. "Alright?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, just got a call," Skye replied.

"I saw that," Beckett said as she studied her.

"It's an investigation," Skye said eventually. "I didn't want the kids to hear."

"Bad?" Beckett said seriously. When the investigator nodded she sighed and said, "Will you need to go?"

Shaking her head quickly Skye said in Russian, " _I'll be kept up to date but essentially I'll be a consultant_."

"Does Mary know?" Beckett asked, speaking in English.

"She will," Skye said, looking past Beckett's shoulder and smiling at her wife.

Stepping out of the way of her friend, Beckett smiled as the two women walked towards the second pool but stopped at one point to speak. She turned back to the others and saw that her husband was making his way over to her, appearing to be holding a conversation with their baby.

"Say apple," Castle was telling Josie. "And that's connected to the Beatles so your sisters will be very happy about that."

"Ah-ah!" the baby cried before she settled down against her father's neck.

"We should go," Beckett said as she ran her hand over the back of the baby's head.

"Before she falls asleep?" Castle asked. When his wife nodded he looked for his mother and then waved over to her so she could tell Skye and Mary and they could gather the kids.

"You want to keep holding her?" Beckett asked her husband as they were walking.

"I do," Castle said with a smile. He then kissed Josie's temple before they reached the entrance to the part of the area with the wild cats. After they were through he went to the white tigers; as Eliza was insisting they take the baby there first; and he looked down to see that Josie's eyes were wide. "I think she sees them," he commented, since the white tiger in front of them was walking around.

"Can we get her a stuffed one?" Julia asked after she'd taken some pictures. "That way she has more tigers."

"Okay," Castle said, breathing out heavily in mock annoyance. "Now I know they're doing that on purpose."

Beckett, who was laughing, shook her head and said, "Let her decide Rick, but she does seem to like them," as they were watching the baby who had placed her fist in her mouth.

"Here's her mitten!" Eliza said, hurrying over with it.

"I don't think she's doing that to teethe," Beckett commented, handing that to the baby who turned her head away. She watched her yawn and then smiled saying, "Almost nap time."

"Ooh," Eliza said in disappointment. "She's gonna miss the other kitties!"

"We'll keep walking," Castle said in amusement as they made their way around to the other animals. When they got to the lions he glanced at Josie, seeing that she was staring before she turned to look over his shoulder with a whimper. "Love?" he called to his wife.

"I'll take her," Jim said quickly as he'd seen his daughter was taking pictures of the wild cats. He got the baby into his arms and gently bounced her, kissing her temple and walking ahead of them. He wasn't aware that someone was following him before he glanced behind him and saw it was his daughter. "You got pictures?" he asked since she had her camera in her hand.

"Of course," Beckett said with a smile. She turned her attention to Josie and took the baby's hand she had curled into a fist kissing the back of it before she glanced at her father. "I know Dad," she said with a slight smile as she saw the look on his face.

"She'd never let her go," Jim commented once he felt he could speak, his wife having taken over his thoughts as he'd seen Johanna in his daughter for a moment.

"Or the other girls," Beckett said with a smile, holding her arms out to take the baby. She held Josie close once she had her and laughed softly when the baby cooed before she kissed her forehead. "Do you want her back?" she asked her father.

"Do you want me to take her?" Jim said, glancing at her camera. When she shook her head he smiled and said, "I'll see what the other girls are doing," walking away to let Castle approach the two.

"Do you want me to take her?" he asked her.

"No, I'm alright," Beckett replied with a smile. She let him take her camera and she gently moved the baby up and down, trying to get her to look at the camera. Josie kept turning her head so she merely kissed her temple before she said to her husband, "Got it?"

"I did," Castle replied with a smile. "Should we keep going?"

"Yes," Beckett said after they both watched their baby yawn again. She started walking around the rest of the habitats, waiting in front of the panther for a while, while her husband was taking pictures for her. She watched the others approaching them, smiling when their daughters hurried over to where they were standing. "Are you having fun?" she asked them.

"Yeah!" Eliza said happily. She reached up to Josie and taking her hand asked, "Are you liking it too Josa?"  
When they got a kick of her legs in response Castle said, "I think that's your answer."

"We need to go," Beckett said. "You want to take her to the giftshop right?"

"We can really go?" Julia asked.

"Of course, not all of us have been here already," Skye said.

"I'm not getting a tiger shirt," Derek said as she'd been looking at him.

With some laughter at the expression on the dancer's face, the group went together to the shop outside the area with the habitats. Julia and Eliza were just able to get their sister to see and grab onto a stuffed white tiger before she was falling asleep.

"We'll get it," Beckett said in amusement. She let Castle take the toy to the register and after he was back with them they were the last to leave. "We'll meet in front of the exhibit center?" she asked Skye.

"Of course, it's the first thing we come to," the investigator said.

Julia glanced at her sister and friends when the two women started to speak in Russian before she shrugged as those that hadn't been there looked at her questioningly. "I'm sure it'll be cool for you guys," she said.

"Alright," Skye said firmly, making Julia jump. "Oh, sorry," she said with a slight laugh.

"A bit bombastic _grá_ ," Mary said.

"I think that was excellently delivered," Martha commented.

"Okay, okay," Skye said, laughing. "Either way we need to go."

Once the kids were gathered the group headed out to the front of the casino where they got into taxi vans, having to take a few but soon on their way to Henderson.

"I didn't know this place was so far," Derek said after the cabs were leaving them.

"Well… it's quite big so it wouldn't have fit on the Strip," Skye commented.

"Hey, can we go there at night?" Clive asked suddenly.

"We will, after the show," Beckett said. "This way though."

"See the building?" Eliza was asking Fleur as they were walking hand in hand. "It looks like the…"

"Native Americans would make," Julia supplied as her sister looked at her. "What do you think?"

"It looks just like your-" Mari started to say when Clive was exclaiming.

"A train!" the boy said, running for it.

"Is this what you two were talking about?" Jim asked the investigator in amusement.

"I knew my girls would enjoy seeing it too," Skye said with a smile as hers and Mary's three youngest rushed after the boys. "Well… time for pictures I believe," she said before was laughing with the other adults and heading over to the locomotive engine across from the main building of the museum.

After they had taken several pictures of the kids, and a few family ones they walked across the road into the building. Castle paid for their admission and they started looking around the lobby where Julia had taken the McDouglas girls and her friends to a display.

"Wow… you mean there's really what's left of the plane over there in the mountains?" Peter asked.

"There is," Julia replied, looking at the item from Carole Lombard's plane. She sighed sadly and then said, "She's still here, her spirit. But it's at the saloon near the mountain."

"Julia," Beckett said gently. "Sorry sweetie," she said with a slight smile when her daughter looked at her with wide eyes. "We should keep going."

"She's not here right now is she?" Castle asked Skye as his wife and Mary were leading the kids to the first exhibit.

"No, no, your daughter was right she's at the Pioneer Saloon," the investigator replied. When Skye saw the questioning look on the writer's face she smiled and said, "I just know, can't really tell you more than that."

"Daddy!" Eliza said eagerly.

"I'm coming," Castle said, walking over to her. "What is it sweetheart?" he asked the little girl as she was jumping up and down. He was startled when she didn't say anything, just pointed to the taxidermized wolf that was on an outcropping of rocks next to the first display. "You want me to pick you up?" he said in surprise. When she nodded he did so, holding her on his hip before he watched her leaning over towards the animal. "Eliza?" he said.

"Go closer Daddy!" the little girl said firmly.

"I don't think he can kiddo," Martha told her as she was standing near them with Josie, still asleep in her carrier. "That wasn't really meant to be petted."

Frowning Eliza looked over at her mother and saw that she was gesturing to her and she sighed as her father set her down. "I wanted to pet it Mommy, it's like our doggies," she explained, taking her hand when she was close to her.

"I know but it's a museum and unless it says you can't touch it," Beckett told her gently but a little sternly.

Sighing Eliza looked ahead and then saw the rocks they could touch, and she went to it eagerly.

"What?" Castle asked his wife when she glanced at him.

" _That's very familiar behavior_ ," Beckett murmured to him in Irish.

" _Again, you've called me twelve and younger_ ," Castle said in the same language.

"Guys," Skye said with a smile. When the two looked at her she said, "I can understand you and we've gotten the kids away."

"How'd you do that?" Castle said in surprise.

"Your dad let them know they couldn't use the stones," Mary commented. "And they're leading the way now."

Walking after the others, Beckett took her husband's hand and she wasn't surprised at the startled look he gave her shortly after that. Smiling at him she said, "I've taken pictures already. And I will take pictures of them but I'm taking a break right now."

Nodding, Castle stopped walking, as the kids and adults were going through the display of the Jilly-Bean Mine. He took the chance and kissed her gently on the lips, quickly since he knew they didn't have that much time. "I have to take my chances where I can," he pointed out to her.

"I know, but the girls are looking for us," Beckett said gently.

Turning his head Castle saw that she was right, and he hurried with her over to them saying, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but we're gonna finish the museum and you'll be way back," Julia said. She grinned at the look her mother gave her; knowing she didn't really mean it; and then asked, "What're we doing for dinner?"

"You can't be hungry," Beckett said in protest.

"I'm not, but Peter and Clive are wondering," Julia said. "I don't think they're hungry."

"They might be if we're here for that long," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"I have bars," Beckett assured him. When she saw her husband and daughters were all looking at her in surprise she said, "I know you all can get hungry; I have to be prepared."

"You're the best mommy," Eliza said, wrapping her arms around her waist tightly.

"Thank you, sweetie," Beckett told her, hugging her back. "We should go though, now we're all being left behind."

"Not going to do it," Skye was saying, shaking her head as the rest of the Castle family was rejoining them.

"Are you asking her to sing again?" Julia asked with a smile.

"I am," Derek said since it was him. "But something… different."

"She's singing Queen this week," Clive said. "What did you want her to sing?"

" _Hotel California_ ," Skye said wryly. "That's a big song though, bit hard to sing acapella," she started to say. "And," she continued hurriedly, pointing at her wife. "I include singing with the phone as well."

"She won't," Mary said to Derek.

"Sing someone Mum!" Marie begged.

When the other kids were doing the same Skye said, "I'll have a think on it, see what I can do."

Beckett squeezed Julia's shoulder; since she'd seen the girl was about to speak; and told her, "Wait until we're outside. That's what she wants to do."

"Oh… sure," Julia said as she realized her mother had a point about that. She was suddenly impatient to go through the rest of the museum, but they were near the end as they were at the gambling items on display.

"Whoa, look, they're destroying the building!" Clive said as he saw a video playing on a screen of an implosion.

"That's what they've done to some casinos," Jim said. When the two boys looked up at him in surprise he said, "Sometimes they get old, unpopular, and they destroy the building so they can build a new one."

"Is where we're staying one of those?" Mari asked.

"It is," Kathleen said suddenly. She smiled when the other kids looked at her and said, "Mum told us. It was the Castaways before the Mirage-"

"And before Castaways it was the…" Marie started to say.

"It was the Red Rooster Nite Club," Skye explained. "So the Castaways was bigger of course."

"Come on," Mary said. "There's a lot more and remember we have the show."

That seemed to spur them, and they started to walk together though the rest of the exhibits. When they were stepping outside Marie and Julia rushed over to Skye, making the investigator groan.

"You two, you're not going to leave me alone are you?" Skye asked them though she was smiling at them both.

"Nope," Marie said to her mother. "Sing something Mum."

"I assume you've thought of a song?" Skye asked Julia. When the girl nodded she said, "It's a secret?"

Gesturing to the woman, Julia whispered into her ear, not surprised when the investigator looked back at her in surprise.

"You know you'll need to dance," Skye said laughingly. She then looked at the others and said, "She wants me to sing _Wonderful World_ ; by Sam Cooke," not surprised when her wife began laughing.

"You won't sing that Mum?" Kathleen asked.

Skye was about to shake her head no when she heard a whispered, "I love that song," suddenly and they looked over at Ivy together.

Blushing deeply suddenly the little girl murmured, "I do."

"Hmm, I may have to change my mind then," Skye said before she placed her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "How do you know that song?"

"We heard it on the radio once," Iris piped up. "But we didn't know the name of it until we heard Kath listening to it."

"Is that good enough?" Skye asked Derek.

"It is," the pro said. "You have a dance for it?" he then asked Julia though he was looking at Peter as well.

"Yeah," the girl said with a blush. "But it's nothing special."

"Yeah, a simple Foxtrot," Peter added.

"Let's go where there's better ground," Beckett said suddenly, as she didn't like the two dancing on asphalt. "And you can do that there." She went to Julia and took her hand as they continued over to the trails when she felt her daughter squeezing her hand weakly, making her look down at her before she started to speak.

"I don't know if there's going to be a good place to dance," Julia told her. She thought for a moment and said, "Unless we did it in the houses or the chapel."

Beckett, smiling as her daughter had been almost whispering then, said, "Then let her know you don't really want to dance." She looked ahead of them and said, "I think she might forget to do that," as they'd reached the structures of the Paiute people made from branches. "Go with your sister," she told her daughter.

"But you already took pictures with us here," Julia protested.

"Yes, but not with Josie," Beckett told her.

"Oh," Julia said before she went over to her grandmother since she was getting the baby from her carrier. "That wasn't a long nap?" she asked instead of saying.

"It was long enough for her," Martha replied with a smile. "She just woke up."

Julia nodded and then took her baby sister, putting her on her hip and then bounced her a few times as she walked to the structure. She kept Josie in her arms as she stood with Eliza and they smiled for their mother's pictures and once they had finished she was going to continue carrying her sister when she paused as Josie was whimpering.

"Let me have her," Castle told her, taking the baby quickly as he knew what was wrong.

"What is it?" Clive asked in surprise as Castle and Beckett were leaving with the baby's bag.

"Her diaper needs changed," Mari said. When the boys looked at her she said, "Dani would make the same sound when she needed it."

As Peter and Clive made faces, Julia wanted to tell them they could have a sibling one day when she paused. She realized that was a little mean, though she quickly reminded herself that their parents didn't have to be married to give them siblings. Shaking herself she said instead, "Hey, you might have babies one day. You'll do the same thing."

"Meh," Clive said with a shrug before they were laughing together until the McDouglas girls were calling to them.

When they left the building; as the bathrooms had been there; Castle said, "I wonder if she wanted us to stop before we got too far."

"I don't care," Beckett said with a sigh. "At least she's happy now."

"Yeah," Castle said, holding the baby above him and making her laugh. "Are you okay?"

"I am," Beckett said with a smile to reassure him. "You have a very… crazy imagination."

"And you knew that after we worked together for a bit," Castle said.

"Yes, a bit," Beckett said jokingly before they reached where everyone else was standing by the jail. She glanced at the building, wondering how she could have forgotten about the structure and she looked ahead of them to try and find their second oldest.

"Mom," Julia said, walking hurriedly over to her. "I don't think you should walk over here, neither does Skye."

"But I have to go this direction," Beckett said, looking around.

"No," the investigator herself said, going to them. "There's another path a bit away. Let me walk you over there with the baby."  
Though she wasn't sure she wanted to agree too readily to it, Beckett nodded and turned to her husband.

"I'll go with you," Castle said quickly. They went with Skye over to the other path, standing between his wife and the structure as the investigator was as well. When they stopped at the end of that part of the path; where it joined the main one; he was about to tell the investigator to hurry when his wife was speaking.

"Give me Josie, Rick," Beckett told him. When he looked at her she said, "I can wait for you both here."

Since the baby was wearing a hat and the carrier would provide her shade, Castle was tempted to go but he was glancing at Skye who merely looked at him. "I better stay," he told her.

"I…" was all that Beckett was able to say before Skye told them they would rejoin them shortly. After they were alone she turned to her husband and said, "You didn't need to."

"I think she wanted me to," Castle replied. "Plus, I got the feeling I should."

Beckett merely nodded at that and they watched the group go through the ghost town before they were walking over to them. "I'm surprised," she told him.

"Me too, I figured the boys would have been running around the jail for an hour," Castle commented.

Glancing at him, and fighting her smile, Beckett asked the kids that came up to her first, "Does anyone want water?" before her husband was passing out the bottles they had under the carrier on the crib.

"Keep walking," Skye was saying to the others. "We have a lot more to see."

While they were passing the historic mining equipment Martha said to her daughter in law, "You wouldn't want her to sleep?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "If she wants to. Otherwise she'll stay up." She then frowned slightly and said, "Are you sure-"

"I am," Martha replied. She looked around and spotting Jim talking to Ivy she nodded to him and said, "We are, we don't want you two to have to stay for the baby."

"And you want to take care of her all on your own," Castle commented.

"We will be together for dinner," Martha said with a brief nod.

"And she'll be asleep most of the night," Beckett pointed out to her.

"And there's a very nice lounge chair outside," Martha said. "In October."

"Who's making a cocktail Mother?" Castle asked.

"I am, I know how to do that at least though it will be a mocktail," his mother replied. She paused and then said, "Though I wonder-"

"It's alright," Beckett said. "He'll be fine, but you'll have the door open where she is right?"

"Of course," Martha said with a nod. "You don't need to worry," she said, squeezing her daughter in law's arm with a smile before she walked ahead to where the kids were in front of a tall cactus.

"Why I asked that I have no idea," Beckett said to her husband as she took Josie from him.

"Instinct," Castle replied. When she looked at him he smiled and told her, "I did the same when she was watching Alexis. And remember we did the same when we left Eliza with my mom and your dad; separate or together."

Beckett nodded, smiling, and she kissed the baby before they made their way to the train depot building. She walked after the kids, keeping Josie in her arms, and as they were heading to Heritage Street she glanced at Julia to see how the girl was acting at that moment.

"What's with all the houses?" Peter asked.

"It's not a neighborhood, is it?" Iris asked her mothers.

"In a way, but I can assure you," Mary said, waiting to go up the path to the first house. "No one's living here."

"To a degree," Castle commented. When Julia gave him a look he shrugged before they were stepping onto the porch of the California bungalow house.

"We really can go inside?" Ivy asked Skye.

"Mmm-hmm," the investigator said, smiling at her.

When they'd gone through the living room, Mari was crying out suddenly as they were looking into the dining room and she saw the mannequins there. "I thought they were real," she said in slight embarrassment.

"I did the same thing too," Julia said quickly, grabbing her friend's hand tightly. "When I first came, remember I told you."  
"And I still got scared," Mari commented.

"That was a while ago," Julia told her.

"That's true," Mari said slowly with a nod.

"Girls," Beckett called to them.

"This is cool though," Mari was saying as she and Julia were walking together after the others back through the living room. "I know you showed me pictures but…"

"It's better to see in person," Julia finished for her. When her friend nodded she smiled widely and said, "I'm glad you got to come here."

"Me too," Mari said before they were walking through the rest of the house.

When they were outside Julia went to her mother and said, "Are we gonna go to the garden?"

"That'll be last," Beckett assured her.

Watching her mother looking at her watch Julia asked, "Are we running late?"

"No, we're doing well," Beckett said while they walked up to the Tudor revival house that was next to the bungalow.

"Mom you didn't say about dinner," Julia commented.

Seeing that the boys were glancing at them Beckett shook her head and said, "Let's go inside, they're waiting for us already."

Julia hurried up to the entry and they were going together inside before they were going down the hall past the living room. She remembered that house as being from the fifties and she went over to Derek saying, "What do you think?"

"It's interesting," the dancer said. "The colors in this house are… interesting."

Julia smiled and said, "It's such a small house, I'm not used to that except for the apartment my mom and I used to live in. In New York City."

"You said you have a city apartment still," Derek said.

"Yeah, it's a loft so it's bigger than the apartment we were in," Julia said before they went back to the front of the house. "You grew up in… Utah?"

"I did, so the landscape was a little like this," Derek said. "The state is right next door to Nevada. It's almost like I'm at home," the pro said before Julia was laughing as they walked together after the others to the last house on that side of the street.

Going to the chapel before the rest of the places on the other side of Heritage Street, Eliza and Fleur were inside first and the latter looked at the former when she let out a short shriek.

" _C'est bien mon petite_ ," Skye said, hurrying to her, telling her that it was alright.

" _Il y en a tellement_ ," Fleur said, meaning there were so many referencing the mannequins in the main part of the chapel.

"Did she say something about them looking real?" Clive asked hopefully.

"No, she said there are so many," Marie said.

"She's right," Mary said.

"A lot of weddings today," Castle commented. He smiled when the kids started to laugh; Skye and Mary looking at him gratefully; and he watched them calm down to begin taking pictures. He stayed behind with the baby, Josie awake but sitting in her carrier. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, smiling when he pulled back to find her smiling at him.

"Rick?" Beckett asked, having been walking to him. When he turned to her she said with a smile, "We're finished."

Nodding, Castle was first to leave with the stroller but waited for the others to pass him before he walked with his wife. While the others were going into the next house he hung back with the stroller and said, "I wasn't expecting anything, doing this?"

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said since she was with him. "Though I am that the girls didn't say anything about it."

"They're more eager to show their friends everything," Castle commented, looking down at the baby with her. "I'm really eager to get back to the villa," he suddenly said after they were silent for a few minutes.

"I know, I agree," Beckett said with a smile. She then reached out and slipped her arm through his, leaning her cheek to his shoulder as she said, "Spend the rest of the time with her?"

"Of course," Castle said firmly. He wasn't surprised when she laughed softly, and they shared a kiss before they needed to move to the next house on the street with their friends and family.


	34. With Your Neon Flashin' (Part 2)

"Hi Mommy!" Eliza said happily as she was walking to the open door of her parents' room at the villa. "Can I come in?"

"Yes," Beckett said, smiling at her. "And so can your daddy."

"How did you know?" Castle asked in amusement as he walked into the room behind their daughter.

"It wasn't hard to guess," Beckett said wryly. "I knew you'd be waiting for me to open these doors."

"Your dress is pretty Mommy," Eliza said then.

Hearing Josie vocalizing Castle said, "I think she agrees."

"I guess so," Beckett said with a soft laugh. She was about to ask where Julia was when the girl suddenly rushed in, laughing heavily before she turned around.

"Look," Julia told them, holding out her tablet.

"Hey Alexis," Castle said when he saw her on the screen. "You weren't going to call until tomorrow."

"I called her," Julia replied. "I wanted to see her before the show." She paused but then said, "I told her how everything was going."  
"How's Skye before I talk to you?" Alexis asked.

"She's doing well, she's having a lot of fun with her Quickstep," Beckett began. "Which I'm assuming Julia told you the story for already."

"She did," Alexis said, unable to help laughing softly. "And they're really going to have people from the show on?"

"We've already met the three," Castle said.

"How was that?" Alexis said.

"Awesome," Castle said simply, not surprised when his wife and their daughters started to laugh.

"Yeah, they were all really nice," Julia said. "Kevin let us teach him some dance steps too… that might be in the intro before their Quickstep."

"Cool, so tell me what's been going on since Tuesday," Alexis said. As the family filled her in on the last two days; including their time in Vegas up to that point; she smiled and said when they'd finished, "So you're having a lot of fun."

"They're still learning," Castle commented, knowing what his daughter was saying. "We're going to be focusing on school mostly tomorrow."

"But we are practicing later in the afternoon," Julia said. "From three to… whenever right?" she asked her parents.

Nodding Beckett said, "That's up to Derek."

"How are they looking in the Jazz dance?" Alexis said. "I almost forgot to say."

"Good," Castle said, looking down at Eliza who was giggling softly and swinging back and forth.

"Can we show her?" the little girl asked her parents in a loud whisper.

"Go ahead, but just a little bit," Beckett said. "We have to go, and I think your sister needs to too."

Alexis looked on while her little sisters danced, Becket holding the tablet for them, when they had stopped she applauded and said, "You're doing that with all the other kids and Skye and Derek?"

"Yep, everyone but Josa," Julia said happily.

"Nice," Alexis said. "And it'll look great; it does already. And are you ready to be on TV Lizzy?"

Eliza shrugged before she wrapped her arms around Castle who she had gone to stand with. "I wanna dance," she finally said.

"And you will," Alexis said. "I'll let you go, Julia let me talk to Gram and Grandpapa first and I said goodbye to them already. I'll talk to you on Saturday probably, I have a full day tomorrow."

"Everything okay with work?" Beckett asked her oldest.

"Yeah, I just have another patient that Dr. Logan wants me to talk to now," Alexis explained.

"They're trusting you more," Castle said.

"I know, which I'm very happy about," Alexis said firmly. "I hope you have a great time at the show and with dinner too before that. I love you Jules, Lizzy, Josa."

"Love you," the two girls said together.

"And Ma, Dad? I love you too," Alexis directed to them.

"We love you too," Beckett said with a smile.

"Have a good time at work the rest of the week," Castle then told her. After they'd said goodbye and Julia had turned off her tablet he said, "Is everyone ready now?"

"Gram went to finish after she talked to 'lexis," Julia explained. "And Grandpapa is watching everyone else."

"They're in the pool, aren't they?" Beckett asked in amusement.

"They're taking turns on the steps," Julia said hurriedly as they left the room.

"Kids," Beckett told them.

"We weren't swimming," Clive said in a rush.

"We know," Castle said, smiling at the boy. "We're going to leave so you need to get your feet dried and your socks on."

"Cool," Peter said.

"Rick," Beckett told her husband.

"Yeah," Castle replied, going to the room that Jim was sharing with the boys. He side stepped the air mattress, though it was deflated for the day, and went into one of the two bathrooms that was attached to the bedroom. He grabbed the different colored combs and went to the doorway leading out to the back. "Boys," he said.

"Oh… do we have to?" Peter asked.

"We do, we're having a nice dinner and you're seeing a nice show," Jim told him, squeezing his shoulder.

The boy let out a mock exaggerated sigh before Peter smiled at Beckett's father and rushed to get his comb to tame his sandy blonde hair while Clive was doing the same with his deep brown hair. "Now can we go?" he asked hopefully when they had finished.

"We can," Beckett said with a smile. They went inside; after the doors leading to the back from the rooms were closed; and while her husband was getting their keys she checked on Josie. The baby was in her arms by then, wearing a dress with thinner pants under it. The outfit had been a gift from Lanie and she smiled as she thought of her friend, who was a little over five months into her pregnancy. The doctor and Dylan had decided to wait to see what gender their baby was going to be, but she had her own suspicions as she had seen the shape of her friend's stomach the more it had grown.

"Okay love?" Castle asked his wife as he touched her back.

"Yeah," Beckett replied. "I was thinking of Lanie."

"Did you want to call her?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "It's later, she could be tired. She's still working of course."

"True," Castle said, knowing their friend was still experiencing a little fatigue. He then said, "Now I know how everyone felt when we didn't find out what Eliza was."

"I was thinking the same," Beckett said with a laugh. She squeezed his arm quickly before they were meeting up with the McDouglases who'd taken another villa and they were entering the casino to head to the restaurant.

"Oh! This one again?" Julia asked eagerly when she saw the one by the entrance from the Strip.

"It is, so you like this one?" Beckett said. She laughed when Julia threw her arms around her and said, "We're not really going to be able to sit all together you know," warning her. "They can't put the tables in the middle together for us, so I think we're at the booths."

"I don't care," Julia said firmly as they met Derek at the entrance to _LVB Burgers_ ; where she had eaten with her family before they had gone to see the show the year previous. Once they were seated she couldn't help saying to her mother, "It's been a year."

"More than that," Castle said, knowing what the girl was thinking of. "And that's awesome to realize too."

"I was little," Eliza said, sitting on one side of their booth with Castle.

"You still are," Beckett said, smiling across the table with Julia and Mari. "No shakes girls," she said, noticing that they were both eyeing them on the menu. "We're having dessert after."

"What's that?" Clive asked, looking over the back of the booth.

"You'll find out," Castle said, motioning for him to sit.

Julia laughed with Mari as the boy made a quick face before he was sitting and once he had disappeared she asked, "What do we get?"

"Whatever you'd like, but please pick something you know you'll eat," Beckett told them.

"Oh!" Julia said after they had ordered. "What about the gift shop?"

"We'll go after, remember we can send what we buy to the room," Castle reminded her.

Beckett was distracted at that moment as Josie was whimpering and she took the baby out, setting her on her lap saying, "She wants to go too."

"Will she get anything?" Eliza asked.

"Maybe," Beckett replied.

"We should," Castle told his wife.

"I know, but we'll see what there is," Beckett said, relieved when he nodded.

As they were waiting Castle couldn't help saying, "We almost went to the buffet at Caesars."

"That's okay," Julia said, since her parents were both looking at her. "We went last night."

"It's why we did that," Beckett said, letting Josie hold onto her teething mitten she'd gotten from the carrier just in case. "But he didn't say we almost went here last night."

"I like coming here better," Julia said with a smile. "Before the show."

"Me too," Eliza said though it was her first time.

"So do I," Mari added.

The group laughed before Julia was telling Mari about the Neon Museum they'd gone to the year before. It was as she was explaining the signs that something came to mind and she turned to her mother when she saw that Beckett was smiling at her, making her look at her questioningly before her mother spoke.

"Are you wondering when we'll be back?" Beckett said.

"Sorta," Julia confessed. "So we will come back."  
"I'd like to," Castle said.

"Would we see the show again?" Julia asked.

"I think so," Beckett said when her husband looked at her. She then smiled and told their second oldest, "Josie hasn't seen it yet."  
"Or Gram and Grandpapa," Julia was quick to add. "Once she can go they can go too?"

"Yes," Beckett said with a nod. "But for now, we need to focus on dinner," saying that as she'd seen their waiter coming over with their food and knowing her daughter was getting excited to go.

Though she was eager to get to see the show with her friend and sister, Julia did eat since she was hungry after all the walking they'd done that day. When they'd finished she sighed and said, "That was really good."

"Yeah, too bad we couldn't get a shake," Mari said jokingly.

"We're getting dessert," Castle said in mock annoyance as he stood up to get the carrier off the high chair. "But not until after the show."

"What if I fall asleep Daddy?" Eliza asked, holding her arms out to her mother who'd come to her side of the table.

"I don't think you will," Beckett replied. "And you're sharing with me." She wasn't surprised when the little girl nodded, and she set her down so they could leave the restaurant and regroup outside.

"Well, I was going to suggest some gambling-" Skye began.

" _Grá_ ," Mary said warningly.

Smirking at her wife, who playfully pinched her arm, Skye then said, "I'll go ahead and tell those of you who want to go do that we'll stay with the kids." When no one said anything or moved she asked, "Really?"

"It's not that long until the show," Jim said.

"You two wouldn't want to?" Derek asked him and Martha.

"Well…" Castle's mother began. She then shook her head slightly and asked, "What are you doing now?"

"Going to the gift shop," Beckett replied. "But we can walk around a little before the show that way you can do some gambling." After her mother in law and father agreed to that they went to the store where the kids took off ahead of them. "No protests?" she asked her husband jokingly.

"No, they're not leaving," Castle said. When his wife gave him a look; as the doors at the back of the store were closed; he smiled and then walked with her after the kids.

"They have some new shirts," Julia said happily as she was looking at what there was. "How many can I get?"

"We'll see what you find," Beckett said. "But make sure you can see us."

"You're gonna go get Josa some shirts?" Eliza asked.

"We are, we'll be towards the front," Castle told her, making sure one of the kids was holding the little girl's hand.

"We'll watch them," Skye said as she and Mary were walking over to them.

When they were at the shirts for babies, Beckett said to her husband, "She's going to need to be older."

"Of course, Julia still has those shirts form last year," Castle replied. "What about this one?" he said, holding up a blue shirt with the Beatles in the cartoon about them on the front. He wasn't surprised when she nodded, and they picked out a couple more tops for Josie before they made their way over to the others at the back.

Both Julia and Eliza found shirts they wanted, as well as one for Alexis, and they walked around together with the other kids while they waited for their parents to pay.

"I wonder if it's really that fun," Mari was saying as they watched some machines just outside the gift shop.

"I guess, people don't stop," Clive said.

"But then you lose your money," Kathleen pointed out.

"Does your grandmother gamble that much?" Peter asked Julia and Eliza. "Or your grandfather?"

"I don't think so," Julia said when her little sister shrugged. "They need to take Josie to the villa anyways so they're not going to do it too much here." Glancing over to the registers she saw that both her parents and Skye and Mary had finished making her say, "We can go now."

The group split up then, Martha and Jim going to gamble for a short amount of time while everyone else went to the atrium to look around. They needed to regroup after twenty minutes and Castle and Beckett said goodnight to their youngest after her sisters had. Saying goodbye to Martha and Jim, they went to the theater and down to their seats.

"Think we can go and dance?" Julia asked her mother jokingly.

"I don't think so," Beckett told her in amusement. She looked down at the others seeing that the McDouglases seemed to be settled in front of her as they were looking at the book Skye and Mary had bought for their youngest daughters; the oldest twins having seen the show already. She turned to Julia and said, "You're still excited?"

Smiling, as she had been expecting her parents to ask her that, Julia told her, "I really am. I know I saw it already but it's such a good show I want to see it again… and again."

Beckett laughed softly and leaned over, pressing her lips to the top of her head before she saw the tall man with the silver teapot coming up to the seats. She watched with the others as another cast member came up until the show finally began. She and Castle were sitting on either side of Eliza since they both wanted to watch her reactions. Since it was a little dark at the beginning of the first song, she couldn't see the little girl but when things let up more she was smiling immediately at the look of awe on her face. As the show was continuing she noticed that Julia was watching Mari, not surprised since she knew her second oldest wanted to see how she enjoyed it.

"Are you liking it?" Castle whispered to Eliza when they were getting towards the end.

The little girl; her eyes fixed to the stage ahead; merely nodded before she watched the women float from the ceiling for the song _Hey Jude_. Eliza sighed in awe at the rose petals that were falling from their umbrellas and she giggled as that song went into the reprise for _Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band_. _When All You Need is Love_ was after she groaned as she knew that was the end of the show as her sister had told her about it and she waved to the cast members that were walking around the edge of the stage. "That's it?" she asked in disappointment when the lights came back on.

"It is," Beckett said with a smile as they stood. "Be careful with the streamers when we go."

Nodding, Eliza was about to step over some that were at the end of their row when her father picked her up to her squeal of surprise. "Thanks Daddy," she said, smiling up at him before she took his hand. When they were outside of the theater her eyes widened at how many people there were, but Castle picked her up before he had Peter hold his hand while Clive held his. It took them a while to make it away from the entrance and once they had she was going to ask her father what they were doing when Skye stopped them so they could talk.

"We're heading straight to dessert, it is a little late for the youngest here," the investigator said first thing. "Stay together and don't break off."

Leaving the Mirage, the group went across the street and walked down to The Linq, the kids talking together or sharing glances as they wondered where they were going exactly. They knew they wouldn't be able to find out until they were there and they walked with the adults, anxious to find out what they'd get that was sweet.

* * *

"What time is it?" Martha asked, coming out of her room to where Jim was in the back.

Checking his watch, he said, "Almost nine, I imagine they'll be here soon. How's Josie?"

"Doing well, fast asleep," Martha replied, settling back. She looked up at the sky for a moment and then said, "What do you think Eliza thought?"

"She enjoyed it," Jim replied before he started to open his mouth to speak when he heard something, slightly muffled. "I think that's them," he said with a smile.

"I better get the doors," Martha said, hurrying to the ones at her room. She closed them, leaving a slight crack between the two, and turned as the kids were coming outside first.

"Easy," Jim said with a smile as Eliza was talking rapidly about the show. Once he'd gotten her to stop he asked, "So you liked it?"

"Yeah," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly.

"What about dessert?" Martha asked.

"Here," Julia said, walking over to them. "I hope it didn't melt too much."

"Why are you giving me that face?" Martha said with a smile as she cupped her face playfully.

"You knew what we were getting already," Julia said though she was smiling by then.  
"I did, your parents wanted us to keep that a secret," Martha said.

"I hope you like your ice cream," Julia told her though she was turning her attention to her sundae.

"Did you get that all for yourself?" Jim asked in surprise.

"No," Julia said, looking behind her Mari walked up to her. "We split it up," she then explained since her friend was holding a cup half full like her own from Ghirardelli which her parents had said they were going to since they weren't going to San Francisco.

"I should have known," Jim said in amusement, starting on his ice cream.

"Oh, did the items come from the gift shop?" Mary asked Jim and Martha suddenly.

"They did," the latter replied. "They're all split up right?"

"They were in the store," Skye said with a nod.

"Mum," Marie said.

"Oh no," the investigator said with a mock groan.

"Come on Mum," Kathleen said in protest.

"Yeah, we want to _entendez-vous chanter_ ," Fleur said so fast that she lapsed into French.

" _Moi aussi_!" Eliza said eagerly.

"Anyone want to translate?" Skye asked.

"Hear her sing?" Julia said. "Or you, she said you," she corrected herself.

"I said me too!" Eliza said eagerly.

"I think," Beckett said before Skye could say anything. "That we need to finish our ice cream and then let them dance."

"Smashing idea," the investigator replied. "And I need to finish before I sing," she said. "But am I still singing the Sam Cooke song?"

"Sing whatever you'd like," Derek said, waving his hand.

"Julia," Castle told the girl.

Frowning for a moment, Julia went over to him and was surprised when her father pulled her close so he could whisper into her ear. She smiled at him before she hurried over to Skye and whispered into her ear before pulling back to see her reaction.

"Alright then," the investigator replied with a nod and a smile at Castle. "But finish your sundae first."

They were all quiet, seeming to want to hear the performance before the cups and spoons were set aside and Skye was talking to her wife.

"So… will you sing?" Ivy asked.

"We will," Skye said quickly. "Kate-"

"It wasn't hard to notice," Beckett interrupted with a short laugh. "Go ahead and start."

Skye looked at her wife and once she had started the music for the song she was singing immediately, the kids gathering in front of her.

 _I know something you don't know  
_ _I want you to listen to the tale  
I know a reasonable woman  
Handsome and witty, yet a friend  
She's got the right amount of passion  
She isn't into rumour  
Not too serious or too dumb  
And equal mixture of good humour  
And sweet, sweet memories (Ah, sweet memories)  
Sweet, sweet memories  
Sweet memories  
Sweet, sweet memories  
She's got sweet, sweet memories  
Sweet memories  
Sweet, sweet memories_

Beckett watched the kids as they danced together, jumping up and down when the beat sped up before they were spinning each other in their pairs and rocking back and forth. She felt her husband grab her hand before the next verse, smiling at him as she knew he'd meant the song for her.

 _Has she got any faults then  
Yes, she has one I must admit  
When all the world tries to praise her  
She refuses to hear it  
She's got the right amount of passion  
She isn't into rumour  
Not too serious or too dumb  
And equal mixture of good humour  
And sweet, sweet memories  
Sweet, sweet memories  
Yeah, we got sweet, sweet memories  
Sweet memories  
She's got sweet, sweet memories  
Yeah, sweet memories  
Sweet, sweet memories_

At the instrumental there, Julia tried looking at Skye as she wondered why the investigator wasn't vocalizing as Paul did in the song. But the investigator was taking a drink of water; as was Mary since she was singing back up with her. She then glanced at her parents, smiling since her father was kissing her mother's cheek before Peter was spinning her again.

"I'll thank you later," Beckett murmured to her husband as she knew Skye was about to sing again. She did her best not to laugh when her husband raised and lowered his eyebrows at her quickly before she leaned against him while they listened to the rest of the song.

 _She's got the right amount of passion  
She isn't into rumour  
Not too serious or too dumb  
And equal mixture of good humour  
And sweet, sweet memories_

 _Sweet, sweet memories  
Sweet memories  
Sweet, sweet memories  
She's got sweet, sweet memories  
Sweet memories  
Sweet, sweet memories_

 _Oh memory, memories_

 _Hey yeah, sweet memories  
We got sweet, sweet memories  
Taking me back  
Taking me back  
Taking me back_

* * *

"I'm wondering if I wasn't all that subtle," Castle commented.

"Not really but I think Mary appreciated your choice," Beckett replied. When her husband paused and looked at her in the mirror she smiled and told him, "You couldn't tell?"

"Not really, I was mainly looking at you," Castle told her seriously.

Nodding, Beckett then walked out to the bedroom and to the doors leading to the back of the villa. It was later that night and she and her husband were preparing for bed after having spent some time with the girls when the others had left. She got onto their bed and told him, "I am a little tired."

"Don't worry, I am too," Castle replied. "Though you are gorgeous."

Smiling Beckett said, "And earlier?"

"That applies to this entire day," Castle said quickly, getting onto the bed with her. They laid down together but left the lights on and he kept his glasses on before he said, "The stuff apart from the memories worked for you."

"Don't worry, I understood," Beckett assured him, pressing her cheek to his shoulder. They were silent for a moment before she then said, "And the memories?"

"I do have one," Castle admitted.

"Tell me, we might not be intimate, but I'd love to hear," Beckett told him.

Nodding, Castle said, "It was in 1945, the Christmas after the war ended, which of course was memorable."

"Are you going to talk about the whole day?" Beckett asked.

"No," Castle said with a smile, not surprised she'd asked. "It's about the afternoon after we opened gifts. Your mother was still with us, but she stayed at home while we went out since it was a very nice day." He felt her nod and when she was settled again he continued, beginning with, "We headed downtown, even though nothing was open that day in celebration."

* * *

 _"I'm sooo glad there aren't any more rations," fifteen-year-old Josephine said eagerly to her parents._

 _"Me too," Rick replied with a nod. "But stay with us."_

 _"I will," Josephine promised. She then turned to her sister and said, "What do you think Elizabeth?"_

 _"About what?" the eighteen-year-old asked with a smile._

 _"About college! You get to go finally," Josephine replied._

 _"I was going to go to Berkley already," Elizabeth pointed out to her. "If it wasn't for the War then I would have gone this semester." She then looked back at their parents and said, "I'll miss you still."_

 _"At least you'll be with friends," Kate said, the young woman staying with her friends from Mill Valley who would also be attending the college. Recalling hers and Rick's oldest she turned, seeing that she was still speaking with her little sister. She was about to call them over when the two were hurrying down and Julia was speaking first._

 _"We're coming Ma," the twenty-three-year-old was telling her. "We were just wondering where Aunt Rose and Aunt Mary are."_

 _"And your uncle," Kate reminded them with a smile. "Hold onto your hat Alexandra."_

 _"I know Ma, I don't want to lose it," the seventeen-year-old said with a smile. "Especially since it's a gift."_

 _"I told you she'd like it," Rick told his wife who gave him a look. He squeezed her hand that he was holding before they stopped and turned at voices calling to them._

 _"Is Ma alright?" Kate asked her twin when she neared her._

 _"She's swell," Rose reassured her. "She's keeping an eye on dinner."_

 _"Let's keep walking," Patrick said._

 _"You need the exercise," Mary said to him, smiling at him before they continued to the shops downtown._

 _There were several people there strolling already though nothing was open, women sporting new hats and coats while children were running around the sidewalks and streets when they could._

 _"Julia?" Kate eventually said as she was alone with her oldest. "Will Mari be here?"_

 _"She will," Julia said, nodding her head with a smile. "But after dinner, for dessert."_

 _"You did tell her that her family could come along didn't you?" Kate asked._

 _"I did," Julia replied. "They want to stay home. Da."_

 _"What?" Rick asked as he'd been standing near them._

 _"Why are you eavesdropping?" Kate asked, slipping her arm through her husband's as their daughter went to where Elizabeth was with a couple of her cousins in front of the bookstore._

 _"I wasn't," Rick replied. He glanced around for a moment and then murmured to her in Irish, "_ I have a gift for you. I want to give it to you later _."_

 _"_ I have the same for you _," Kate replied in the same language. She then smiled and said, "Should we continue?"_

 _"We'll have to get our girls," Rick said, nodding towards their daughters who had found friends and were talking together. He was about to go over to Josephine first when a friend called his name and they turned to greet the man and his wife before they were walking again._

* * *

"We did that most Christmas afternoons didn't we?" Beckett asked her husband when he paused.

"If it wasn't raining? Yeah, we did. Though as time went on people did that less and less," Castle said. "I think later in the fifties we stopped doing it. With the grandchildren wanting to play with their toys and all…"

Beckett laughed softly and when she saw the questioning look on her husband's face she said, "At least you allowed our daughters to have children of their own."

"All our daughters were of legal age," Castle replied easily before he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "But I wasn't finished."

"Go ahead," Beckett told him with a smile, not surprised he began talking about what they'd done after dinner.

* * *

 _"Very good meal," Patrick said, looking at his glass with Irish whiskey in the bottom of it. "You know girls, there was a time when we weren't able to drink this."_

 _"No?" Fleur asked._

* * *

"I'm going to refer to her as Fleur," Castle told his wife before she could say anything about the name. "It's easier than Fiona, and I don't think that was her name then anyway."

"Did they have any other children?" Beckett asked her husband.

"Kate," Castle said simply. When she raised her head to look at him he just started at her and waiting before she groaned slightly.

"Alright, Ivy and Iris weren't twins but they were sisters," Beckett said. "They were from Paris and the three of them got them out just before the occupation. And they were able to adopt Marie and Kath last from England a year later, their orphanage was bombed during the Blitz. I know, they were all there too," she said wryly.

Reaching up to her, Castle cupped her cheek with his hand before he raised his head so he could kiss her. After they parted he said, "We told them about Prohibition, since they'd all been born in the thirties. Fleur and Ivy were born the same year, 1934, and Iris, Marie and Kath in 1935. So they were eleven and ten."

"Okay, you can continue you know," Beckett told him.

Castle smiled and kissed her swiftly before he said, "We told them about it and then Julia helped us with it too."

* * *

 _"Ma used to have the prettiest dresses," Julia was saying, smiling at the way her cousins' eyes widened._

 _"You still have them don't you Katie?" Rose asked._

 _"Don't," she said warningly to her sister; though she was soon smiling. "I'll have to tell them about you dressing as a man."_

 _"Oh, she's told them that already," Mary said, rolling her eyes._

 _"I want to do the same," Marie said._

 _"Maybe for Halloween," Rose said, kissing the top of her head. "Now, aren't you kids going to play?"_

 _"A game?" Kath asked._

 _"Chutes and Ladders," Josephine said. "Your newest game."_

 _"What about dessert Mama?" Ivy asked Mary._

 _"We'll have it soon," the woman replied soothingly. She then looked over at the others and told her, "You'll miss out on the game."_

 _"Where are you going?" Kate asked her daughter as she and Mari had stood._

 _"To the porch," Julia told her soothingly. "We'll be back."_

 _"Put on your coats," Kate implored both women._

 _"We will," Mari replied._

 _"Is she leaving?" Rick asked, finishing his glass of Irish whiskey._

 _"No," Kate said. "I suppose they'll want to talk about when they'll be able to fly again."_

 _"Soon," Rose told her sister with a smile. She looked at her twin and said, "They'll not want to stop."_

 _"I wasn't going to tell them," Kate replied. She was going to say more when the younger girls were squealing together, and she said, "I suppose the game's a hit."_

 _"It is," Patrick said. "The girls wanted it something fierce knowing it was from India."_

 _"They want to go to India now," Rose said. "But we've consoled them by promising to take them to Paris."_

 _"When?" Rick asked. "The papers say things are still bad."_

 _"Truman would like to help I've heard," Patrick said._

 _"No politics," Kate said. "You promised for today."_

 _"She's right," Rick said to his brother in law. "It's Christmas."_

 _"And as it is-" Patrick started to say._

 _"No more whiskey," Mary said with a smile. "You can put a bit into your coffee, but no more on its own."_

 _"Fine idea," Patrick said, raising his empty glass to her._

 _After the girls had finished their game Rick said to his wife, "Should I go get the girls?"_

 _Kate opened her mouth before she then said, "No need."_

 _Startled at that, Rick looked over at the front door to see Julia and Mari walking inside and he asked his wife, "Time for dessert?"_

 _"And a toast," Kate said pointedly. When her husband smiled at her she got up with him and they began gathering what they needed. Once they had it on the table in the living room they picked up the glasses, whiskey for the adults and milk for the children._

 _"To our Christmas this year and in years to come now that peace has returned," Rick said as they held up the glasses. "_ Sláinte _."_

 _After they all said the same, the group was tapping their glasses together and drinking before they went to the desserts and started to eat, laughing and talking about their plans they had to welcome the year 1946 in a week._

* * *

"It was a nice night," Beckett commented.

"It was, and we were together of course…" Castle said.

"You gave me a pearl bracelet," Beckett replied with a smirk, having raised herself above him so she could look down at him. "And then I gave you a very… clinging nightgown that didn't stay on me for that long."

"Yes, I think we enjoyed our gifts that night," Castle said. "For different reasons."

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smile before they were kissing deeply. They did that for a bit and when they parted she told him, "But you're right." She smiled when he laughed for a moment and after she brushed her lips to his she murmured against them, "I love you."

"I love you too," Castle told her, and with that he pulled her to him so they could begin kissing deeply.

Though they were fatigued after their activities that day, Castle and Beckett spent some time kissing one another until they had to stop. They settled down to sleep, wrapping their arms around each other as tightly as they could until they nodded off, letting their memories of one another lull them before they dreamt of them through that night in Las Vegas.


	35. As Horror Looks You

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _Dead Man's Party_ written by Danny Elfman, from the Oingo Boingo from the album titled the same as the song.

A/N #2: I was happy getting the feedback for the last chapter I did so I'll go to my thank yous for that. TORONTOSUN (Really nice seeing you thought the chapter was great and I'm glad you think it's a great and good story too still),

Mb (Great to see that you thought the first half of the chapter was nicely done. And I'm glad that you thought it was a nice look into them spending some time in Vegas since I'd written it already, lol. And I laughed myself to see you laughing at of course Josie loves tigers, I had put that in partially since I've always loved tigers myself and as you said since it would remind them about their experience with a tiger, lol. I wasn't surprised you were expecting someone to recognize Martha, lol, I suppose that might happen. And with the jail at the museum I was referencing their first visit it since I had something happen that time. I had to laugh again at you saying you were waiting for Eliza to ask Castle and Beckett about going to a chapel after he'd mentioned a lot of weddings, lol, I figured one of the girls would. Great you thought the first half was nicely done. And you're welcome for sharing the first half too! It was nice to see you thought the second half was another really nice update. And great to read you loved Julia calling Alexis, I wanted to include her there somehow and that was the best way. No surprise that you're happy that Lanie is pregnant, that I had expected. Lol, I agree, when I've gone to Vegas I have gambled even if only a little bit since it is fun to get to do that even if I don't like it that much, lol. Really happy you loved the flashback and hearing how Skye, Mary and Patrick adopted the girls there too. I was so, so pleased that you can feel how much Castle and Beckett are in love when they're just cuddling and hugging, also that their love and family are right too. You're welcome for the second half of the chapter!) and

Natasha (It was great to see that you're enjoying my series and how Castle and Beckett are together along with their family and friends here. And it was touching to see you think this one is one of the best AUs in the category. I'm not surprised you've read my series to see an alternate for the show and to see what could have been of course. It's why I wrote it though I started writing these stories around the beginning of season 5 since I wanted to do things slightly differently than I figured the show would do, lol. Thank you so much for letting me know what you thought, I appreciate that of course, and I'm glad you think I keep the show alive, it's why I keep writing the series! Don't worry, I know people have stuff keeping them busy so it's okay if you can't review, but you did this time and I am so grateful you took the time to! You're very welcome for the series!).

Thank you for the reviews, I loved reading all of them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Thriller_ by Rod Temperton, from the Michael Jackson album the same name as the song.

As Horror Looks You

Her nails raking down her husband's back, Beckett's final cry of ecstasy seemed to reverberate against the walls of the guest house and she slumped to the bed. She was limp underneath Castle as he was thrusting into her a few more times and nearly collapsing on her with a groan of her name. She reached up to him immediately and started to caress the back of his head, feeling him shudder for a moment before he relaxed. "Good?" she asked when she felt she could speak.

"In both instances, yes," Castle said while he was raising his head to look down at her. He kissed her deeply and said, "You're fucking amazing Kate."

"You're the same love," Beckett said with a smile that was brief as he was carefully withdrawing from her. She sighed and moved with him to lay against his side but paused before her body could rest fully on the bed.

"We have time," Castle said as he reached for his phone where his alarm was going off. He turned it off and then wrapped his arm around his wife to hold her tightly to his side. "Always have time for this," he commented. He felt her pressing her face to his shoulder and thought nothing of it, but suddenly realized that she was shaking or shuddering against him. "Kate?" he asked her in surprise.

"You know not a lot of straight men would worry about cuddling," Beckett said a bit after that. She'd had to control her laughter but just managed it before speaking and she continued with, "Though I suppose when you're concerned about the emotional aspect of what we just did…"

"As you are," Castle said. He and his wife looked at each other for a moment before they were breaking up into laughter. When they'd calmed down he said, "I do enjoy it."

Beckett nodded, not really wanting to speak to interrupt the way the word now was reverberating unspoken between them. But she did have to talk, and she said, "We do need to take a shower."

"I know," Castle said with a sigh. "Quick?"

"Very, we are leaving remember," Beckett replied as they reluctantly got up. "And it's Halloween so…"

Not surprised when she trailed off before she could mention the kids, Castle nodded in response and they went into the bathroom to take a very quick shower. As soon as they finished; with only a few kisses exchanged between them since they couldn't stop themselves; they dressed and finished getting ready before heading out to the main house. He looked up at the sky as they were walking and said, "I wonder if those Santa Annas are here."

"I hope not," Beckett said though she couldn't really feel any wind. "The way they were all talking about them makes me worried."

"Good morning," Skye said, looking to the sliding door as the couple walked in. "Wonderful Halloween morning we're having."

"The wind changed direction," Mary said in amusement. "If you couldn't tell by her tone of voice."

"It'll be cool but still a bit warm," Skye said. "Seventies today, near sixty-two tonight. Perfect trick or treating weather."

"Are we still-" Beckett started to say.

"Yeah, well," Skye began, looking at her wife. "Mary and I are, it's up to you if you'd like to join in. Though I wonder why you didn't just bring your costumes."

"They're a little warm," Castle commented since the investigator and doctor had warned them about the weather as they'd started packing for their stay.

"Very thick fabric, I needed to make sure they stayed warm out in the neighborhood," Martha said as she was coming down the stairs.

Seeing the baby in her arms, Beckett smiled and went to Josie saying, "Good morning sweetie," taking her in her arms. She kissed the six and a half month old's temple and smiled again when the baby gurgled. "And the kids?" she asked as her father, mother in law and the baby were the only ones downstairs with them.

"They're getting everything ready," Mary said with a smile. "Cameras… costumes."

"Will they be warm in their robes?" Beckett asked, recalling where they were going was further inland.

"We're going to tell the girls to leave those for tonight," Skye said. She turned with the others, as they could hear the kids coming down the stairs, and she then added, "But they're wearing their uniforms with the ties; no vests since those would be too much."

"Skirts or trousers?" Beckett asked, indicating the woman's five daughters.

" _Zavisit ot devushki_ ," Skye said simply, nodding to her girls.

Surprised that she'd said the words depends on the girl in Russian, Beckett turned and quickly saw what she meant as out of the five, Marie and Ivy were wearing trousers. " _Eto imeyet smysl_ ," she told her friend, meaning it makes sense.

"I know," Skye said, speaking in English. She laughed when she was pushed away playfully, and she called to her daughters to help set the table.

Once everyone was sitting at the two tables in the house they started on their breakfast, the parents and grandparents needing to keep an eye on the kids since they were eating a little fast at first. But they managed to calm down and they finished the meal in a reasonable amount of time though the kids were very soon after rushing out to the patio.

"I'm wondering if it's a good idea to go," Castle said.

"They'll have the energy for trick or treating," Beckett said wryly.

"He uses them as his candy beard?" Mary said.

"No, they just give him some of their candy," Beckett replied, smiling at her husband.

"I think they pity me," Castle said before they were leaving the house.

"Calm down," Skye was saying to the kids as they were clamoring. "Everyone have cameras?"

"Yes!" Julia said first.

"Costumes but no wands?" Mary asked.

"Duh," Marie said.

"Watch it lass," Skye said warningly though there wasn't much threat in her voice. "Then let's go!"

Dividing in the different cars, the two families were on their way inland and once they were in Griffith Park they went to a large parking lot and were walking together once they'd met outside them.

"Say it Mum," Kathleen said with a smile at the investigator.

"Welcome to the Los Angeles Zoo," Skye commented with a wide smile on her face. "Alright, now that that's out of the way let's go or else we'll have time for aught else," she continued before they were heading to the turnstiles since she already had bought their tickets.

"I think they'll be the tour guides," Liam commented to Jim and Martha as his two oldest granddaughters were rushing to a display window with their sisters and the other children.

"Most likely," Martha said before they started to laugh.

After they had reached the others, Beckett looked into the water and spotted something on the bottom of the tank before she noticed a sign. She heard Eliza gasp and was about to speak when Marie was doing so first.

"Don't worry, they'll go back up," the girl was saying hurriedly as the seal inside wasn't moving. "They can stay for fifteen minutes before they need to go up."

"Wow!" Eliza exclaimed.

"I 'ope 'e remembers to wake up," Fleur said seriously before she and the little girl smiled at each other.

"Come, up the stairs you lot," Liam said jokingly.

"Grandda-" Ivy started to say.

"We'll go with him," Jim said, knowing what the McDouglas girls were worried about. "We have to take the stroller after all."

"Do you want us to go?" Castle asked his father in law.

"We're fine," Martha said. "Just make sure you're careful Richard."

"I will be," Castle said with a slight smile as he was carrying Josie.

"We'll see you up top," Skye said, and they started up the stairs while the three went to the ramp nearby.

"Oh! Like in San Francisco," Eliza said eagerly when at the top of the tank there was a sea lion.

"Yeah, but not a ton," Kathleen corrected her.

"That's really cool to see," Julia said to her partner, friend and Clive. "Hopefully you guys go there one day."

"Me too," Mari said, smiling back at her.

Once the parents could get the kids away, they were walking up the main path and heading past some trees before they passed a kind of garden with different palm trees in it.

Watching the kids taking pictures, Mary told them, "This is the Baja garden."

"Like Mexico?" Iris asked.

"Exactly," Skye replied. "Let's head over there though."

"What is it?" Fleur asked, her voice so excited her accent slipped into the word is.

"Mum doesn't want us to say," Marie said wryly.

"Or Mom," Mary told them with a smile

"You'll find out soon enough," Skye commented as they were reaching a habitat.

"Kitties!" Eliza gasped, setting off the others laughing before she did herself since she knew what they were. She started taking pictures of the meerkats before her grandfather was stopping her carefully. "Did I do it wrong Grandpapa?" she asked him.

"Try it this way, since he's standing up and looking out," Jim told her gently, having her turn her camera. "If you want to."

"No, I like that better," Eliza said quickly, keeping her hands that way.

"What're you looking at?" Beckett said to her husband as she noticed that he kept glancing behind them. "And telling her?" she added before he could respond since she'd noticed he was talking to the baby as well.

"There are swans," Castle said simply. He wasn't surprised when his wife just stared at him and he said, "They're birds."

"Rick-" Beckett began.

"I told her they mate for life and we'll be doing the same," Castle replied. "Well, I said we'd be married for life."

"Should me or Lizzy say that?" Julia asked with a smile as she looked up at them.

"You'll say it enough," Beckett said, shaking her head though she was smiling. She touched her husband's arm and they shared a brief kiss before continuing.

" _Do you mind_?" Castle asked her in Irish as he let Julia take the baby so Josie could get a closer look at the birds in the water.

"No," Beckett said. "I think I told you I was a one and done type of girl."

Hearing the latter, and how firm her tone of voice was, Castle leaned down and kissed her again. He pressed his lips a little harder that time to hers and when they parted he whispered, "I don't mind, believe me."

"I know," Beckett replied, taking his hand and entwining their fingers tightly. They left the swans and went across to the flamingoes, sharing a smile as they could hear their baby laughing when one of the birds raised its head.

"She remembers these from Vegas," Julia said happily, looking at her parents.

"Most likely," Beckett said as the baby was almost chortling when a flamingo walked away from the group in front of them.

"Can we-" Eliza started to say.

"We'll wait and see what there is at the gift shop," Beckett interrupted her as she knew what she was going to ask.

"Maybe a shirt or something," Castle said. "But she'll be laying on a mattress of stuffed animals if we keep getting those for her."

"Keep walking sweetie," Beckett said with a smile as the girl pouted. She pinched her cheek gently, having let go of Castle as they were walking down the path again. They were going into a building shortly after that and she asked, "The LAIR?"

"Yeah, LAIR," Mary said wryly.

"Alright _grá_ , come on," Skye said in mock exaggeration. When her wife nearly ran to her she smiled before they went inside.

Beckett, having a feeling as to what the building would have in it after she'd spied the gecko statue outside, glanced at her husband and her eyes widened when he pulled her to his side. She was about to ask him why he'd done that; though she was appreciative he'd been careful since she had Josie on her hip; when they heard the sound of disgust from Mary and a second later Iris was questioning her almost frantically.

"What's wrong?" the little girl said.

"Don't worry," Skye assured her. "Your mom doesn't enjoy these reptiles remember," she said, nodding to the large snake in the habitat that was slowly dropping off a tree branch.

"I hate to say this Mary," Martha was telling the doctor as the kids; Iris assured her mother was alright; were crowded together in front of the window looking in on the snake. "But I believe all your children are like your wife."

"It figures," Mary said wryly before she was laughing softly and then pressing a kiss to Skye's shoulder.

"Keep moving," the investigator then said. "We have a lot more to see."

Beckett, watching the way Mary was holding onto her wife, eventually glanced at her husband and said, "Do you want me to do the same?"

"No," Castle replied. He looked to see where the other couple was and assured they were far enough ahead said, " _I was jealous of_ Skye," in Irish.

" _Of course you were_ ," Beckett replied easily as he let her go so she could take pictures. When she turned from her shot of a tiny frog, she had to smile at the expression on his face as he was staring at her intently. "Rick," she said simply.

"Yeah," Castle said. "I'll go with the girls-" he began before she was reaching out and stopping him.

"Let them spend the time right now with their friends," Beckett said simply. "But get Josie."

"Sure," Castle said, hurrying to Jim.

Beckett bit at the inside of her mouth at her father reluctantly giving her husband the baby, knowing he wanted more time with Josie. She knew already that Castle had promised him that and she said to him, "When is he taking her again?"

"Whenever she wakes up from her nap," Castle replied, not surprised she had figured that out.

"Ah-ba," Josie vocalized.

"I agree, the perfect time for you to spend with your grandpapa," Castle said, nodding seriously.

"Let's keep going," Beckett said with a smile and a soft laugh. They shared a kiss before they went though, as she'd grabbed his hand tightly since she'd been touched at the way he'd spoken to their youngest. When she saw where they'd come to she said, "Oh… I'm so sorry Mary," as the room widened from the smaller exhibits into floor to nearly ceiling acrylic set of habitats.

"We've been here," the doctor said with a sigh. "Luckily I don't mind fish and turtles."

"Those are the best," Fleur said with a smile.

"It's cool," Clive commented with a grin as a turtle was going up against the acrylic.

"Mary," Skye told her wife after they'd been watching the animals there for a while. " _Grá_ , we need to move along."

"You move along," Mary said though she allowed her wife to take her to the next habitat which were some rattlesnakes before she felt a hand touching her arm.

"Zak's afraid of snakes too," Julia told her.

"I know, why he picked them up while they were in Idaho," Mary replied, shaking her head before they continued to the next habitat.

"He was trying to overcome his fear," Castle pointed out.

"Come here _grá_ ," Skye said, taking her wife's hand. She wasn't surprised when her wife wrapped her arm around her left one and she glanced at Beckett who they were next to. When her friend raised her eyebrow she shrugged, not surprised when Castle furrowed his brow as he was watching them. She didn't say anything, continuing past the lizards and snakes until they'd seen everything in that room.

When they left Mary seemed to relax and she went to their daughters, taking the slight teasing from Marie and Kathleen before they hugged her briefly.

" _You enjoy doing that_ ," Beckett said to Skye in Russian once she walked up to her.

Shaking her head, the investigator then told her, " _I do_ ," in Irish. " _But really I see it as a way of thanking her for what she does for me when I need it_."

Beckett nodded, as she could understand where Skye was coming from since she and Castle did that for one another as well. She heard Josie cooing and looked over to her husband to see that he was approaching her with the baby in his arms.

"She wants to pet," Castle told his wife.

Smiling Beckett reached over and let Josie grab her index finger telling her husband, " _Could you hear us_?"

" _Of course_ ," Castle replied, speaking Irish as she was. " _And I'm glad we've done the same. Though I don't like the idea of you needing my comfort because of_ -"

" _I know_ ," Beckett interrupted him. " _I don't either but_ …"

Julia, as they were leaving the outdoor exhibits, glanced behind her for their parents before she saw they were embracing with Josie between them. She was going to call to them, but they began walking so she turned back to Mari as they were walking together. "Are there more snakes and stuff?" she asked Marie and Kathleen.

"You'll see," the latter said with a wide smile as they entered the building.

"Why is it so hot?" Peter asked as soon as they stepped inside.

"Will she be alright?" Skye asked, looking back at Castle and Beckett and indicating Josie.

"She will," Castle said, looking down at the baby.

"We might rush through," Beckett warned the others.

"You mean I will," Castle said.

"We," Beckett told her husband firmly.

Though he wanted to speak, Castle nodded quickly and they walked around the building which had desert species like Gila monsters, California kingsnakes and a Sonoran toad. He kept a close watch on Josie, but the baby seemed alright until they reached the door and he was quick to take her outside first when she whimpered. "Close," he said to his mother.

"I noticed," Martha replied as she fixed the hat on the baby. "She's like her sisters."

"Yeah," Eliza said, coming over to them. "She loves aminals." When her grandmother had Josie, she took her father's hand and squeezed it once before he looked down at her. "I love you Daddy," she told him.

"I love you too sweetheart," Castle said with a laugh, picking her up. He threw her up above him carefully and said, "You're hungry," before she was giggling and pressing her face against his cheek.

"We'll go to lunch soon," Beckett said. "But we have time before that."

"How long are we staying?" Julia suddenly asked as they looked at an alligator type animal.

"As long as it takes to look through, or to closing," Castle said before his wife could.

"We'll get back in time for trick or treating," Beckett said while they continued to the path they'd been on leading to the LAIR buildings.

"I hope so," Julia said, walking with her mother. She smiled at Mari; as the little girl joined them and when they came to a habitat with small animals below them. "Look," she told her little sister who was still with their father.

"I see," Eliza replied, smiling widely down at the Tasmanian Devil that was running around below them. She took some pictures before she asked, "Can we go to Australia?"

"These are from Tasmania Lizzy," Julia pointed out to her.

"That's a place?" Eliza asked, her eyes wide.

"It is," Castle said since she was looking at him. "South of Australia."

"Oh," Eliza said, furrowing her brow.

"We'll see about Australia sweetie," Beckett told her before they went to the habitat across the path with kangaroos.

"I'm thinking," Skye said as she and Mary walked over to Castle and Beckett once they were walking again. "Of going to the restaurant that's by the gorillas."

Looking at the map, showing his wife where the investigator was talking about, Castle said, "Sounds good to me, if it were any further…"

"We'd never hear the end of it," Mary commented.

"What's here?" Clive asked after they'd passed the koalas and wallabies.

"You're tired of the kookaburras?" Marie asked him.

"You just like saying that word," Clive said before they looked at the girl's mother as she was talking to Beckett.

"Go ahead," she replied to what Mary had told her about the building.

"We're going to see some wombats next," the doctor was saying to everyone who hadn't been there before. "And it's very dark inside for them."

"You might not see them," Kathleen commented.

"Yeah, it's hard to," Marie added.

Since no one protested, Skye and Mary led the way, taking their three youngest by the hands and going inside. There was a whimper from Eliza at how dark it was, but the group went to the railing inside at the edge of the habitat. They didn't end up staying for that long as it was next to impossible to make out where the animals were. Though as they rounded the corner of the habitat to go to the exit, Julia and Mari spotted one against the wall before Castle was calling to them to hurry.

"You saw one?" Peter asked the two girls while they made their way back up to the churro place he'd seen on the way over there.

"Yeah," Mari said slowly.

"We saw the shape," Julia took up before she heard Clive let out a whoop. "Is he always hungry?" she asked her partner, since she saw a place with tables and guessed it was where they would be eating lunch.

"I am too," Peter replied with a shrug, smiling at the two before he hurried up to the others so they could eat and continue through the zoo.

* * *

"There are giraffes!" Iris said eagerly.

"Yes, but don't run," Mary told her quickly as she was holding the girl's hand.

"Don't sweetie," Beckett told Eliza since she was tugging on her hand a bit.

"I know but is Josa up now?" the little girl asked.

Turning back for a moment, Beckett saw her father was holding the baby and she said, "She is, but let him bring her over."

"Kay," Eliza replied before they got closer to the railing. "Ooh Mommy, they're right here," she said eagerly since there were some near them.

"I see," Beckett replied with a smile. She was taking pictures of the animals but managed to get a few of her daughter as well.

"Kate?" Castle said to his wife.

Turning again Beckett saw he had the baby and said, "My dad?"

"He let me take her," Castle replied. "But I have to take her back to him after."

Laughing softly, Beckett shook her head and said, "He'll let you keep her." She then checked the baby, studying her closely to make sure that she was alright. She wasn't sure Josie would manage to see the giraffes even though they were near them and she tried to follow her line of sight.

"It's coming closer!" Fleur whispered as one of the group came their way.

Hearing the baby vocalizing, Castle worried she might get too loud but the giraffe walked right by them before he felt Josie leaning against him. "Is she okay?" he asked his wife as she was checking her, not wanting to move the baby.

"She is," Beckett said. "She's just looking."

"I hope she saw that," Castle replied.

"I was thinking the same," Beckett said with a smile. "Should we go to what's next?" she asked, directing that to their daughters.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Julia said eagerly before they were all walking together. She went to her grandmother while they were doing that and she asked her, "Are you liking it here?"

"I am, but must there be so many hills?" Martha said jokingly.

"Thank the plates for that," Skye commented.

"The tectonic plates we're on," Mary said quickly as she saw the younger twins were looking confused. "We told you about earthquakes."

"I hope there isn't one for a long time," Iris said, her twin nodding in agreement with her.

"Look at these!" Eliza said eagerly when they reached the next habitat. "It's an okapi. Right Daddy?" she asked him since he was standing next to her.

"Right," Castle replied, shifting the baby as she was moving a little in his arms. "I need some help," he then said jokingly, looking around. "She wants to go somewhere else."

"Here," Beckett said. When her husband hesitated she told him, "I want to take her love."

Though he wanted to remind her she was taking pictures, Castle nodded and handed Josie to her. He shared a smile with his wife when the baby laughed suddenly, and he had to stop himself from leaning over to kiss Beckett. Once she had Josie settled on her hip they moved on to the next animals which were in different habitats that formed an arc. He walked a little bit behind the girls, watching them and then his wife before they were in another collection of habitats. His knee; which he'd been attempting to ignore; was screaming at him to rest so he sat down, thinking his mother had heard him since he'd been close to her when he'd spoken.

Giving Josie to her mother in law when they reached the chimpanzee habitat, Beckett glanced around and said, "Where's Rick?"

"I… oh, he said he was going to sit," Martha said. She was going to add he'd mentioned he was fine, but her daughter in law was almost taking off back the way they'd come. She smiled and then stopped Julia said, "Leave them be kiddo."

"Oh, I know," the girl said hurriedly. She smiled at her grandmother's surprised look and she told her, "I was just going to see if you were bringing Josa over here."

"I'll follow you," Martha said, smiling herself and taking the baby after Julia.

Glancing at one of the animals near him; what he thought looked like a baboon; Castle turned to the entrance to the habitats then as there was a person walking towards him. "Kate-" he began to say.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Beckett interrupted him as soon as she was close.

"I told Mother; you were talking with Mary," Castle said in defense as she sat next to him. "At least she heard me."

"Why would you murmur-" Beckett began before she nearly glared at her husband. "Rick."

Not surprised his wife was giving him a look Castle said, "I didn't want to worry you."

"I realize that," Beckett said, taking a moment to calm herself. "But it's something I want you to tell me."

"Yeah," Castle said absently. When she took his hand he immediately entwined their fingers saying, "I feel better now."

"Good, but if this happens again…" Beckett said, staring at him so he wouldn't break their stare as he spoke.

"I'll tell you," Castle replied with a brief nod. He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it before he leaned over to her so they could kiss. It was brief, and he said in frustration, "This is annoying."

Laughing briefly, Beckett kissed his cheek and stood before she helped him and told him, "I know what you mean, but we'll be back at the house later."

"Yes we will," Castle replied. "And our costumes?"

"Before," Beckett told him reassuringly. She knew they needed to start walking but she looked at their hands and then moved to embrace her husband tightly. "Tell me if you need to rest," she told him imploringly.

"I will," Castle said. "I'm sorry Kate, I don't want to bother you or worry you," he then told her honestly.

Tilting her head up to him with a smile Beckett said, "You know there is the fact I'm your wife. I worry about you either way." She felt him tense slightly and she told him, "I know you do the same for me."

"Yeah," Castle said slowly. He sighed and told her, "I would tell you the same."

"Which is why I'm telling you this," Beckett said pointedly. She smiled when he brushed his lips to hers and after they parted she said, "Let's go."

"I want to hold Josie," Castle suddenly said as they were walking.

"You can, your mother has her," Beckett replied. They had to pass the chimpanzees; though they paused for a moment to watch the animals; before they continued and caught up with the others at more groups of habitats.

"Are you alright?" Jim asked his son in law.

"Yeah, just… my knee," Castle replied. "I didn't want to admit it," he said, startled that he was telling his wife's father that, and he hadn't said it to her. While he thought that he realized she was aware of it already and shook himself saying, "But sitting for a bit helps."

"I had a feeling," Jim said, wondering if the writer knew his gaze went over to his wife. He didn't say anything else, watching his son in law go over to take Josie from Martha.

"What's next?" Ivy asked as they were walking.

"This way," Skye said, leading the way though Marie and Kathleen were jogging ahead of them a little. "Girls," she said firmly. "Thank you," she told them when they immediately stopped and turned towards them. "You two know better than that," she said slightly sternly.

"We were going to stop anyways," Kathleen said first.

"Before the surprise," Marie added.

"What surprise?" Eliza couldn't help asking immediately.

"Here," Mary said in amusement as they came up to the habitat she knew the twins were thinking of.

"Tigers!" Eliza said eagerly. "Josa, look!" she said happily as she hurried to the baby.

"She's looking," Beckett said with a smile as the baby was. But since the tiger wasn't moving, Josie was looking to her making her say, "Hey sweetie," as she cupped her cheek. She kissed the baby's cheek before smoothing her hair after moving her hat out of the way and said, "She's enjoying it."

"I think so," Castle replied, stopping her from putting the hat back on. He kissed the top of Josie's head and put the hat back before he said, "Are there any more surprises?"

"One more, the main habitat of the zoo," Skye said. When neither he or Beckett said anything she smiled as she was aware they knew what that habitat was. She then turned to take Ivy's hand and they walked again, heading through the next animals until they were walking down a path that had no animals. She knew the others were looking at her; that hadn't been there; and she said, "We're going around to more, I promise."

Julia, hearing Marie and Kathleen giggling a little, tried asking them what there would be. She wasn't surprised when the two shook their heads and frowned at Mari and her little sister before they were finally reaching some animals. Looking at an exhibit of a tapir and a few other animals until she read where they were getting to. "Rainforest of the Americas?"

"This is the best place," Marie said eagerly. "Come on," she and her sister leading the way but not running.

Beckett was relieved the battery on her camera was lasting as she took several pictures of the animals they were passing until they were leaving and walking across the path to some Asian looking structures. She shared a look with her husband and they smiled as their second youngest was squealing since there was an elephant eating hay near them. She took pictures of all the kids after getting some of the elephant, and once she had stopped she took Josie and carried her over to the railing that she could see to the left.

"I see why this is the main habitat," Castle said, walking up to them as he'd watched her go. When he saw the way his wife was looking at him he told her, "I'm fine."

"I know," Beckett said, glancing at him as he reached up to push her hair behind her ear.

"Ma-ah," Josie vocalized while her parents were gazing at each other.

"Could I translate that love?" Castle asked his wife.

"Alright," Beckett said as the others were walking around the viewing platform around them.

"I want to keep moving, there aren't any elephants here," Castle replied.

"Wow, that's one efficient language," Mary said.

After they'd calmed down laughing, the group walked across to a stilt house, the older McDouglas twins leading the way yet again up a flight of stairs to the top floor.

"I don't- what's that?" Jim began before he heard screaming.

"Grandpapa, look!" Eliza squealed when she got to the railing.

Standing with her, Jim saw the noise was coming from some otters and he said, "They're… large."

"Giant River Otters," Mary said. "They love watching them," she said as the otters in the water went up the channel that made a river to the top of the habitat.

"But they left," Clive said with a frown.

"Wait," Kathleen said with a wide smile on her face.

Hearing the otters again, Beckett looked back in time to see them sliding down the channel at a rapid speed. She smiled when the kids laughed at the sight and cheered them as they went from one pool to another.

"You're not worried about Josie?" Martha asked her daughter in law.

"No, if she wasn't crying before she wouldn't now," Beckett said with a smile.

"At least she can see," Castle said, holding the baby while she was wriggling against him.

"Alright," Skye eventually said as it looked like the otters weren't going to repeat sliding down to the pools. "We only have a little left, so we need to go."

When they reached the bottom of the house the group looked at the piranhas before stepping out to a small pool with wide metal lily pads on it. The parents urged their kids onto them to take pictures before Liam was speaking to his daughter and daughter in law quietly so the other parents could hear while the kids were playfully jumping from pad to pad.

"What's left?" he murmured.

"Nothing really," Mary said first.

"The gift shops," Skye said.

"And they're going to be getting very tired walking about," Mary added.

"I'm surprised Eliza hasn't talked about that yet," Beckett said, looking over at the kids. "No splashing," she called, keeping her tone gentle as Peter was only pretending he was going to do that. "We should just go to the stores now and get ready to go home."

"Traffic's fine," Skye said as she was looking at her phone.

"And we won't take that long at the stores; we'll just go to one," Mary said.

"Why are you looking at me?" Skye said in mock annoyance before she smiled. "Kids," she then said.

Julia, holding Eliza's hand, was about to step off the pad they were on to the concrete when she gasped as her sister suddenly tugged on her hand. "Lizzy!" she said in surprise when she saw the little girl was on her knees.

"Rick," Beckett told him.

"Yeah," Castle replied, handing Josie to her. He went to Eliza as she was crying and scooped her up into his arms saying, "You surprised me."

Hearing that, Eliza soon managed to stop crying and she asked, "Why?"

"You walked for a lot longer than I thought you would," Castle commented. He smiled when she giggled slightly, and he said, "Now you can rest."

Eliza nodded before her father put her up on his shoulders and she leaned against his head before they began to walk. She looked around at all the plants there were, and she said, "This was a pretty zoo."

"They're also botanical gardens," Beckett commented.

"Oh good, someone else said something about the place," Skye said jokingly.

"Is that right?" Ivy asked her.

"That it is, we've seen all the gardens of course," Skye said to her, squeezing her hand firmly.

When they had reached the entrance of the zoo they went to one of the gift shops, looking around before the kids were getting different items.

"Is this good?" Eliza asked her mother.

"Is that for you or your sister?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"It's for me," Eliza said with a laugh, holding a stuffed snow leopard. "Can I pick something for Josa?"

"We already did," Castle said, showing her the shirt they'd seen for the baby.

"Oh, that's cute," Julia said as she was walking up to them.

"What'd you find?" Beckett asked her.

"These," Julia said, showing her the set of pens that had animals on them.

"Nice," Castle said.

"Let me see the shirt," Julia said as she let her father take her pens. She looked at the white shirt; with cartoonish baby animals on it; and she said, "Does she like it?"

"I think so," Beckett said.

"I made sure to show it to her," Castle assured the girls. "I knew you'd want me to."

"Yep," Julia said before she and Eliza laughed together. She handed the shirt back to Castle and she and her sister said a quick thanks to their parents before they hurried to their friends before they would leave the zoo and be able to focus on their Halloween celebration.


	36. As Horror Looks You (Part 2)

"I'm glad she's wearing a costume."

Looking at her daughter Beckett said, "What?" in her surprise. When her daughter smiled at her she rolled her eyes and said, "You really didn't think I'd let her have one?"

"I did but I didn't know that you would pick out the costume you did," Julia said, though she was also speaking to her father.

"No, your mom picked it," Castle was quick to say, handing his wife the new diaper for Josie since they'd given her a bath for that night and the baby's costume.

"I did," Beckett said, trying not to smile when both girls looked at her with wide eyes.

"How come you picked that one?" Eliza asked.

"Because I liked it, and your dad did and we showed it to your sister once bought it," Beckett said.

"At my insistence," Castle said quickly with a smile. "We're lucky she liked it."

"She would," Julia said. "It's all ruffles and everything, but not frilly and pink." She saw the look that her parents exchanged and glancing at her sister she then said, "What?"

"You know she might like that kind of stuff once she's older," Castle said as he watched Beckett put the baby into a shirt and pants; what she'd wear underneath her costume.

"I know, I was just joking," Julia said. "But… she might not. Lizzy didn't."

"How come?" Eliza asked before their parents could say anything.

"I think it's because you loved trying to be like your sister," Beckett said, smiling when Julia immediately started to blush. "And if she wore a blue shirt you did the next day at your insistence."

"All the colors?" Eliza said, smiling at her big sister.

"Not always, but most of the time you did," Castle replied. "And don't worry," he said as the little girl was opening her mouth. "If you didn't like those colors too then you wouldn't have wanted them." He wasn't surprised when she nodded, and he took Josie from his wife. "Now though we should head downstairs, dinner should be ready."

"Why did we have to change?" Eliza asked.

"We're having pizza," Beckett reminded her, holding her hand as Julia walked on the other side of her sister. "I don't want you getting pizza sauce on your blouses."

"At least we can wear them after," Julia pointed out.

Eliza nodded before they were going downstairs to the kitchen where they found the pizza had been delivered and she got a plate with a couple slices quickly. She went outside with the other kids and they sat together on one of several blankets that had been set on the grass to have picnics.

"Francisco will be here in an hour," Skye was telling Castle and Beckett as they were sitting with her wife on one blanket. Their parents and her father were at the table on the patio with Josie and looking at the baby said, "I remember Marie and Kath's costumes."

"It's fun to get to do that," Castle said.

"It is," Beckett said. "Just nothing cutesy."

"Marie was a pirate that first Halloween they were here," Mary said. "Kath was a lion, so… cute but not over the top."

"They chose?" Beckett asked her.

"With help from us," Skye said out of the corner of her mouth before they were all laughing together and returning to their meal.

When they had finished and everything had been put away, the older kids were hurrying back inside as it was getting darker. They changed into their costumes and went back downstairs just as the makeup friend of Skye and Mary was arriving.

"Francisco," Mary said, since she'd been friends with him first. "It's so good to see you again."

"She's right, you did a great job with that Johansson movie," Skye said, hugging him quickly. "Thank you for doing this for us."

"I don't mind," the man replied with a smile, his accent a little heavy. He shook Castle and Beckett's hands as they were introduced to him and he asked them, "Have you ever had makeup like this before?"

"I have," Castle replied, explaining about when he'd dressed up like a zombie.

"This is a little different," Francisco said with a smile. "But if you could handle that you should be okay."

"I have," Beckett said when the man turned to her. She wasn't looking at her husband; knowing that he was turning to her; and said, "Just something on my cheek one Halloween in college and I was fine with it."

"Okay, then we can start," Francisco replied.

"Go, we'll watch the kids," Liam said when his daughter looked over at him.

Leading the way into the living room; where there was still some light; Skye said, "You can go ahead and start on them."

"I need to work on you two first," Francisco said with a smile. "Since I know what I'm doing with you already."

"We'll be back," Mary said, she and her wife leaving for the bathroom that was nearby.

"Do you mind if I ask where you're from?" Castle said to Francisco since they were alone with him. "I'm having a hard time placing your accent."

"Peru," the man replied. "Most people don't recognize it."

"I don't think we've met someone from there," Beckett commented. "And if our daughters find that out our second youngest will ask if you have a llama as a pet."

"Or had one," Castle commented. "She loves the movie _The Emperor's New Groove_."

Francisco laughed but didn't have a chance to reply as Skye and Mary were walking back and he needed to prepare them. "Whose idea was this?" he asked as he was beginning with Mary.

"Mine," Skye said. "Since Rick and Kate weren't going to dress up this year, I thought we could go _Dia de Los Muertos_." She wasn't surprised when the man nodded before he was quickly applying the makeup to her wife's face. She smiled as the transformation happened quickly, and once Francisco was done she said, "Beautiful _grá_." She then turned to the makeup artist and shook his hand warmly saying, "You're the best."

"Thank you," Francisco said. "Now sit."

Beckett watched Skye laugh before she was sitting on the stool in the light and she turned to Mary. "How is it?" she asked.

"Fine, we've done this," the doctor replied. "Our first Halloween together but I asked someone else."

"That was a mistake," Skye said, speaking since Francisco was working on her forehead.

"Shh," the man said.

"Sorry," Skye told her quickly. She sat still, looking at her wife when she could open her eyes and once she was finished she said, "Thank you Francisco."

"You're welcome," the makeup artist said.

"We'll be right back," Beckett said quickly as she and Castle stepped up to the foyer and went to the bathroom. Before she could turn on the faucet she was startled when her husband grabbed her arm but lost that swiftly as she had expected him to do that. They kissed deeply but kept it short and she said when they parted, "What do you want to bet they did the same?"

"No betting, I know already," Castle said. He leaned over and brushed his lips to hers before they let go of each other and then began to wash their faces quickly.

When the two walked back to where they were Francisco asked, "Have you looked at the book?" since he'd handed one of designs he could do to them while he'd been working on the two women.

"Yeah, I'd like this one," she said first, showing him the picture. After her husband had shown him his choice she sat and let the man start on her. She felt a little odd with the makeup, but he was soon finished since she'd chosen a design with very little to it and moved for her husband to take her place.

" _You look stunning love_ ," Castle told his wife in Irish, not caring that the two women would understand him.

"I'll respond to that when you're done," Beckett said easily before he was being worked on. She watched while Francisco was making the design on him and she smiled seeing it progress.

When the makeup man pulled away Castle said, "Good? Not terrifying right?"

"No," Skye said in amusement. "It's just enough."

"Should we show the kids?" Mary asked her wife.

"Maybe," Skye said. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?" she asked Francisco as he was getting what he would need to clean up.

"I am, I have to get my own makeup done," Francisco replied. "I have a party I'll be attending," he told Castle and Beckett.

"Are you having similar makeup?" the latter asked.

"I am, but a full costume as well," Francisco said. He smiled and then said, "But your clothes work well for you."

"Well, where would you like to clean your brushes?" Mary asked her friend.

"I'll do it in the kitchen," Francisco replied. "That way you can show your kids."

"Okay, time for the reveal," Skye commented with a smile. She took her wife's hand and they walked with Francisco ahead of Castle and Beckett who went a little more slowly.

"This is interesting," Beckett said, pausing in the dining room where the women had a mirror. Her makeup was white over her entire face with a slightly deeper blue around both her eyes, nearly black, and the edges were scalloped in black. Her nose was painted black to resemble a skull and her mouth had vertical lines on her lips and on either side of them was a horizontal line. She had put on a dark blue blouse with thin white lines on it, her trousers black, she and her husband opting for comfortable clothes though more somber in colors. "I never answered you, you look amazing love," she told him, looking at him with a smile.

"Thanks," Castle said. "It's weird," he said. "But I like it," he assured her seeing her questioning expression. His face was white, and he had dark blue around the top of his eyes and black underneath, not scalloped at the edges. He also had lines over his lips, though his vertical ones were longer. He noticed that Francisco had darkened his sideburns a bit, shadowing underneath them to extend them. He had chosen a black shirt and trousers, and it seemed to fit the design on his face even better. "Okay, we need to go," he said, shaking himself.

Beckett nodded, and she and her husband walked quickly to the family room, seeing that their daughters were starting to walk over to the dining room. When they spotted her and Castle she smiled as they gasped and rushed the rest of the way over to them. "Do you like it?" she asked the two after they'd studied their faces for a while.

"It looks so cool!" Julia said eagerly. "You won't scare Josa will you?" she then asked.

"We'll find out right now," Castle commented as he noticed his father in law walking over with the baby. "Has she seen Skye and Mary?" he asked them.

"She has," Jim said quickly as he he'd been able to hear the question. "These are your mom and dad honey," he said to the baby, not surprised when his daughter was smiling.

Josa, staring at their faces, soon sneezed and then smiled when her family laughed.

"Well, I think you can take that as your response," Martha commented when they'd calmed down. She became concerned when her youngest granddaughter began to whimper, but Beckett was taking her in her arms and the baby calmed down.

"We're lucky," Castle told his wife.

"We are," Beckett said before she looked at him when he was scrambling to get his phone.

"We're going to take some pictures," Skye said quickly when she heard the ringtone. "Francisco's taking them and then he'll head out for his party."

Castle and Beckett were quick to thank the man before the latter murmured to her friend for a moment and they went with their family over to the TV in the family room. Setting up the Skype conversation, Castle ran around to his wife before their oldest appeared on the screen.

"H- wow," Alexis said, spotting her parents first. "Hey, sorry, I didn't think you'd have on your makeup already," she said with a smile at her family.

"It's six, time to get out to the neighborhood," Beckett said with a smile.

"Josa's not ready?" Alexis asked as she saw her grandmother handing something colorful to her mother.

"Not just yet," Beckett replied before she and Castle helped Josie into the costume. "We were busy with our makeup; we were with Skye and Mary too."

"What about them? I'd like to see theirs," Alexis replied.

"The makeup artist they asked to do this is taking their picture now," Beckett said first.

"They're in the living room I think," Castle said, glancing behind them though he wouldn't be able to see.

"The kids are all dressed," Jim said then.

"And your sister is ready," Beckett said with a smile at her father.

"Oh, she's so cute," Alexis said the second she saw her baby sister. "Is she someone's pet for Hogwarts?"

"No way," Eliza said, making them all laugh including herself.

"No, she's just a cute owlet… is that a word?" Julia started to say before she looked back at their parents.

"It is," Beckett said with a nod. She kissed the side of Josie's head as Alexis urged her sisters to tell her all about the zoo since she knew they'd be going. She then studied the baby, making sure her owl costume was okay after she'd put it on her so quickly. It had a lot of ruffles on the chest, in brown, blue, green and white with the sleeves being the same colors and ruffles too. The pants were brown and there had been booties in orange but they'd been too big for the baby so her husband had said she needed black shoes for her 'claws'. She smiled as Josie looked up at her, her head covered by a hat that had an owl face on it. She then felt her husband touching her arm and looked up at the screen.

"You like the makeup Ma?" Alexis asked, not surprised her mother hadn't heard her first question.

"I actually do, it allows me to dress up as I please," Beckett said, smiling again when her husband laughed at that. "How's the party?" she asked, since her daughter and Louis had been invited to a party thrown by the owner of the stables that night.

"Really fun," Alexis said though she was still at it. She noticed some people behind her family and said, "Skye, Mary, let me see your makeup."

"Hi," Marie said.

"Hey girls," Alexis said quickly so the McDouglas girls wouldn't feel left out. "You look ready for the Hogwarts Express, though I don't know about your owl."

"They left their pets at home," Skye said wryly as she and her wife got closer to the screen.

"Oh wow, that makeup artist is incredibly good," Alexis told the two women.

"Francisco is," Mary said, nodding rapidly. She smiled when her wife merely raised her eyebrows before they turned back to the young woman as the Castle family was saying goodbye to her, telling her they loved her all together before the conversation ended.

"She's right," Julia said while they were getting up to leave. "It's really good."

"It's why we chose Francisco this time," Skye commented. She and her wife had the same design, but the color on hers was a deep green that matched her green eye and her wife's had a blue that matched hers. They had similar eye designs as Beckett, but the colors were reversed and they had a design above their eyebrows with a small heart in black just above both. Their noses were black with lines vertical over their lips though they got smaller from the middle of them. The horizontal lines on either side of their lips connected to the color and black designs on their cheeks that descended from the sides of their faces. "We'll head out around this neighborhood first," she said once the kids had their pillowcases. "And then go out from there."

"Is that usually how you go around?" Martha asked.

"It is," Liam said.

"Are you sure that you wouldn't want me or Martha to pass out the candy?" Jim asked the man.

"I enjoy doing this," Liam replied. "And it's a bit much to walk that far around."

"And Grandda can see us at the house across the street," Kathleen said.

When they had reached the open gate in the front, the group left Liam at the chair he moved up there and sat in with a bowl full of candy. They went to the neighbor and they got the candy outside; one of the owners sitting outside the wall around the house as Liam had been; before the kids were going back to their parents.

"Look, full candy bars!" Julia said in awe.

"That's so cool," Mari said eagerly. She looked at her friend and when she saw the look on her face she asked, "What?" in concern.

"I wish your parents could have made it," Julia told her.

Shaking her head Mari said, "They were still working today. All our parents."

"Bad timing," Peter said. He smiled with the others and then told Julia, "She's right plus they're going to be able to stay a little longer next week since they worked on a Saturday this week."

"And next week is really important," Clive commented.

Smiling, as she thought of Paul's concert they'd be going to the next Friday, Julia nodded and said, "Okay, at least you got to talk to them."

"Yeah, but what about the candy?" Mari asked before she was laughing as Julia slung her arm around her shoulder and they were walking down the sidewalk again in a group.

Having been listening to the conversation Castle said to his wife, "Luckily they were able to this week."

"I know," Beckett said with a smile.

"They had to come," Skye said as her friend was looking at her. "They have tickets. I just hope Dani will be alright with Lenora," she told them.

"She will be," Beckett said, Rebecca and David deciding to have their youngest stay with the babysitter the next Friday for the concert. She felt her husband take her hand and she watched with him while the kids were getting candy at the next house and she looked over at him again.

"What?" Castle asked in surprise at her glance.

"She seems to be fascinated," Beckett told him since he was holding Josie and she was staring at him.

Castle was about to comment on that when Josie suddenly moved her arms and he and Beckett laughed before he started to speak again. His wife stopped him then, squeezing his arm tightly and making him look at her questioningly before she was telling him what was on her mind.

"I know, she's flying but don't do that with her," Beckett told him.

"I won't," Castle assured her. "I don't want her to get sick on her costume." He studied it and said, "What about next year?"

"We'll get her a new one, she'll probably outgrow this," Beckett replied, watching the kids heading up to another house.

"What about those booties that came with it?" Skye asked.

"That goes with the costume into storage," Beckett answered wryly. That made her think of something and she asked, "Have you done that with the twins' costumes?"

"We did, but only until they were six," Mary said. "They're in the attic."

"So are Eliza's," Beckett said. "And Julia's Anastasia costume."

"That was impressive," Skye said to Martha.

"Oh, thank you," Castle's mother said. "It was a joy to make since it brought the two of us closer."

While they were walking to the next house, Castle hung back with his mother and said, "Are you okay?"

"I am, let me have her," Martha said simply, taking Josie.

"Rick," Beckett said, having paused and looked back to see her mother in law walking towards her. When her husband reached her she said, "What is it?"

"She got a little emotional," Castle said, nodding ahead.

Turning, Beckett saw that his mother was with the girls and she smiled saying, "I don't blame her." She let him take her hand and once they caught up with everyone she said, "Why did we stop?"

"This is the last house on our end," Skye said. "We gather together to make sure we cross together."

"Do you let the girls run around?" Castle couldn't help asking.

"Go, if you want to reach more houses you can leave as soon as an adult is with you," Skye said to the kids besides hers and Mary's older twins. When they were walking up the short path to the house she said, "We do that since usually their friends here at the neighborhood join us."

"Why aren't they with us now?" Beckett asked.

"They didn't want to intrude since we have guests," Mary said before she noticed someone walking down to them with the kids. "Huascar," she said to the man. "Diane, how are you?"

"Doing well," the man said, shaking her hand and then Skye's. "We just wanted to come and say we've been enjoying watching you on the show."

"Oh, thank you," the investigator said with a smile, shaking Diane's hand.

"We've been voting too," the woman said.

"Thank you again, I appreciate it," Skye said with a smile. "I hate to run but-"

"That's alright," Diane interrupted her, smiling as Iris was tugging the woman's hand. "Happy Halloween," she said.

After they'd said the same to the couple and began walking across the street Beckett said to Skye, "I'm surprised no one else did that."

"Yet," Mary said. "Don't give me that face _grá_ ," she told her as her wife was wrinkling her nose. " _A meno che non possa baciarlo_ ," which meant 'unless I can kiss it' in Italian. "You know that everyone here knows what you're doing." She then turned to the other adults; as they reached the first house on the other side of the street; and said, "She doesn't want the attention."

"Tonight's for the kids," Skye said though it came out a little weakly.

" _I know how you feel_ ," Beckett told her friend in Russian.

" _Heat_?" Skye asked, using that word in the same language. When the writer nodded she said, " _I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it's been in the news, papers, social media… everything like that_."

" _They're supportive_ ," Beckett pointed out to her. She smiled when the investigator sighed and watched her go ahead to her daughters as Iris and Fleur were calling out to her. She felt her husband walk up to her and she took Josie from him, about to ask him why he suddenly had the baby when he was asking her a question first.

"Are you two talking about not taking recognition easily?" Castle said. He smiled when she looked at him in surprise and said, "I've been learning Russian listening to you."

"We should just speak that too," Beckett said though he hadn't taken to it as quickly as Irish. She then nodded, and said in Irish, " _She's uncomfortable, she just wants to live her life_."

Castle was quiet for a moment, thinking of how what his wife was doing with him led to her getting that same kind of recognition, but knew what she would say if he mentioned that she was the same. Instead he told her, "It's why I had her sing that song the other night."

Beckett just shook her head and took Josie from him, walking with the others again as they made their way through the neighborhood. When they'd gotten to the house on the other side of the McDouglases she checked on the baby, but she seemed fine. She also seemed to prefer being held, since every time one of them attempted to set her back in her carrier Josie began to protest with whimpers. But she watched her closely, as it was getting closer to when she would need to go back to the home.

"How far can we go?" Julia asked her father when they were walking together to another house.

"For a while, you don't have lessons or practice tomorrow," Castle told her.

"Did you forget you have that on?" Julia asked her father with a smile as he'd been about to scratch his cheek before stopping himself.

"I almost did," Castle admitted with a nod. He then hugged her tightly with one arm and said, "Having fun?"

"Yep," Julia said. "But Dad?"

"Yeah?" Castle asked. He waited for her to get candy at the house they'd come to before she returned to him and said, "What is it?"

"Could we have twenties costumes too next year?" Julia asked.

"Yeah, I want that too Daddy," Eliza said in a rush as she'd gone over to them and had heard her sister asking.

"We'll see what we can do," Castle said, looking at his wife as she was walking up to them.

"What?" Beckett asked since their daughters were rushing over with the other kids at the next house.

"You didn't hear them?" Castle said. When she shook her head, he explained what Julia had asked him and what Eliza had said as well. "It would be interesting," he said.

"It would, but we should wait and see how things are next year," Beckett replied. When her husband looked at her she said, "They might change their minds, especially Eliza."

Nodding, Castle reached over and gently pinched Josie's chin since she was in Beckett's arms. He wasn't surprised when she yawned, and he was about to suggest to his wife that she might need to go to bed when the baby was suddenly whimpering.

"We'll take her home," Jim was quick to say, walking over to them with Martha just behind him.

"Hold on," Beckett said with a smile, gently rocking the baby. "We'll have to take off the costume before I can get her to sleep," she explained to the two. "Help me Rick."

"Sure," Castle said quickly while he moved to step up to her. He took off the hat; the others continuing ahead of them; and then handed that to his mother. He got the top of the costume off the baby and said, "We can leave the pants."

"I'll take them off at home," Martha told her daughter in law.

"Thank you," Beckett said, gently rocking the baby. They were walking as well so it didn't take very long before Josie was slightly heavier in her arms. She went to where her father was pushing the stroller and set the baby down into it, careful not to wake her up before she and her husband said goodnight to her.

"We'll see you back at the house," Skye said when they'd all regrouped and Martha and Jim had let them know they were returning. After they watched them go she said to Castle and Beckett in Irish, " _We were thinking of letting them head around for another half hour on their own_."

" _All of them or the oldest_?" Castle asked.

" _The oldest, our three youngest are coming back with us_ ," Mary said first.

" _And so will_ Eliza," Beckett said, saying her name since she was going up to a front door with the other kids.

" _It's safe_?" Castle asked, knowing already the women wouldn't let their two daughters go but wanting to hear for sure.

" _Very, it's crowded if you haven't noticed_ ," Skye said with a smile.

" _How far will we go with the youngest_?" Beckett asked when they were walking with the kids again.

Studying where they were for a moment, Skye said, " _I think to the end of this block. It's been more than enough candy_."

" _We've gone five blocks_ ," Castle commented. " _That's a lot_."

" _You've been keeping track_?" Beckett asked with a smile.

" _Of course_ ," Castle said easily. He squeezed her hand before they looked ahead at the kids calling out trick or treat to a home owner that was sitting outside the house. " _I wish I could kiss you_ ," he said, still speaking in Irish.

" _Don't worry_ ," Beckett told him soothingly, squeezing his hand. " _We'll have time once the makeup is off_."

Castle nodded before they were going the rest of the way on the block and he watched with his wife while Skye told all the kids who'd be allowed to go alone.

"But Mummy-"

"Mommy-"

"Mummy!" Ivy, Eliza and then Fleur said in protest.

"Girls," Beckett said when Skye looked at her. "You're a little too young to go off by yourselves and no we don't want your sisters and the boys to watch you. We want you to be safe."

"Plus you've had enough candy I think," Skye added.

"And it's later, they're only going twenty minutes," Mary said. "And we mean that girls, we'll come out to find you if we have to."

"We'll be back Mom," Marie and Kathleen said at the same time.

"Good, go ahead," Skye said. "You have your phones?"

"Yeah," the kids who had them said.

"Be careful, we'll see you in twenty minutes," Beckett said, her husband and the other two parents saying the same to the kids. They headed back with the four youngest and once they were at the house they watched the McDouglas girls going to Liam to show him their loot.

"I should tell you," Skye said once Eliza was rushing over to her grandparents. "We're going to have some guests on Friday."

"At the concert?" Castle asked.

Shaking her head Mary said first, "At the rehearsal before that."

"Can we know?" Beckett said when neither woman said anything else.

"That is a lot of candy girls," Liam said.

"Mummy and Mommy said we need to share with you," Fleur replied.

"Then I'll be dressing as Santa this year," Liam said jokingly.

"Are you going to England as well?" Martha asked him.

"I am, since my family is going," the pilot replied. He then smiled when Iris hugged him, and he asked, "What's the secret?"

"There are lots of Snickers," the little girl said.

"Oh, then I'm quite chuffed," Liam said, kissing her forehead.

"Girls?" Skye said. "Go on and play, there isn't much time until we're going to bed."

"B-" Iris started to say before her twin squeezed her hand.

"Marie and Kath said later," Ivy told her in a whisper. They heard their parents and Eliza's greeting someone and they turned together to see the person was walking up to the entry.

"Derek!" Eliza cried when she could see him. She ran over to the dancer and hugged him saying, "Hi!"

"Hey," Derek said with a laugh. "Wow, when you go to Hogwarts you're really serious about it."

Eliza nodded, smiling widely, and she looked at the others before she thought of her big sister. She wondered how much time was left and turned her attention to the singer while he was talking to Skye hoping Julia would return soon.

* * *

"This neighborhood was really good," Peter said as they were walking back to the house once their time was up.

"I'm glad all the parents let us go by ourselves," Clive added.

The others agreed before they were turning the corner to the house and when they were nearing it Julia studied the entrance before she realized someone new was there. "It's Derek!" she exclaimed when she saw it was him.

"Don't run," Beckett said, having been watching for the kids and spotting them.

"You came over," Julia said once she was at the house.

"I had the chance," the dancer replied. "And I was admiring the costumes here."

"Yours is nice," Clive said.

"How come a cowboy?" Kathleen asked the dancer.

"It just seemed like what I should do," Derek replied. "That and I couldn't think of anything else."

"It looks nice still," Mari said.

"Thanks," Derek said. "Are you finished with handing out candy?"

"We are," Skye replied. "We'll be heading in to look at their candy."

"Wait Mum," Marie said first. "You forgot our tradition."

"I told you, you lot were too old for that now," Skye said quickly.

Shaking her head Marie said, "They aren't."

Skye sighed, as the three youngest told her to do it, and she said, "Do you even know what that is?"

"No, but they said it was fun," Ivy said first.

"I think you're going to need to now," Castle said with a smile as they were all watching the interaction.

"Yeah," Skye replied with a sigh. " _Grá_?"

"I'll help as always," Mary said before they went in so they could close the gate.

"Where are you going to sing?" Mari asked the two while they went to the house.

"Did they tell you or did you suss that out?" Skye asked with a smile.

"I figured it out when you asked Mary," Mari replied.

"But I thought it might be singing anyways," Julia said, not surprised when her friend nodded in agreement with her.

"What are you going to sing?" Clive asked once they were inside.

"A Halloween song," Marie said with a wide smile.

"Ready?" Mary asked Skye as they were between the kitchen and family room.

"Take off your robes," Kathleen told the other kids.

"Do we get to dance?" Fleur asked eagerly.

"Yeah, we always try to," Marie said.

Since the girl was looking at her Julia said, "I don't know if we could dance to it if we don't know what the song is!" though she was speaking in mock indignation.

"You will right now," Skye said, nodding to her wife before she started the music.

"Oh, that song?" Julia said as soon as it started. That was all anyone could say, as Skye was beginning to sing shortly after that with her wife joining her after. She couldn't stay still for long and was glad Kathleen had mentioned taking off their robes as she and Mari were dancing, the others pairing off and even Derek dancing with Eliza and Fleur together as the two women sang while they looked on with the other adults.

 _I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go  
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder  
I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go  
Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder_

 _Waiting for an invitation to arrive  
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive  
Waiting for an invitation to arrive  
Goin' to a party where no one's still alive_

 _I was struck by lightning, walkin' down the street  
I was hit by something last night in my sleep  
It's a dead man's party who could ask for more?  
Everybody's comin' leave your body at the door  
Leave your body and soul at the door_

 _Don't run away it's only me  
Only me_

 _I'm all dressed up, nowhere to go  
Walkin' with a dead man, oh, walking with a dead man  
Ooh, ooh, waitin' for an invitation to arrive  
Ooh! Walkin' with a dead, dead man (with a dead man)_

 _I got my best suit and my tie  
With a shiny silver dollar on either eye  
I hear the chauffeur comin' to my door  
Says there's room for maybe just one more_

 _I was struck by lightning, walkin' down the street  
I was hit by something last night in my sleep  
It's a dead man's party who could ask for more?  
Everybody's comin' leave your body at the door  
Leave your body and soul at the door_

 _Don't run away it's only me  
Don't be afraid of what you can't see  
Don't run away it's only me (only me)  
Don't be afraid of what you can't see_

 _It's only me_

 _I was struck by lightning, walkin' down the street  
I was hit by something last night in my sleep  
It's a dead man's party who could ask for more?  
Everybody's comin' leave your body at the door  
Leave your body and soul at the door_

 _Don't run away it's only me (only me)  
Don't be afraid of what you can't see  
Don't run away it's only me (only me)  
Don't be afraid of what you can't see_

 _It's only me  
It's only me  
Only me…_

* * *

Drying off her face, Beckett looked at her reflection once she had removed the towel and said to her husband, "Better?"

"A lot," Castle said as he'd taken off the makeup at the same time. When she had set aside her towel he was reaching for her, pulling her close and kissing her intently. He was relieved when she was doing the same with him and they were involved in that for some time before they slowly parted. "It took too long to be able to do that again," he told her, pulling her out to the bedroom since they were dressed for bed.

"I agree," Beckett said. When her husband paused and looked at her, she smiled telling him, "You didn't think I wanted that myself?"

"It's odd to hear you say that," Castle said. "But for a second," he told her before they were getting onto the bed. He immediately got on top of her and kissed her deeply while they held onto one another. When they slowly parted, he smiled down at her and said, "I enjoyed it tonight."

"No party?" Beckett asked. "No costumes for us?"

"I did," Castle said firmly. They moved together, and he laid back before he wrapped his arm around her once she was settled against his side.

"I did too," Beckett said with a smile. She then said, "I'm eager for the concert."

"So am I," Castle said quickly, rubbing her shoulder. "But back to Halloween, Josie looked adorable."

"She did," Beckett said with a nod.

Castle felt her kiss his shoulder and said, "What should we do now?"

"Are we finished with Halloween?" Beckett asked him.

"I thought you might be tired," Castle told her.

"Oh no, not yet," Beckett said before she was grabbing his pajama top and pulling her onto him.

Castle went willingly, kissing Beckett as soon as he could before they were wrapped up in each other. Not letting one another go, they kissed passionately and repeatedly as they spent some time doing that. But when they settled back down they murmured to each other, not falling asleep yet to allow their slight intimacy last for just a little longer to their delight.


	37. We Watch The Stars

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Radio Ga Ga_ by Roger Taylor, from the Queen album _The Works_ , a lyric from _Love Theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000_ by Joel Hodgson and J. Elvis Weinstein; _Rattled_ by The Traveling Wilburys, from their album _Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1_ ; _Another One Bites the Dust_ by John Deacon, from the Queen album _The Game_ ; _Your Song_ by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, from Elton John's album _Elton John_ ; _Lady Madonna_ by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and _Twistin' the Night Away_ by Sam Cooke, from his album the same name as the song.

A/N #2: It was great reading about the feedback for the last chapter, so I'll go on to my thank yous for those. MsNYC (You're right, hard to beat a day at the zoo. And the LA Zoo is definitely big and a lot of fun. I was glad to see you thought it was a tasteful ending to Castle and Beckett's love making in the chapter since I definitely try to write it that way. It was great to see that you thought everyone had a good time with their day. Really happy you thought the costumes were great and like the Day of the Dead makeup so much you thought it was a great edition, I enjoyed getting the designs for those! Happy to see you thought the chapter was a great update. And of course I'm pleased to see you thought it was great writing as usual!),

TORONTOSUN (Nice to see you liked how their Halloween celebration brought out them into different characters, it was definitely fun to write. Great that you thought it was good writing!),

Emma (Great to read that you're still reading and loving the story still as well. Really glad that you think the dancing and love as well are there for readers to feel since I do try to write that as much as I can. You're welcome for the story!),

Mb (I was glad to read that you thought the love scene with Castle and Beckett was a great way for them to start their day and that you thought it was mind blowing sex too. Lol, and I agree, it's so them. Not surprised you mentioned them enjoying Halloween since I like writing them celebrating that holiday. And you're right, zoos are great even if you've been to them or if they're new since they're always fun. I've thought about getting them to Australia, but I'll see if I can work it in in the future. Happy to see you thought the first half was wonderfully written. And you're welcome for the first half too! I was really pleased that you thought their Halloween night was great for them, I did want it to be. And I'm relieved you could see their makeup that I described since I enjoyed including that for them. I agree with you that without costumes the four of them would look amazing. Really nice to see that you loved the kids' costumes of the robes and uniforms. And you got what I saw, lol, with so many of them they'd look like they were going to the school. I wasn't surprised to see you mentioning Martha's sadness with having to go back to the city once they go back and the others going to the Hamptons. Or that you're hoping that Martha will move to the Hamptons to be closer to her family. Not surprised you like regular chocolate bars those are good you're right. Really happy you thought that the second half was beautifully written. And I agree Caskett plus family and friends always. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!) and

Guest (I'm not surprised you thought the combo of the zoo and Halloween was fun, I thought it would be too so I had to write it. And interesting you're wondering about the Huntington but it's great you are since if that happens you'll enjoy reading it. And I was happy to see you loved the stories about the kids' first costumes, definitely needed to be said since it's special of course for the kids. It's funny too that you asked about Skye and Mary's memory of meeting their oldest twins as I've been waiting for a good place to put that and I might have it in the story I'm working on currently so it's nice to know someone wants to read that already!).

Thank you for the reviews, loved reading them as always and I am grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Radio Ga Ga_ , the information about it in the A/N above.

We Watch The Stars

"Okay," Skye said, stepping out from behind the screen. "The band is ready."

"Wow," Beckett said with a smile.

"She's right put a mustache on you and you're Freddie Mercury," Mary said. "What?" she said when the other two women in the room looked at her. "I mean that as a compliment _grá_."

"I know," Skye said, smiling at her lovingly. She then said, "I just hope that his fans will be okay with this."

"Including you," Beckett pointed out to her.

"And you," Mary said.

"I think we all are," Skye said with a laugh. "We'd best go," she then told them. "Nearly time."

"To dance," Beckett said simply. When her friend smiled at her she sighed exaggeratedly and said, "I need to see my daughter before I get out of here." Following the two women out into the hall she smiled at a few of the crew members on the show, not surprised when they were brief in their nods to her as it was just before the show was going to begin filming. She studied Skye and Mary in front of her, the former wearing a white military style jacket like the late singer from Queen had worn in yellow. She and the rest of the band were wearing all white though, a nod to the band's performance at Live Aid. Her daughter was calling to her then and she shook herself, smiling as she hurried down the hall to them.

"What do you think?" Julia asked. She was holding the skirt of her dress out and spun asking, "It's not weird is it?"

"No, that's how they were in the music video for the song I'm going to sing," Skye replied with a smile.

"At least we're wearing clothes," Mari said. "Under the red fabric," she added when the women looked at her.

"You wouldn't be going out without your dresses," Beckett said with a smile, the girls wearing dresses for their Paso Doble later. They were cut similarly to the one Jennifer Grey had for her second of the same dance and black. They also had strips of red fabric around them, it was both an homage to Queen in their music video for the song Skye would sing first that night and to cover their backs a bit which were cut out a little. "But you both look great."

"Thanks," Julia said, her friend saying the same. She hugged her mother tightly and said, "Before the Jazz dance Rebecca can come backstage right?"

"Yes, they'll be here in time," Beckett said, saying that to Mari. "Break a leg," she told both the women and the two girls.

"Thanks!" Julia said gratefully at the same time as her friend. When her mother was gone she looked down the hall seeing that her partner, Clive and Derek were coming over to them. "What do we do now?" she asked.

"We'll go to the Sky Box," Derek told them.

"Those dresses are cool," Peter said to the girls once they were walking together.

"Thanks, your jackets are too," Mari said, the two wearing military ones like Skye's though theirs were black and closed with red fabric around them.

"Yeah, they had awesome clothes," Clive said before they were laughing together.

"Hey, there are the little imps," Eddie said as he was up in the box already. "Your parents are here you three."

Julia smiled when her three friends rushed over to the railing to look down at the dance floor and she said to the actor, "You look really cool."

"Why thank you," Eddie replied, smiling at her. "I wanted something that was reminiscent of Bowie, but not Ziggy Stardust."

Nodding, since she was aware of what the latter name was, Julia said, "You look… stark, like everything's black and white and sophisticated." She looked down at his feet and said, "I hope your feet will be okay after your dance."

"They will be," Eddie replied as he was wearing low black heels. "If I was doing the Jive I'd have to be careful."

"We need to go," Derek said. "You'll be okay?"

"Yep," Clive said quickly.

After they'd told the women to break a leg and said goodbye to the pro dancers who were heading down for their dance in the beginning, Julia turned back to the railing and looked out over it to watch the beginning of the show. She glanced at her parents, smiling at the sight of them together and holding hands that she could see even from there. The show began, and she looked quickly at the screen with the others as it talked about the legends aspect of the theme. She smiled at the quick shots of the pairs practicing and felt Mari squeezing her hand. They shared a smile with one another before they turned to look down at the stage as the music began to play from the intro of the song. She couldn't help jumping up and down at the sound of it and the fog that was billowing onto the dance floor, nearly filling it before Skye soon appearing and walking across it to the old-fashioned microphone across from the main stage. As soon as she was there she began to sing, Mary and Jackie as well helping her with backup, including the opening two lines.

 _(Radio)  
(Radio)  
I'd sit alone and watch your light  
My only friend through teenage nights  
And everything I had to know  
I heard it on my radio_

At the last lyric, Skye detached the top of the mic from the rest of it and she held it while walking around towards the audience and pausing to sing the last two lyrics of the next verse, pointing to them in time with the beat of the second to last lyric before extending her arm for the last.

 _You gave them all those old time stars  
Through wars of worlds invaded by Mars  
You made 'em laugh, you made 'em cry  
You made us feel like we could fly (Radio)_

Walking to the middle of the dance floor, Skye sang while the pros and troupe dancers went around her. When it came to the first part of the chorus, Emma came to her and she sang while the pro's arm was on her shoulder before the dancers let her walk over to the steps leading up to the main stage.

 _So don't become some background noise  
A backdrop for the girls and boys  
Who just don't know or just don't care  
And just complain when you're not there_

 _You've had your time, you had the power  
You've yet to have your finest house  
Radio (Radio)_

With the main part of the chorus, Skye was raising her hand in time with the beat and the band behind her was instructing the audience in how to clap in time with them while they sang with her. She was relieved when they followed, knowing it was a mix of fans of the song and her family and friends. She focused on the lyrics as she would need to move when they were over again.

 _All we hear is radio ga ga  
Radio goo goo  
Radio ga ga  
All we hear is radio ga ga  
Radio blah blah  
Radio, what's new?  
Radio, someone still loves you_

At the beat, Skye was walking with Mary and Jackie across the dance floor again, stopping together in the middle. She sang again, the dancers coming out for the next two verses as they remained in place while they were going around them.

 _We watch the shows, we watch the stars  
On videos for hours and hours  
We hardly need to use our ears  
How much music changes through the years_

 _Let's hope you never leave old friend  
Like all good things on you we depend  
So stick around 'cause we might miss you  
When we grow tired of all this visual_

Julia couldn't help getting the chills at the way the investigator sang the third lyric of the second verse and she smiled while the other pairs were coming onto the dance floor and helping the band with the beat of the chorus when it came to that eventually. She and everyone else were clapping, starting immediately that time and going through the rest of the song.

 _You had your time, you had the power  
You've yet to have your finest hour  
Radio (Radio)_

 _All we hear is radio ga ga  
Radio goo goo  
Radio ga ga  
All we hear is radio ga ga  
Radio goo goo  
Radio ga ga  
All we hear is radio ga ga  
Radio blah blah  
Radio, what's new?  
Someone still loves you_

With the instrumental and short verse, the pairs were introduced until they lined up with Skye and Derek in the middle and she sang the very last verse of the song.

 _Radio ga ga  
Radio ga ga  
Radio ga ga_

 _You had your time, you had the power  
You've yet to have your finest hour  
Radio (Radio)_

When the music had ended the audience was applauding, Tom and Erin talking about the songs that night before they introduced Eddie and Emma first that night, showing their intro for their Tango.

"That was amazing," Julia said once Skye was in the box.

"When are you going to change?" Mari asked her.

"At the first commercial, which is after the intro right now," the investigator said quickly. She smiled and said, "You want to see my costume, don't you?"

"We all do, we've all seen the show now," Peter said.

"You will, soon," Skye said. "Oh, right now," she said when she heard Tom speaking.

"Have you guys seen that show?" Clive asked, not surprised Julia and Mari's eyes widened at him asking that.

"I did, when she told us about it," Jonathon said. "Just one episode though."

"Did she tell you about _Manos_?" Julia asked with a smile.

"Yeah," the TV star said with a laugh. "And then I watched _Werewolf_."

"Oh, that's better," Mari said.

Turning back to the railing, Julia saw her parents were talking to her sister and the others and she waved as her family looked up at her. A bit later she felt Mari touch her elbow and quickly turned, seeing that Skye and Derek were walking into the box with their costumes for their Quickstep on.

" _In the not too distant future_ …" the investigator sang. "Oh, thank you," she said, bowing playfully when a few of the stars and pros applauded her. "What do you think?" she asked the kids as they walked over to them to wait for their turn to go, which would be fourth out of the six couples left that night.

"It looks cool," Peter said first.

"Like you were on the show," Clive said.

"Perfect," Skye said with a slight laugh since she and Derek were wearing jumpsuits like the ones on the show _Mystery Science Theater 3000_. Hers was blue while Derek's was a deeper red and she suddenly said to her partner, "Are they here yet?"

"I'll check," the pro replied, leaving quickly to head over to a crew member.

"How come they weren't here at the start?" Mari asked.

"They were here, you just didn't see them," Skye said with a smile. She was about to point out where they'd been when her partner was walking back to them and talking at the same time.

"They're backstage, getting everything ready," Derek replied.

"The puppets?" Julia said. When the dancer nodded she smiled at her friends and they looked down in time for Eddie and Emma's dance to begin. She smiled at the familiar music to the song _Fashion_ and she watched the actor to make sure he would be alright dancing in the heeled black shoes he had on. Cheering the pair on, she couldn't keep herself jumping up and down in time with music until they had stopped, and she looked over at Derek.

"Not bad," the pro said in amusement since all four kids and his partner were turned to him. "I think they'll score well."

After the pair were up in the Sky Box, Julia waved at Eddie when he glanced at her but didn't do anything else since he and Emma were talking to Erin. She held her breath as it went to the judge's scores and cheered with the others as Carrie-Ann gave them a ten, Len a nine and Bruno another ten. "That was great," she cried when the show went to Raul and Sharna and she could talk to the actor.

"She's right, it was fab," Skye commented. "How're your feet?"

"They're fine, but I'll need to change," Eddie replied.

"How much longer until you dance?" Mari asked Skye and Derek.

"A little longer, get comfortable," the latter said with a smile.

Sighing, Julia glanced down at her parents, who were watching the intro for Raul and Sharna still. She hoped time would go a lot quicker, but knew they had to let the other couples dance first. She felt Peter's hand on her arm and looking at him said at the same time as him, "Practice?" With a laugh she went with her friends to where there was space and they started to go over a few steps until they went back to the railing to see the next dance.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Mary said, going up to her wife during the commercial.

"Yeah," Skye replied, smiling at her. "Did you want to talk to them?"

"That would be nice," Mary replied.

"Go," Skye said with a laugh though she was walking over to the counter that was set up at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you in this dance?" Kevin Murphy asked to the doctor when they reached where he and his colleagues were getting ready.

"No, her second one," Mary said with a smile. "I wanted to see how things were going."

"They're good, Crow and Servo are ready," Bill Corbett said.

"Are you sure Len will be alright with this?" Mike Nelson asked Skye.

"We told him," the investigator said. "If he was going to nag about you then you wouldn't have been asked here."

"I better go," Mary said as a crew member said there was a minute left of the commercial break. She hugged her wife tightly and murmured, "Break a leg _grá_."

"Thank you," Skye said before she watched her wife make her way to the stairs up to the Sky Box. "We'll see you two after the dance," she then told Kevin and Bill jokingly.

Beckett, having been watching them, felt her husband squeeze her hand and she glanced at him. When he nodded up at the box she looked and then saw their daughter leaning over the railing. She took a quick glance at the crew; to judge if she had time; when she decided to do it anyway and motioned to the girl as Julia was looking at her. When she pulled away rapidly she couldn't help smiling at Castle murmuring, "Nice," before someone was counting them back in.

"Welcome back," Tom said once the red light at the top of the camera came on. "Next we have Skye and Derek, performing a Quickstep with some very special guests."

"Is your mom mad?" Mari whispered to Julia as the intro started with a recap of the pair the week before.

Shaking her head firmly, Julia smiled as the intro then went to the pair in the studio the Tuesday the week before while they were planning the song.

"I was thinking," Skye said. "Stop it," she said, exaggerating her accent when she saw the face that Derek was playfully making. "No, what if we did a _Mystery Science Theater 3000_ themed dance?"

"I'm a full MSTie," the investigator said in a voice over while the pair were dancing in the studio. "A fan of the show," Skye said as the footage went to her sitting in another room. "And for some reason this song just yelled to me this theme. Luckily Derek's game to try it out."

Beckett glanced around the audience when some people started to cheer as the three men that had been on MST3K went into the studio where Skye and Derek were practicing while the investigator was describing the basic plot of the show. She smiled as the men on the stage were waving before the three were talking on the screen.

"I'm not sure why we're here…" Bill started to say.

"For the dance," Skye said, hissed behind him.

"Oh! Right," Bill said with a nod. "And we're here to dance."

"To act!" Skye also hissed before they were laughing.

The screen switched to Skye and Derek talking to the three men about the dance and their idea before they were tossing around lines. The footage changed again, and they were practicing lines, Derek leaning against the _barre_ with the three men as Skye was at the edge of the screen watching them.

"Dr. Forester's gone too far," Bill; as Crow; said.

"We didn't want to come up here either," Derek said. "But we're part of the experiment too you know. What about next Movie Sign?"

"If you can get Skye to come with you then I'm game," Kevin; as Servo; said.

"I think we've got it," Derek said in a voiceover. "It's a strange theme but I'm ready."

"I definitely am," Skye said with a nod, the footage going to her and Derek together in another room. "And as for the Quickstep…"

"We got it," Derek said, pretending to whisper in her ear.

"Yeah, that," Skye said with a nod. She then started to sing the theme to MST3K until the music and logo for the show ended the introduction.

Castle felt his wife squeezing his hand and he smiled at her before they were turning back to where Derek was 'dusting' the counter that looked a lot like the one on the show. He was surprised that the dancer was wearing a 'Gizmonics' hard hat; the 'company' from show; but was distracted when Mike, Crow and Servo appeared from behind the counter.

"How's the movie going?" Derek asked after he'd jumped at their appearance.

Mike made an okay sign with his hand before he said, "It stinks."

"Mind if we join you?" Derek said.

"Yeah!" Servo said, jumping as Skye walked by.

"Well…" Mike started to say. "If she'll come with you then you're both in."

"Better hurry," Crow started to say as Derek tossed his duster to Mike and was walking away from them. "Before Movie Sign!" and it was there the song's music began as the dancer tossed his hard hat to Castle.

Beckett, watching him, wanted to ask if that was planned but Derek had reached Skye at the judge's table and tapped her shoulder just before Jeff Lynne was singing the first lyric.

After Skye turned at Derek's tap to her shoulder, she shook her head when he held out his hand. The second lyric had her going away from the table and Derek running after her before he spun her around to get her into hold. They stopped at the third lyric and stared at each other between the first verse and the second before they were beginning to dance.

 _Well, I get rattled every time we meet  
I get rattled even in my sleep  
I get rattled baby over you_

Skye and Derek began to dance around the floor, going to the other side of it before they moved back towards the stage, doing that for the entire verse until they reached the third one. At the first lyric they were spinning twice until the second where they were raising their hands that were holding each other and they danced normally the very last lyric.

 _I get twisted, I get turned around  
I get twisted and I'm up then I'm down  
I get twisted baby, over you_

With the first lyric of the third verse Skye and Derek were stopped and they began to kick their feet in between the other's legs. They kept that up into the second lyric and then started to spin before they reached the counter where Mike and the 'bots were watching them, moving in time to the beat of the song. Derek took the hard hat that Skye had still been wearing and tossed it to Mike before they were off again to the middle of the dance floor. On the second to last lyric they began to make exaggerated steps forward in time with the singing; moving their joined hands back and forth too; and on the beginning of the very last line sung Skye was jumping up as Derek kicked in between her legs before they were dancing away again.

 _Well baby, baby, baby won't you save one night for me  
Baby, baby, baby is there something wrong with you  
Baby, baby, baby this is out of my control  
It may look like nothing's wrong but deep down in my soul  
I'm twisted- shaken- rattled  
I get rattled baby over you_

There was a brief instrumental then and Skye and Derek were going around the dance floor until they were near the stage and the counter. When the last verse began they were moving their feet in unison; staying still; before they kicked their feet in between each other's legs. That continued into the second lyric before they were dancing together in front of the counter until the very last lyric of the song. They spun around and before letting go and they stood at the counter, leaning against it sideways so they could be seen while they were looking at Mike.

 _Oh, I get shaken, I'm torn up by the roots  
Yeah, I'm shakin', way down in my boots  
I get rattled baby over you  
I get rattled baby over you  
_

 _Yeah, I'm rattled baby over you_

"Are we in?" Skye asked while the music was still playing but lightly in the back.

The music stopped as even the 'bots were looking at Mike until he finally said, "Okay you're in," moving his arms at the same time.

Before anyone could say anything, an alarm began to ring and red lights flashed before everyone at the counter was yelling, "Movie Sign!" and they went to the stage or; in the 'bots case; ducked behind it. The audience began to applaud, and Skye and Derek hugged each other before she was giving a quick one to Mike.

After she'd thanked Bill and Kevin; who were sitting on the steps; Skye let her partner take her hand and they hurried to Tom at the judges table, waiting to see what Len would say first.

"That was a very good Quickstep," the British judge told them. He waited for the audience to quiet down; as they were applauding; and he continued, "I was warned about your… TV show, but despite that you had very good choreography. Your body contact was a little…" he said, motioning with his hands. "Wonky but still good."

"Bruno," Tom said.

"If this is what the show was about then I need to binge watch," the judge said before he was laughing. "You had excellent footwork, very good choreography and you enjoyed. Every. Minute," he ended with, hitting the desk with his palm.

"Carrie-Ann," Tom said though the audience was applauding.

"I agree with Bruno and I loved that you were able to include that storyline though did those really work together?" she asked.

"It was still fun," Skye said with a laugh once she straightened after being doubled over for a moment.

"Okay, let's get your scores here," Tom told them.

"They did really well," Peter whispered to his friend in the Sky Box as the dramatic music played.

Looking on while the judge's names were said, Julia held her breath as Carrie-Ann gave them a ten, Len a nine and Bruno a ten. She was cheering with the others before she said, "That's a good start."

"She's tied with Eddie," Mari said, her friends nodding in agreement.

"What do you think?" Julia asked Mary who'd been silent next to them. She was startled when the woman didn't say anything, merely watched as Skye came up the stairs towards them first before she was wrapping her arms around her wife. Her eyes widened when the doctor kissed her wife roughly on the lips and she smiled at Mari before Derek was calling to the two.

"I'm about to fall off the stairs," the pro said. "Sorry," Derek said as the women turned to him.

"I'm sorry," Mary said. "It was great _grá_ ," she told her.

"You guys need to prepare," Derek then said while the two women were talking to each other quietly.

"Two more dances?" Clive asked.

"Two more, one more quick practice once Skye and I get changed," Derek said.

Watching the Sky Box, Beckett waved with the others as the kids were doing so and she looked at Eliza who came over to her.

"Did they go to practice?" the little girl asked her mother.

"They did," Beckett said.

"Sit sweetheart, the show will come back soon," Castle said. He made sure she was alright next to him and then leaned over, kissing his wife's cheek gently. After he pulled away he felt her hand taking his and they sat back, slightly impatient for their daughter's dance after the last two of the first half.

* * *

"Remember to hold your lines," Derek was telling the kids, on the dance floor with them before the show came back from commercial. "And watch the skirts girls. Break a leg," he managed to say before a crew member was counting down.

"Break a leg!" Eliza cried, just as the show was airing.

Julia bit at the side of her mouth in her laughter, and she did her best to look serious while she watched Tom in front of them introducing them.

"Tonight," the co-host said after he'd welcomed the audience back. "We have another special performance from the Hamptons troupe, dancing the Paso Doble to a song from the band Queen."

Feeling her heart starting to pound a little heavily, Julia listened to the music closely as they knew the show had shortened it so they wouldn't be waiting to start their steps. While that music was playing she and Mari were holding their skirts out and they walked towards Peter and Clive to the beat. With the first lyric they were meeting and hooking arms with their partner before they were turning to face each other, and the girls moved their skirts back and forth while the boys were moving their feet to the first two lyrics of the first verse. They stopped at the third lyric and got into hold, dancing their way towards opposite ends of the dance floor until they spun and let go of each other at the last lyric.

 _Oh, let's go_

 _Steve walks warily down the street  
With the brim pulled way down low  
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet  
Machine guns ready to go_

Facing each other, the two pairs started to dance towards each other while they stomped their feet. Doing that for the first two lyrics they got back into hold and started dancing back to the middle of the floor for the rest of the verse.

 _Are you ready, hey, are you ready for this?  
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?  
Out of the doorway the bullets rip  
To the sound of the beat_

Dancing together for the first two lyrics, spinning and moving their feet at the same time, Julia and Mari put one hand on their partners' chests, pushing them back until their backs were hitting each other. At that point the girls spun away before the boys were grabbing them and they danced side by side in a circle together for the rest of the chorus.

 _Another one bites the dust  
Another one bites the dust  
And another one gone, and another one gone  
Another one bites the dust  
Hey, I'm gonna get you too  
Another one bites the dust_

The music sped up and the pairs were spinning in place before they were dancing back towards one another. When they were near one another they danced around each other in a circle leading them to the last lyric. There the boys spun the girls and let them slide out as the verse slid into the next one quickly. They helped them up swiftly and then began dancing together again, back and forth until the end of the verse with various Paso Doble steps. When they had reached the end, the pairs were back together and though the song jumped to the very last lyrics of the song they didn't stop.

 _How do you think I'm going to get along  
Without you when you're gone?  
You took me everything that I had  
And kicked me out on my own_

 _Are you happy, are you satisfied?  
How long can you stand the heat?  
Out of the doorway the bullets rip  
To the sound of the beat_

With the first two lyrics of the last verse, Julia and Mari stood side by side as they had been at the beginning and they repeated dancing towards their partners. They were moving their skirts back and forth while the boys were doing the same steps with their hands in fists and their arms up by their ribs. At the third lyric the pairs came back together and spun away from each other before they danced into the fourth lyric. With the last two of the chorus they were dancing back towards each other to prepare with the very last lyric of the song. There the boys dipped the girls and they stopped, Julia and Mari holding their arms above them before the audience was applauding.

 _Another one bites the dust  
Another one bites the dust  
And another one gone, and another one gone  
Another one bites the dust  
Hey, I'm gonna get you too  
Another one bites the dust_

 _Oh, shooter hey, hey, all right_

Beckett was standing with everyone else in their group as soon as the music stopped, applauding as hard as she could. When Julia and the other kids went over to the judges table she waved, pleased when her daughter saw her and did the same back to her. She waited for the response to die down so they could hear what the three at the table had to say, hopeful when she saw the smile on Len's face.

"Very nicely done," the British judge said. "You had very nice lines and it's a shame that you aren't being judged, I'd give you a ten."

Julia and Mari were holding onto each other, jumping up and down repeatedly in response to that before they hurried to add their thank yous to their partners'.

"That was adorable," Carrie-Ann told them. "But you were very mature," she added quickly, laughing when the four kids wrinkled their noses. "And you had nice lines like Len said."

"That was fantastic, have you all been to Seville?" Bruno asked. When only Julia raised her hand he said, "You are quite devilish," taking on a coy tone.

"No, Irish," the girl said, blushing and ducking her head when the judges all laughed at the way she shook her head. She was laughing though and when she raised her head Tom was thanking them once Bruno had said he'd loved the dance before he had them read his lines to introduce Eddie and Emma's next dance. While the intro was playing she rushed to her parents and hugged them, her friends going to their parents as well, saying, "That was weird."

"You take after your dad," Beckett said wryly.

"Believe it or not I agree with her," Castle commented when Julia looked at him. He kissed her cheek and then said, "Time for you to go?"

"Me too!" Eliza said happily.

"Yes, all of you," Beckett replied. She shared a quick kiss with her husband and said, "I'll be back."

Nodding his head, Castle watched them go before he felt his mother touch his arm and he smiled at her for a moment before he watched his wife go with their daughters and the others up to the Sky Box.

Julia was relieved they were being allowed to watch Eddie and Emma's Quickstep and she smiled as they did well, getting the same score they had for their first dance. Shortly after she was rushing with her mother and sister to the dressing room, Rebecca and Mari joining them. "This is going to be so cool," she said to her sister while she was getting out of her dress and her sister was taking off the one she was wearing.

"Yeah," Eliza replied. "Mommy will you come with us?"

Beckett smiled, as she'd been expecting that, and said, "I can't sweetie, I'm not really part of this dance like I was last week."

"How come?" Eliza asked.

"Skye wants Mary to be with her," Julia told her sister firmly.

"Oh… you too Mommy! You can go too," Eliza said in a rush.

"Another time," Beckett said soothingly, kissing the top of her head. While they'd been talking she'd helped the little girl dress and once she was done she looked her over, studying the pair as Julia had finished as well. "You both look cute," she said.

"Why are we in the seventies again?" Mari said, walking over in her costume.

"That was Skye's idea," Julia said, rolling her eyes as they were wearing summer clothes from that era. She and Mari had peasant blouses on and bell bottom pants while her little sister had a floral print dress. She and the other kids would all be wearing skin tone slippers, since it was supposed to take place outside in the summer. "I wonder if the others are ready."

"Hopefully," Beckett said before she went to the door to open it at a knock there. She was surprised to find it was Skye and Mary and was about to ask why the former had changed when the investigator started to let her know.

"Unexpected development," Skye began. "We have permission to perform a song and we'll be doing that as soon as Raul and Sharna finish up."

"The whole band?" Beckett asked.

"Yes," Skye said slowly.

"No, technically it's all of us," Mary said when her wife looked at her.

"But I'm here to ask… well I suppose it's up to the two of you," Skye began. "If you'll stay with the kids."

"We don't need to be watched!"

" _Grá_."

"We're not babies," Peter, then Mary and last Julia said.

"Oh… I suppose I flubbed that up right well," Skye began. "Sorry," she told the kids and the two women still in the room.

"Where will Derek be?" Rebecca asked.

"You'll see," Skye said. "Head up to the Sky Box. We'll see you," she told them.

"It's gonna be a romantic song, isn't it?" Julia asked her mother as they stepped out to watch the two women leaving hand in hand.

"I think so," Beckett replied. She turned to the girls and said, "Let's go," as the boys were walking down to them. "And we'll see you for your Jazz dance." She shared a quick hug with her daughter before she and Rebecca saw the kids off down the hall. They hurried back to their seats, sitting during the commercial to find that Skye and Mary were at a grand piano that had been placed on the dance floor close to the main stage.

"What's going on? Another performance?" Castle asked his wife once she was sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I think they just got permission for the song," Beckett explained, noticing Derek and Sharna talking with the pair at the piano before the show was coming back.

"We have a second special performance tonight," Tom was saying. "Performing the Elton John hit _Your Song_ , ladies and gentlemen The Rambling O'Dells."

Beckett shared a look with her husband as the investigator began playing the piano, her wife sitting at the end of the bench with an acoustic guitar in her hands. The rest of the band was on the stage and they were playing together as Skye began to sing. Her husband took her hand, holding it tightly and she smiled at him while they listened to the lyrics.

 _It's a little bit funny this feeling inside  
I'm not one of those who can easily hide  
I don't have much money but boy if I did  
I'd buy a big house where we both could live_

 _If I was a sculptor but then again no  
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show  
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do  
My gift is my song and this one's for you_

Julia was smiling widely at Derek and Sharna dancing together at the beginning of the second verse, but she eventually turned her attention to Skye and Mary. Though the investigator had to sing into the mic in front of her she was looking at her wife and she sighed as the two were staring at each other. She then recalled the boys and glanced at them, relieved they didn't seem to be too bored with the song while Skye soon after began the chorus.

 _And you can tell everybody  
This is your song  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done  
I hope you don't mind  
I hope you don't mind  
That I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world_

"Look at Mommy and Daddy," Eliza whispered to her sister.

"I see," Julia said with a smile as their parents were sitting as close together as they could. She then looked at Skye and Mary, seeing they were looking at one another but that was it. She felt a little bad for them and looking at the older McDouglas twins, she wasn't surprised to see the slight frowns on their faces. She nodded to Mari murmuring that she felt bad for the two women too, but Skye was starting to sing again as Derek and Sharna came to the piano and stood at the end to watch her.

 _I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss  
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross  
But the sun's been quite kind  
While I wrote this song  
It's for people like you that keep it turned on_

When the next lyric began, Skye tried to look at her wife the best she could though Mary was only able to glance back at her. She smiled at her when their eyes met, as her wife knew she sang that particular verse for her.

 _So excuse me forgetting  
But these things I do  
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue  
Anyway, the thing is what I really mean  
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen_

Hearing Skye emphasize the words 'sweetest eyes' Beckett was smiling as she knew for sure then how much the song was personal for them. But her attention was distracted when her husband entwined their fingers and she leaned against him while Derek and Sharna were dancing again as Skye sang the rest of the song.

 _And you can tell everybody  
This is your song  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done  
I hope you don't mind  
I hope you don't mind  
That I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world_

 _I hope you don't mind  
I hope you don't mind  
That I put down in words  
How wonderful life is while you're in the world_

"Oh, I got the chills," Mari said when the music ended.

"Me too," Julia said with a smile, the McDouglas girls agreeing. "At least they got to hug now," she said to the girls while their mothers were embracing.

"Yeah, they're not gonna like performing now," Kathleen said jokingly. "But we're going to be dancing soon."

"Are you ready?" Peter asked, speaking to the ones that hadn't been on before.

"I am," Eliza said. "I have my slippers," she said to everyone, showing them her right foot.

Julia wanted to say that those weren't really slippers, but she decided it didn't matter as they were turning back to the railing and watching the next dance while they waited for Skye's and Derek's next turn.

* * *

"You're not doing the Charleston," Mary told her wife.

"No but I have to do something," Skye said simply.

"Nervous?" Mary asked. When her wife nodded she pulled her to her and embraced her for a moment, not doing so for too long as they were waiting for the show to come back so they could start. "You'll do great," she said seriously.

"Thank you _grá_ ," Skye replied, smiling down at Iris who'd taken her hand.

"Are you ready Mummy?" the little girl asked.

Hearing one of the crew members calling that they were returning, Skye told her, "I think I need to be. We all do."

"Go," Castle said to Eliza as the little girl was with him and his wife. He sent her off to the others that were gathering, in time for Tom introducing them. He smiled with his wife as the kids were running around Mary with Skye and Derek before it went to their practice footage.

"We're going to be joined by extra guests this time," the investigator said as she and Derek were in the studio. She gestured to the side and the camera panned that way to show the kids and her wife on the steps before they started to wave.

The footage showed Derek teaching Skye the dance and then them practicing with the kids where they needed. It then showed the city of Las Vegas and Derek spoke in a voiceover saying, "We're headed to meet with a dancer in the _Love_ show. We want to get an idea for the steps we want for our dance."

Beckett smiled at her husband when the footage showed the kids practicing with the dancer in Las Vegas on the _Love_ stage. It then showed Skye practicing with Derek on the stage and she wasn't surprised when the investigator was saying, "This is a more… ambitious dance and my old injury is starting to act up." The mention of an old injury did startle her, and she looked over at her friend to see she was smiling back at her slightly.

"It's from when I was six," Skye was saying, the footage having gone to herself in the studio with Derek. "And it's never left me."

"Do you need to leave?" the pro asked, watching her sit on the floor with her leg stretched out.

"No," Skye said with a smile as her wife walked into the room. She watched her come over to her and said, "She knows what to do to help me."

As Skye and Derek were shown practicing again, the investigator was saying, "But I want to dance with my family, and the girls' friends, so I won't let my leg slow me down; not when Derek and I have come so far."

The logo went over the screen as the music played and as the pair were running in front of a set of a stoop of brownstone in NYC with the kids the announcer said, "Dancing Jazz, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

"Kids!" Mary said, stepping out from the door. "Come back in, it's time for supper."

"Not yet Ma!" Derek called back before the music started to play. They began to run in a circle, Mary stepping over to them and pretending to scold them before the first verse began. He grabbed Skye while the other kids paired up and they then started to stomp their feet as they'd learned to do in Vegas. They did that for the first two lyrics before Mary was pretending to gather the other kids, leading them over to the steps of the stoop so he and Skye could dance on their own. He picked up Skye and helped her into the splits before she was jumping up and they twisted back and forth until they reached the next verse shortly after.

 _Lady Madonna, children at your feet  
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet  
Who find the money when you pay the rent  
Did you know that money was heaven sent_

Julia, Peter, Mari and Clive hurried over to the pair as the second verse began and to dance the same steps, doing their best to keep up with them. Skye and the girls were being lifted slightly before they were moving away from the façade a bit until they stopped, and Skye and Derek danced a few steps with them kicking their legs and spinning a few times, bringing them to the end of the verse.

 _Friday night arrives without a suitcase  
Sunday morning creeping like a nun  
Monday's child has learned to tie his bootlace  
See how they run_

There was an instrumental there, and the kids ran over to Skye and Derek to dance with them, the foot stomping they'd learned and shortly after they began to alternate between spinning and a few steps that took them eventually back to the façade.

The kids took Skye and Derek's hands, running around in a circle together before the pair went inside of it and they danced there for the verse which was only two lyrics.

 _Lady Madonna lying on the bed  
Listen to the music playing in your head_

With the next verse all the kids paired up and they danced in a triangle formation, Skye and Derek at the head of it. The kids, after they all took turns turning with their right leg up in the air, broke off and started clapping their hands together as the investigator and her partner danced side by side to the façade while they were holding hands.

 _Tuesday afternoon is never ending  
Wednesday morning papers didn't come  
Thursday night your stocking needed mending  
See how they run_

With the very last two lyrics of the song Derek picked Skye up and he spun her before she bent backwards and did a flip, standing up and they started clapping their hands together as the other children were doing around them.

 _Lady Madonna children at your feet  
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet_

With the music extending after those lyrics, the kids all danced again, their steps stomping their feet, when Mary called, "For the last time, supper!" Everyone stopped for a moment before the music started up again and they raced up the steps and through the façade before Mary, who'd followed them, went inside the doorway and pretended to look outside before she nodded and slammed the door with the very end of the music.

Castle and Beckett were quick to stand up yet again to applaud, smiling as the kids all ran out of the façade and down the steps. They waved to their youngest as she was first out, and Julia before Skye and Derek were paying attention to the judges while Bruno was called on to give his opinion of the dance.

"That was very interesting," the Italian judge said. "A lot of children here. But the amazing thing was that you were all in sync as we were watching them as well. That was a huge risk you took Derek."

Nodding the pro said, "They were eager to learn."

"So a ten for you children," Bruno told them. "And excellent dance you two," he said to Skye and Derek. He turned to Eliza and asked her, "How old are you?"

Blushing deeply, the little girl hid her face behind her sister's arm and forgot to answer the judge.

"She's five," Julia said quickly, smiling at her little sister's reaction.

"Does she dance?" Carrie-Ann asked.

"She's learning in my class too," Julia said. "Our class," she corrected herself, motioning to her partner, Mari and Clive.

"Keep learning," Carrie-Ann said.

"They're not learning," Julia said, nodding to the McDouglas girls.

"Carrie-Ann, why don't you go ahead next," Tom said.

"Yeah, your daughters aren't learning to dance like these five are," she said. "And they were able to keep up with mom. That was very sweet. Now as for the dance itself…" Carrie-Ann began before trailing off.

Skye couldn't help leaning her head towards the judge, feeling Derek doing the same as she was hoping it would be positive feedback.

"Was fantastic! A summer night and a lot of fun!" Carrie-Ann said in an almost sing-song tone. "You had great synchronicity, just the two of you, and you executed your lifts perfectly. How's your leg?"

"It's fine, thank you," Skye said with a nod before Tom turned to Len.

"It was very well done," the British judge said. "I'll agree with Bruno that it was amazing to see the children all with you in your moves. Fantastic choreography Derek, I enjoyed it."

"Go ahead and head up to the Sky Box," Tom told the group.

"Do I go too?" Eliza was asking her sister.

"Yeah, come on," Julia said, glad that their parents were motioning her little sister on. She held her hand while they went and once they were up in the box she wasn't surprised when Erin started talking about how many of them there were before she was talking to Skye herself.

"You have nearly your entire family here," the co-host said. "How does it feel to dance with your daughters?"

"Great, it was so much fun to learn this dance with them involved," Skye replied. "And of course, I loved getting to dance with my wife involved too," she added, wrapping her arm around Mary's shoulder.

"We can tell you enjoyed it, all of you," Erin said. "Let's get your scores."

Beckett felt her husband squeezing her hand and she smiled at him before the announcer was saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba." as the music had begun.

"Ten!" the judge said, holding up her paddle.

"Len Goodman," the announcer said as Skye and Derek were hugging each other.

"Ten," the British judge said quickly.

Hugging her wife that time, Skye wrapped her arm around her partner, the other around Mary, as they waited to see what their last score was.

"Ten!" Bruno said, standing up as he held his paddle.

While Erin was talking about voting Skye was hugging her partner, wife and the kids before it went to Tom who was talking about the next dance.

"Now do you rest Mum?" Marie asked.

"No, we have to practice the marathon," Skye said with a sigh. "And you lot all need to change."

"Come on," Mary said, smiling at her wife when their daughters groaned and started to protest.

"Will you help me?" Eliza asked her sister as they went backstage.

"No, she will," Julia said. She smiled when her little sister's head whipped around to look ahead of them and at their mother who was there. She let her hand go so she could run to Beckett and followed, pleased when she was praising their efforts in the dance before they went to the dressing room to change yet again.


	38. We Watch The Stars (Part 2)

Breathing out heavily, Skye looked at her wife as she was moving her leg up and down and said, "If these trousers rip I'm done for."

" _If these trousers rip_ ," Mary said in Irish. " _I'll get an interesting view_." When her wife snorted she added, " _I don't know of what, but I'll enjoy it_."

" _You're degenerate_ ," Skye said jokingly.

"Thanks for not saying she was a pervert," Beckett said as she walked up to the two. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just making sure I'll be okay for this dance," Skye replied as she lowered her leg and let her wife help her stand. "The kids?" she asked.

"They're with the other parents," Beckett said. "Thank you for that song."

"Oh… I forgot your husband would use that as well," Skye said with a slight laugh. "I sang it for Mary, using the legends theme for that."  
"Is there any reaction to that on social media yet?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, Rick looked and it's luckily mostly positive," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the two women looked at each other and she was about to ask if they would do that again when the investigator's wife was cutting her off without knowing it.

"We've been asked to perform again, but we're not going to do anything so personal," Mary said.

"Skye," Derek said for the end of the hallway. "We need to get going."

"Break a leg _grá_ ," Mary said.

"She's right break a leg," Beckett said, squeezing her friend's arm before she walked down the hall to let the two women have a moment. She went straight to her daughter and said, "It's time sweetie."

"I know," Julia said with a smile up at her. When her mother opened her mouth to speak she quickly told her, "I'm fine, I'm not going to dance that long this time. She smiled again at the surprised look on her face and explained, "I knew you were gonna say that already."

"I'm just checking," Beckett replied. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to her daughter's head saying, "You look pretty sweetie."

"Enough for a dance?" Julia asked jokingly.

"You do," Beckett said, her daughter wearing a fifties style dress with her hair in a ponytail. "And you look like you could go dancing with your grandmama, and your gram too I think."

Laughing Julia nodded and said, "Probably."

"Break a leg, all of you," Beckett then said as she knew she needed to go back to her seat. She smiled when the other three kids thanked her, and she hurried out to the ballroom. She squeezed her husband's hand sitting next to him and smiled at Eliza saying, "I'm sorry you can't dance too."

Shaking her head, the little girl said, "I can't dance that long."

Though he wanted to point out the four weren't dancing the entire marathon, the show came back from commercial and Castle held his wife's hand while they watched Tom introduce the marathon. There was some footage of the pairs practicing for it but while that was showing in the ballroom he watched with his wife as the kids and pairs stepped out to the dance floor.

Julia smiled at her family and waved before she turned to Peter and they practiced their steps a bit more until it was coming back to Tom.

"With some help from the Hamptons troupe," the co-host was saying. "Here's our freestyle marathon."

With the beginning of the music, Julia and her friends started to dance, basic Jive steps since they'd been allowed to make that up themselves. They danced in the middle of the dance floor, a spotlight on them, and were doing that until the first verse ended.

 _Let me tell you 'bout a place  
Somewhere up a New York way  
Where the people are so gay  
Twistin' the night away_

Spotlights appeared on the six pairs and they were dancing as well, doing lifts since they could, but mainly Jive steps. They were all dressed in fifties clothing and Derek was dressed in a simple white dress shirt and trousers while Skye had on black slacks and a white and green striped top. They were focusing on Jive steps and the lifts he'd come up with, trying not to worry about who would be picked first to leave the floor during the second verse and chorus.

 _Here they have a lot of fun  
Puttin' trouble on the run  
Man, you find the old and young  
Twistin' the night away_

 _They're twistin', twistin'  
Everybody's feelin' great  
They're twistin', twistin'  
They're twistin' the night away_

Seeing the paddle that read _Eddie and Emma_ , Julia groaned and hurried over to the pair, tapping the former's arm to get their attention. She and her friends had been told they would be going to get who would be picked to stop dancing. Luckily none of the pairs minded them doing that and she shrugged at her friend when she was standing next to Mari again. She watched the pairs dancing together for the next two verses, smiling as Derek was flipping Skye around to some cheers from the audience.

 _Here's a man in evenin' clothes  
How he got here, I don't know, but  
Man, you oughta see him go  
Twistin' the night away_

 _He's dancin' with the chick in slacks  
She's a movin' up and back  
Oh man, there ain't nothin' like  
Twistin' the night away_

Out of the corner of her eye Skye saw Peter going over to Raul and Sharna to get them to stop. She focused on their steps, though since they'd come to the chorus she was walking away from Derek as they went around in a circle while they clapped before they came back together again. The next verse she was being picked up and Derek helped her swing her legs on either side of him. At the middle of those lyrics they were moving together, and she saw Mari heading across the dance floor.

 _They're twistin', twistin'  
Everybody's feelin' great  
They're twistin', twistin'  
They're twistin' the night  
Let's twist a while_

 _Lean up, lean back  
Lean up, lean back  
Watusi, now fly, now twist  
They're twistin' the night away_

Beckett glanced down at Mary, not surprised to see the relief on her face as Mari was walking with Jonathon and Whitney. She breathed out, seeing that it was only the three female stars and their partners left and they were all dancing well through the next two verses.

 _Here's a fella in blue jeans  
Dancin' with an older queen  
Who's dolled up in a diamond rings and  
Twistin' the night away_

 _Man, you oughta see her go  
Twisin' to the rock and roll  
Here you find the young and old  
Twistin' the night away_

Julia, watching Clive getting Lisa and Keo, shared a surprised look with her two friends as she thought they'd last to the end. She held her breath as it was just Skye and Derek and Daisy and Sasha left dancing for the last instance of the chorus.

 _They're twistin', twistin'  
Man, everybody's feelin' great  
They're twistin', twistin'  
They're twistin' the night_

When she ran to get Daisy and Sasha, Julia couldn't help crying to Skye, "You did it!" When she was back with her friends she was surprised when, with the last of the lyrics, Derek picked the investigator up and spun her around before setting her down just as the music ended.

 _One more time_

 _Lean up, lean back  
Lean up, lean back  
Watusi, now fly, now twist_

Breathing heavily when they stopped, Skye hugged her partner as tightly as she could saying, "I'm so glad this is over."

"So am I," Derek said with a laugh.

Beckett was applauding with the audience as Tom went over to them and she wasn't surprised when the pair was told they had immunity winning the marathon. She laughed as Mary whistled next to her and wasn't surprised when Julia hurried over to her so they could watch to see who would be voted off next.

Skye and Derek, though they had won immunity, went with the other five pairs and they watched as Raul and Sharna and Jonathon and Whitney were called into jeopardy.

"After eight weeks of competition, the pair going home tonight are…" Tom started to say. The dramatic music played, and the co-host waited for a bit before he finally said, "Raul and Sharna."

Skye smiled slightly at her partner; in her relief that it wasn't them; before she was hurrying down to the pair on the dance floor. As Tom and Erin were talking at the end of the episode she could vaguely hear them mentioning eras and she hoped they had good songs before she was hugging the dancer tightly.

* * *

"Next week is eras night," Derek said to his partner at her question. It was after the show and they were in a studio to get their dances for the next episode. "You have a performance, don't you?"

" _Everybody Wants to Rule the World_ ," Skye replied with a nod.

"Are you going to be wearing the clothing?" Castle couldn't help asking.

"The basics," Mary answered before her wife could say anything.

"She's right, I do have to change after," Skye said.

"We'll probably dance second next week," Derek said before they were looking over at Julia who had suddenly cleared her throat.

"What?" the girl asked in surprise at everyone looking at her.

"I'll let you know the dances we have," Derek said laughing.

"Just two, right?" Skye asked.

"Just two," Derek said with a nod. He got the first envelope and said, "We are dancing the Argentine Tango, in the 1930s to the song… _Shanghai Surprise_."

"Awesome," Skye said immediately with a grin. "And our second dance?"

"A Flamenco-" Derek started to say before he was interrupted by his partner suddenly.

Letting out a loud groan Skye said, "I told them not to have me do that!"

"I think the idea behind that is that you know standard Flamenco, not the ballroom style we have," Derek said.

As her wife sighed Mary pointed out to her, "I've noticed a lot of people on social media saying they wanted you to dance it."

"Or was that you _grá_ ," Skye said teasingly to her wife.

Laughing briefly Mary said, "You know better."

With a nod and smile to her wife, Skye looked at her partner and asked, "What's the song? And the era I should add."

"It'll be the 1920s," Derek replied. "To the song _Maxine_ ," smiling when his partner immediately let out a whoop of joy at that. "And one more thing; it'll be a trio dance."

"Oh… well…" Skye said slowly, knowing they needed to pick someone to dance with them.

"If you want the third person with us to be your wife," Derek began. "I've asked the show already and they said that would be fine."

"Great," Skye said, turning to her immediately.

"Are you so sure?" Mary asked with a smile.

"I am _grá_ ," Skye said seriously. "And we know the song well."

"I won't let you down," Mary replied in the same tone.

"We'll be alright," Skye said gently. "And the kids?" she then said to her partner.

"That will be a Quickstep," Derek said as he'd already looked at the paper for them. "From the 1950s."

"And the song?" Clive asked, palming his face when his voice when up higher than it normally was.

" _Tennessee Waltz_ ," Derek replied as he was smiling.

"Which version?" Beckett asked.

"Sam Cooke," Derek said, laughing with the others as the kids were sighing in relief loudly. "Since we're set," he told his partner. "We need to start with the Argentine Tango, I'm more concerned with that one for you than the Flamenco."

"Alright," Skye replied. "Ideas are going through my head," she said when the pro looked at her questioningly.

"Good, keep that in mind while we start with the basics," Derek said.

Watching the pair beginning, Beckett looked down at Julia and wasn't surprised to see her looking on eagerly. She felt her husband touch her arm and she smiled at him before they turned their attention to the floor to see how things would go for the investigator with her new dance.

* * *

"I really hope your leg doesn't bother you…" Mary started to say as she walked out to the bedroom. She trailed off when she saw that her wife was asleep on their bed and she smiled before getting onto it with her.

" _Grá_?" Skye asked, opening her eyes at the movement of the bed.

"It's alright," Mary said quickly. "I wasn't surprised to see you're so tired."

Skye sighed as she sat up and she grabbed her cup of water on the nightstand before she told her wife, "I didn't think it tired you out that much."

"Now you know for sure," Mary told her with a smile. "How's your leg?"

"It's good," Skye replied, moving it a bit. She smiled at her wife and said, "I'm really excited for next week. I was hoping I'd manage to actually dance with you; not just have you be in the background."

"Or pretending I'm your mother," Mary said, shaking her head as her wife laughed. She leaned over and kissed her when the investigator had calmed down and said, "So I'm happy about that myself."

Skye, smiling, nodded before she sat up a little more and said, "Are you tired?"

"Not really," Mary said, slightly concerned. When her wife looked at her questioningly she said, "We shouldn't _grá_ , you were asleep just now."

Shaking her head, Skye sat up and pulled her shirt off herself saying, "It was a cat nap."

"Oh?" Mary asked though her wife was tugging at the bottom of her nightgown.

Skye didn't reply to that, merely pulling until finally the doctor helped her in getting her clothes off. She was going to lead things, but her wife turned her onto her back and she smiled saying, " _How long have you been repressing_?" in Italian.

"A long time," Mary said before laying on top of her wife so she could kiss her better. She wasn't surprised when Skye was responding to her immediately but was when she was suddenly moving a lot. Pulling away she was about to ask her what she was doing when the investigator pushed her away slightly. "Oh," she said suddenly as she realized her wife had still been dressed. She helped her and once their bare bodies were pressing against each other she was kissing her hard. After they'd become involved in that for a while, she was beginning to move her hips, pressing down against hers until they were parting.

"Don't look at me," Skye said with a smile at the way her wife was looking at her. "This is your decision."

"I want you to say something," Mary replied. They stared at each other for a while and she wasn't surprised when they suddenly moved together, her leg pressing in between hers and Skye's between her own. Without a word they began to move at the same time, rubbing against one another and crying out at the same time. She was a little startled when her wife dug her nails into her back and she breathed out hard as the investigator leaned up to bite gently at her ear lobe.

"More," Skye said simply. She was nearly hissing at the way her wife started to move faster against her quickly and she did her best to respond in turn. They were rocking against each other, kissing one another until she was the first to break, crying out heavily before she was silent as she pressed herself back to the bed. When they had calmed down enough she pressed her lips to her wife's cheek and said with a sigh, "Not much foreplay."

"Well… we couldn't really reach one another," Mary said before she sat up. She wasn't surprised when her wife followed, and they began to kiss deeply before she reached up to her breasts. They began to fondle each other for some time before they parted again, and she said with a smile, "Now we're in a difficult place."

"I know," Skye said, grabbing her wife and getting her onto her back that time. She leaned down to her and kissed her passionately before she moved to go down her body.

The two women pleasured each other eagerly, taking turns before the investigator was laying on the bed. Her chest was rising and lowering with her breaths, her wife caressing her hair where she could.

"We need to sleep, don't we?" Skye asked in disappointment.

"Once the show is finished we can spend a whole night together," Mary said though she was disappointed as well.

"Hmm, and I get my strength back," Skye said. She opened her eyes as her wife laughed and looked at her questioningly when she stopped.

"You just gave the reason why we're stopping now," Mary told her.

"Oh… yeah I guess that would do it," Skye replied with a smile. She hugged her wife tightly as she settled down next to her and said, "I love you _grá_."

"I love you too Skye," Mary replied. "Get your rest, we have big things ahead."

"But more of us later," the investigator said, reaching down and grasping her wife's ass with her hand.

"Later," Mary said in a promising tone. "Goodnight _grá_."

"Night," Skye said, moving her hand to the small of her back so she could close her eyes. Though she was tired it took her a bit to fall asleep, her mind on her wife and their intimacy keeping her from her repose though she soon found it and slept deeply with Mary pressed firmly against her.

* * *

"Kate?" Castle said, coming up the stairs to his wife standing at the window that looked towards the main house.

"Thanks," Beckett said, taking the mug of tea that he was holding. She took a sip before saying, "I was thinking."

"About next week?" Castle asked. When his wife sighed heavily he took a sip of his own tea to hide his smile before he lowered the mug. "We're not doing anything that big," he pointed out to her.

"No but…" Beckett said. "We're not dancers."

"We're not going to be judged either," Castle was quick to say.

Beckett sighed heavily and then said, "I agreed to it."

"And we know the steps already," Castle added. He laughed when his wife pinched his arm before he said, "We'll be alright." He then thought of something and said to her, "Are you ready to be interviewed too?"

With a smile Beckett said, "I am, I really had to wonder though if she was sure we should be the ones to be interviewed."

"Did you ask her about it?" Castle said.

"I did," Beckett replied. "Doug is going to talk," she continued. "But the rest of her friends didn't really want to so she's hoping we will."

"Okay," Castle said. "But I hope they'll talk to you instead of us both."

"You know her too," Beckett pointed out.

Shaking his head Castle said, "You two are a lot closer."

Nodding Beckett said, "I know."

"It should be interesting this week," Castle commented, knowing she was still thinking about how Skye had asked them to be interviewed by the show since she would have a segment before her Flamenco about her background.  
Not really having anything to say to that, Beckett drank more of her tea before she was smiling. "At least we have the concert later," she told her.

"They seem to be a little calm about that," Castle said.

"I think they need to be," Beckett said with a smile. "With the show, the kids…"

"Guests?" Castle suggested when his wife trailed off. "And by that, I mean the fact we've been going places."

"I'm not sure, I hope not," Beckett replied. She went over to the bed to sit on the edge of it and said to her husband as he was sitting with her, "But tomorrow we're spending time with Josie again."

"You're hating this aren't you?" Castle asked, wrapping his free arm around her.

Beckett nodded briefly before she said, "But it's good for Julia and Eliza."

"That's what I've been thinking," Castle said. "So it goes back and forth. But there's only three more weeks."

"It's hard to believe," Beckett said. "I can't wait to see this Quickstep though."

"Me too, you can tell they're overjoyed with it," Castle replied. "Already even though they barely started on choreographing."

Finishing her tea Beckett stood and said, "Let me take yours."

Castle shook his head and followed her down the stairs though she took his mug by the sink and he had to watch her rinsing both before he said, "Are you going to take a shower?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I don't need one." She knew her husband was still watching her after her simple answer, but she didn't say anything, merely finished with the cups before she went back to the stairs. Hearing her husband nearly running after her she was going to turn at the top to talk to him when he was suddenly hoisting her up in his arms. "Rick!" she said before she laughed. "Remember what I said about warning me?"

"Not really," Castle told her before he set her down on the bed, sitting quickly on the edge next to her. "I'd like to tell you something this time."

"Okay," Beckett said, watching her husband unbuttoning her blouse she'd worn to the show.

"This was in 1933," Castle began, finishing with her buttons before he began. "In the fall."

"Any date more specific than that?" Beckett asked him with a smile as she pushed his hands away from his shirt so she could unbutton it.

"It was November… eighth," Castle said, thinking about that for a moment. "It was a school night so our three oldest were sleeping and of course Josie was out." Shaking his head to focus things back on them, he said, "We were in our room and I was starting to get my shoes off when you surprised me," not surprised at the smile on his wife's face since he knew she would recall.

* * *

 _Nearly jumping off the bed, Rick looked back at his wife and asked, "What's wrong love?"_

 _"Nothing," Kate said, kissing the back of his head. She pulled away a little, letting him turn to look at her and she said, "I was awful hot in my clothes," as she'd fully undressed._

 _Rick had to pause for a moment, staring at his wife's body before he then said, "It's sweltering," standing up as soon as he'd finished speaking. He was going to ask if she would help him when she was speaking and making him pause in getting his vest off._

 _"I prefer to watch you," Kate said easily._

 _Opening his mouth to speak, Rick paused and merely smiled before he was turning his attention back to his clothes until he was nude. He moved to the bed and then kissed her as he got on it until she was grabbing him to lay back. Laying on top of her he was busy for some time, kissing until her legs wrapped around him. Pulling back, he smiled at his wife and said, "I'm at your service."_

 _"Hmm," Kate said with a smile. "Just this…"_

 _Watching her carefully, Rick let her take his hand and draw it to her sex before he took over, gently fingering her until she stopped him._

 _"Not like that," Kate said firmly. She gasped when her husband suddenly moved, sliding down her body so his face was at her clit. The first flick of his tongue against the swollen nub and she was crying out loudly before she could stop herself. "Oh… I don't know if I can stand how good this is Rick," she told him when he pulled away to look at her._

 _"We won't need to stop," he told her. When his wife nodded, Rick couldn't help himself, moving up to her and kissing her. He'd planned to move back down but he was too eager to continue rolling his tongue around hers to bother for a little longer. When they finally did part, he slid his lips down her body until he was back at her sex again and he began pleasuring her as earnestly as he could._

* * *

"We were together after that," Castle commented. At that moment he was laying with Beckett wrapped in his arm against his side, his fingers rubbing at her clit lightly as he'd been talking.

"No," Beckett said simply. "I did the same for you and then we were together." When she saw the way her husband was looking at her she smirked and said, "We were fucking very roughly for a long time."

"Yes," Castle said as he studied her. When she just stared back at him he breathed out heavily and said, "It's a good idea."

"It is," Beckett replied before they were kissing each other hungrily. She fought against her husband playfully until he was moving away from her slowly. Cupping his face with her hands she murmured, "You should start."

"I need to," Castle said simply, though he'd been about to tease her with that. He brushed his lips to hers before he moved down her body while she let him go. He had been tempted to kiss over her body but quickly reminded himself he had to avoid her breasts. Once he had reached her clit he pressed a few kisses to it before he pulled away and was about to ask if his wife had any preferences for what he should do when she was talking to him quickly.

"You can do whatever you want," Beckett told him.

"Good," Castle said simply. He was about to go back to her when she touched his shoulder and he quickly looked up at her.

"I'll do the same to you," Beckett said swiftly. She did her best not to smile when her husband visibly shuddered and was distracted from it as he began pleasuring her, which she allowed him to do happily.

* * *

Listening to his wife crying out as she reached her pleasure, Castle followed her swiftly and he was groaning her name until they had both stopped. It took him a little bit but finally he could speak and he said, "That was too fast."

Beckett was smiling; since it had been her insistence that they have a quickie; and she said, "We'll be busy this week."

"True," Castle breathed out heavily. "But… one more?"

"If we do that it'd need to be fast," Beckett told him firmly.

"Yes," Castle said. He wasn't startled when his wife looked at him in surprise and he shrugged saying, as he pulled away from her, "I'll take what I can get."

"Pervert," Beckett said, her tone slightly frustrated when he withdrew from her fully.

"I am," Castle said easily before he kissed her hard. They were involved in that for a while until finally he broke away from her lips to begin kissing her neck for a while until he reached her pulse.

Beckett was gasping heavily as he nibbled at it gently and she stopped his hand that was rubbing at her clit. "Here," she said, moving to straddle him. With him holding his erection up she lowered herself to it and once their hips were meeting she said, "We don't have to stay in one place."

"No," Castle was able to say before his wife was moving, rocking her hips against him. With her position she couldn't move that quickly, but he held her hips to try and help her. When he felt her struggling he grabbed her, turning them around before he got on his knees and thrust as hard as he could. Her legs wrapped around him under his arms and he used his arms to move even harder. He tried his best not to go so hard he pushed them over the edge and just managed it before he pulled away and waited for her to press herself against the headboard of the bed.

Feeling her husband behind her, Beckett closed her eyes while his hand was running around her ass. She was going to ask him to slap her, but he was moving again, and she gasped as he was sliding inside of her. When he stopped she bit at her lower lip, flexing her muscles around him before he thrust. She had to hold onto the headboard the best she could as he was moving her roughly, but she didn't mind it, the pleasure he was working up in her was more than enough for her. She eventually reached back to him, cupping the back of his neck and holding on there until he was slowing down to her groan of disappointment. "Rick, you don't really have to," she breathed out though she knew she had asked for it.

"I know, I'm horrible," Castle said, kissing the back of her shoulder as he pulled away. He pulled her off the bed, tossing his shirt on the dresser so she could sit on it. As soon as she was set he leaned over, kissing her deeply on the lips while her legs were wrapping around his waist. He kept kissing her, doing nothing else but that until she was breaking away and pulling him against her hard.

Beckett wasn't surprised at her husband's groan of pleasure against her and she told him, "Fuck me lover, I don't want to wait."

Not saying a word, Castle let her hold him so he could slide within her and they were groaning that time together. He felt her nails slightly scraping along his back while he began to thrust, going as fast as he could. He was kissing her at first, but he finally pulled away and just focused everything on her, feeling her and taking in everything until he made himself stop.

"Rick that…" Beckett started to say, breathing roughly though she hadn't been able to move that much. She ran her hands over the back of his head while they were kissing sensuously and when she could she said, "We were supposed to be fast."

"I know," Castle replied, nuzzling her lips with his own. He then smiled against them and said, "Back to the bed?"

"Help me down," Beckett said swiftly. She was pleased when her husband didn't comment on it, instead helped her down before they went over to the bed and got on top of it. She pulled her husband onto her and as soon as he was in her she hooked her heels into the small of his back to let him know he wasn't going to be moving them after that. He was thrusting roughly and she was responding, overjoyed he had no protest to her demand. They were kissing at the same time and they were clinging to each other while their hips were slapping repeatedly.

Castle was doing his best to pay as much attention to his wife as he could so he would know when she was about to climax. He was relieved when he recognized that she would soon, and he did his best to move even faster. That was the last push she needed, and he groaned feeling the beginning of her orgasm and his own was starting shortly after. He could feel her holding onto him tighter and her nails were nearly digging into his skin. But before they could break it she was relaxing and he himself gave her a few more thrusts before he nearly collapsed against her. "Fuck love," he couldn't help swearing into her neck.

"Hmm, watch your language," Beckett told him teasingly while she was caressing his hair and back. She was testing to see if she'd scratched him but was relieved there was no blood on his back.

"No more?" Castle asked, pulling away so he could look down at her.

"No," Beckett said, smiling at him. They kissed and deeply but not for very long before she reluctantly let him go as he was moving away. Once he was laying down she went to him, pressing against his side saying, "You know what I'd like now."

Smiling himself; as his wife hadn't posed that as a question; Castle said, "Let me see what comes to mind."

Turning to move onto her side, Beckett studied her husband as he was very obviously trying to recall something. "What year?" she asked him when he suddenly smiled.  
"Here," Castle said, getting the sheet so he could cover them. He was surprised when she stopped him, and he asked, "Get dressed?"

"Yeah," Beckett replied. They got up to put their pajamas on quickly and when they were laying down she asked, "What's the date?"

"March twenty-fourth," Castle replied. "A Sunday in 1935. Julia was almost thirteen, Eliza was almost eight, Alexis almost seven and Josie was already five."

"What were we doing?" Beckett asked, pressing closer to him.

"We were in the city," Castle said. He became thoughtful again and said, "We went to Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden." He paused to press his lips to his wife's forehead as he felt her snuggling closer to him and then continued with, "The kids were rushing off ahead though their aunts and uncle were in pursuit."

* * *

 _"You girls will listen to your ma now," Rick told the four once they were back with him and Kate. "We'll walk together."_

 _"Oh but Da, the flowers are blooming!" Julia said. She saw the slight frown on her mother's face and said, "I can smell them."_

 _"From the car?" Kate said simply._

 _Wrinkling her nose, Julia sighed and said, "No Ma. But I know they are, I just know it."_

 _"We'll see them soon," Kate replied before they reached the moon bridge. "Be careful," she told her daughters as they hurried to climb it._

 _"Josephine as well?" Patrick asked._

 _"With her sisters going she wouldn't let us stop her," Rick said. "When the three of them go somewhere she's a big six."_

 _Kate smiled as the man laughed and she watched her brother in law leave them before she turned to her husband. "Where will she meet us?" she asked._

 _"At the tea house of course," Rick replied. "She wants us to contemplate the garden."_

 _"We will now," Kate said with a nod before they were walking around to the other side of the bridge to where their daughters were climbing down to the ground. "What if Ma saw you?" she asked her twin teasingly._

 _"She wouldn't be surprised," Rose said with a smile. She turned to her nieces; expecting them to have run off; and seeing they were still where she'd left them said, "They're well behaved."_

 _"Or else we won't have cousins!" Alexandra exclaimed._

 _"The dessert at the tea house," Kate corrected her._

 _The family continued walking through the garden, admiring the cherry blossoms that were blooming. After they had passed the home where the caretakers lived, they went down to the tea house, finding the woman in charge there._

 _Bowing to her first Rick said, "_ It's beautiful _," speaking in Japanese._

* * *

"You knew how to speak it?" Beckett asked her husband with a smile.

"You interrupted me, you did too," Castle said. "We had a neighbor, Julia was in a class with him at their school, and she learned and taught us."

"Rick," Beckett said after thinking for a moment. "What about during the war?"

"I know," Castle said with a heavy sigh. "We took care of their home while they were gone. And they were friends with Takano Hagiwara, the woman at the gardens."

"Keep going," Beckett told him, trying to ignore the thought of the family in their neighborhood and the family at the gardens sent to internment camps in the forties.

Castle nodded, gently rubbing her upper arm to reassure her, before he was saying, "We were shown tables and Ms. Hagiwara; as we called her; got everything ready."

* * *

 _"_ Arigato _," Julia said, not surprised when her little sisters said the same, though Josephine couldn't quite get it right._

 _After nodding to the family Hagiwara said, "_ Tanoshī _," which meant enjoy._

 _"Leave the cookies for dessert," Kate said firmly to the girls, not surprised to see they were eyeing the fortune cookies. She turned to the woman and said in Japanese, "_ Thank you for these, the girls always love them here _."_

 _"_ There are fortunes in there _," Hagiwara replied with a smile. "_ Since I knew your girls were coming _."_

 _Thanking the woman again, Rick and Kate watched her leave before they turned to their daughters to make sure they ate and weren't focusing on the fortune cookies that had been freshly made._

 _"Da, tell the story again," Elizabeth said eagerly. "About the cookies."_

 _"Oh, I've told it too many times," Rick said, shaking his head. "Anyway, you know it yourselves."_

 _"We should have them here all the time," Alexandra said, holding one of the cookies._

 _"Ichirou said they're serving them in Chinese restaurants," Julia said suddenly._

 _"He went to Los Angeles, didn't he?" Mary asked her niece._

 _"Yeah, and he went to a restaurant there," Julia said with a nod. She smiled and said, "He got me a statue of a Buddha."_

 _"I remember seeing that," Rose said with a nod. She waited for her niece, or any of the others to say something about the cookies, but they returned to their food. She smiled at her sister until they were eating their dessert,_ kuzumochi _, and the fortune cookies. "Why do you call him Ichirou? I thought he prefers to be called Isaac."_

 _"He likes his real name, but some boys were teasing him when they found out," Julia said. "So I call him Isaac at school but Ichirou when we're not around those boys."_

 _"That's nice of you to do," Mary said._

 _"Thanks," Julia said, blushing deeply. "But are we gonna walk around still? Once we finish?"_

 _"We will," Kate said reassuringly. She smiled at her husband and they finished their desserts and tea before they left some money for the Hagiwaras, walking back to the garden._

 _"Is she sweet on this boy?" Rose murmured to her sister as they walked behind the others._

 _"Oh no," Rick said, walking over to them as Patrick and Mary were keeping an eye on the girls. "He's not sweet on her either, they're friends and she's helping him fit in since they just moved here."_

 _"I thought he was_ nisei _?" Rose asked._

 _"He is, but they lived in Seattle," Kate said. "She's helping him here since there aren't many Japanese in the school right now."_

 _"Hmm, I'm glad she is," Rose said. She smiled at her sister and brother in law and said, "She learned from her parents."_

 _Watching his sister in law and the others go down the path, Rick turned to his wife and then glanced around. They were luckily on a path that provided them some cover and he leaned over, kissing her deeply on the lips. "I love you Kate," he told her._

 _"I love you too Rick," she replied. Letting him go, Kate slid her arm through her husband's and they walked together down the path after their family._

* * *

"I just want to make it clear," Castle said after he and Beckett were silent when he stopped talking. "Peter was Ichirou."

"I think that was a given," she replied. Beckett raised her head from his shoulder and looking at her husband asked, "Will you tell her?"

"I'll remind her," Castle said, smiling when his wife rolled her eyes. They kissed gently, and he said, "But we had a fun day at the park, dinner and the Alamo Square home… then back to Mill Valley the next day."

"It's lucky we fit into the house," Beckett said with a smile. She gently ran her fingers over his lower lip and said, "Rick?"

"Yeah love?" Castle asked caressing her hair and back.

"We can look for the houses," Beckett told him. She was startled when he didn't really react to that, instead smiled at her and she said, "Have you started?"

"No, I've been waiting," Castle told her, becoming serious. "Are you sure?"

Nodding Beckett said, "We want to see it, I feel an urge now to see it. Now that we're… so close," ending slowly as she wasn't sure about what she was saying.

"I'll see what I can do," Castle told her, kissing her after. They stared at one another before they moved and kissed at the same time. It was slow at first, but they finally deepened it, holding onto each other tightly where they could until they slowly parted, their tongues dragging out as they were still dueling together.

"I love you Rick," Beckett said seriously, studying her husband.

"I love you Kate, my goddess," Castle breathed as she drew him with her while she lay on her back. He wasn't sure how they'd worked one another up so easily but undressing each other managed to get them to the point where they needed one another, and he made love to her as soon as she drew him within her body.

Moving with her husband, Beckett kissed him, wanting them to have as much contact as possible. She knew, in their memory, that they'd made love in the Alamo Square home that March night and they needed to feel their nearness in the present before they slept. But the thought was fleeting and all her attention was with Castle, making sure she was pleasuring him as he was doing to her so well with their intoxicating intimacy as the night grew late.


	39. Gonna Sing My Song

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _It's What You Value_ by George Harrison, from his album _Thirty-Three & 1/3_; _Venus and Mars/Rockshow_ by Paul and Linda McCartney, from the Wings album _Venus and Mars_ ; _Come On to Me_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _Egypt Station_ ; _That's Amore_ by Jack Brooks and Harry Warren sung by Dean Martin, from his album _Dean Martin Sings_ ; _Magneto and Titanium Man_ by Paul and Linda McCartney, from the Wings album _Venus and Mars_ and _Old Siam Sir_ by Paul McCartney, from the Wings album _Back to the Egg_.

A/N #2: I've made up the set list for the concert in this chapter and it's on YouTube if anyone wants to listen it (just remove the spaces and the link should work):

www. youtube playlist?list= PLJ1WqrLt 5mE2F W3TV pmF9P liq4D lESrWU

A/N #3: Really loved getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so will go ahead and get started on my thank yous for them. TORONTOSUN (It was nice to see you thought the songs I had for the last chapter were great. And I'm happy you liked the emotions that they had; I like to try to get those right. Glad you thought it was very good writing!),

Guest (Really happy to see you thought that it was so good. And you're welcome for the chapter too!) and

Mb (Great to see you thought the chapter was a fantastic update. And I'm glad that you thought the opening to the show was sweet and you could picture it too, I definitely intended that! Also with visualizing I'm happy that you thought the dances with the kids were wonderful and could see them too. I had to laugh at you mentioning that Skye and Mary have an eclectic life but considering the song they got to perform that would make sense. And with the show focusing on Castle and Beckett it doesn't work really since to be honest I can't recall an author ever being on, plus I couldn't write them dancing with other people either if they were to compete. But they may dance on the show somehow. And great you loved that the kids were involved with the last dance, with the song it made sense lol. It was also nice you thought Eliza becoming shy in the end was cute. I'm really pleased to see you thought the first half was a fantastic update. And you're welcome for sharing the first half too! I loved reading that you thought the second half was wonderfully written. So happy you thought that Skye and Mary's love scene was tastefully done. And I'm definitely glad that you could feel the love they have for each other and that you think their love continues to grow stronger. Not a surprise you thought Castle and Beckett are hot and sensual and then tender and loving, glad you think that since it's what I aim for. Really pleased that you loved the flashback to the 30s in the chapter. And glad you thought what I did was a great way to introduce Peter in that past life. I wasn't really surprised that you're glad they're going to try to find the houses from their past life or that you think they're being drawn to those places. And interesting to see you thought they'll give them great comfort and peace as you said with memories and spirits there. You're welcome for sharing the second half. Happy Easter to you and your family as well! And I knew the other review was you, lol, was easy for me to tell so it's alright).

Thanks so much for the reviews, loved reading them all and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #4: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _One of These Days_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _McCartney II_.

Gonna Sing My Song

 _November 6_ _th_ _, 2020_

 _Hello again diary. I know it's been a long time since I wrote here but we've been so busy it's not funny. It's mostly been stuff like school and practice and I don't even think I'm going to write that long today, since we're going to leave soon and I'm just taking a chance right now._

 _We've been having a lot of fun, going to different places still but again, I don't have a lot of time for that. Shoot, Mom just called me, and I need to go. I hate to put this, but I probably won't be able to write again until we're back at home. Then I'll write a whole lot more, I promise!_

"Julia," Beckett called up the stairs. "We're going to be late to the rehearsal, let's go."

Setting down her pen, Julia rushed to toss her diary in one of her dresser drawers on her clothes and ran out of the room.

"Don't run," Beckett told her, seeing her daughter doing that at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry, I didn't really write much," Julia said. "And I wrote that I probably won't be able to write in it until we're back at home."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said. When she saw the questioning look on her daughter's face she explained, "We've been very busy. Come on," she then said once her daughter had reached her and they walked swiftly together to the car they'd be going in with Castle, Eliza and Josie.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Julia replied as her father had been talking to her. "I tried to do an entry, but I didn't have a chance to write much. I'll write when I go back home."

"Are you sure?" Castle asked after he was in the passenger seat and Beckett was starting the car.

"Yeah, it's too hard to right now," Julia said. "Plus, I want to get to focus on everything else."

"We're not going yet," Beckett said.

"Where?" Eliza asked.

"To Disneyland," Beckett replied. "I know your sister was thinking of that."

"Oh yeah, when's your birthday Mommy?" Eliza said eagerly.

"Not for another eleven days," Beckett said wryly.

Looking out the window, Julia tried to see when they would be closer to the Staples Center, but she couldn't tell until they were actually there. "I can't wait," she told her sister as she was unbuckling Josie in her car seat in between them.

"Me too," Eliza said. "But why do I need to have ear plugs?"

"We talked about it," Beckett said, going to get the baby out of her seat.

"Ma-oh," Josie said.

"I know sweetie, give me a second," Beckett told her with a smile. When she and the baby were out of the car she told the little girl, "You won't need to wear them, your sister was at his concert before."

"We'll have them on us," Castle added while they walked to where Paul had told them to go to head inside. "So if you need them we can give them to you."

"Kay," Eliza said, nodding. She smiled and said, "I'm happy I get to go."

"So am I," Beckett replied.

"Me too," Julia said before they were suddenly inside the arena and she looked around with her eyes wide open. "Wow."

"This is huge!" Peter exclaimed. He turned around before he said with a slight frown on his face, "This is where the Lakers play right?"

"It is, but not at the moment," Skye said. She then turned her attention to the stage and said, "We're here."

"Ah, hello," Paul said from where he stood at the edge of it. "You're a bit late."

"It's what happens when there's so many kids," Skye replied. "You should know," she told him jokingly. "Stay here you guys, you can do whatever you'd like as long as it's here," she said, speaking to all the kids.

Watching the two women heading up Rebecca said, "Are they nervous at all?"

"They are," Beckett said, nodding her head. "They're just trying to stay calm so they don't worry their daughters."

Glancing at them Rebecca said, "That makes sense." She then smiled and said, "We forgot to tell the rest of you, we can stay until the eighteenth."

"We're all going to Disneyland?" Castle asked as he'd heard that.

"We are," Isaac said with a nod. "But we have to leave in the morning."

"Will you have time for breakfast at the hotel at least?" Beckett asked the other parents. She did her best not to smile when the four assured her quickly they would, and she replied, "Your kids must be happy."

"Very, though I think the fact we're going to Disneyland is fighting with that for Peter's sake," Genevieve said with a smile.

"Clive too," Isaac added.

"Most likely," Castle told them with a nod before they turned to look at the stage as someone was playing a guitar. He wasn't surprised to see it was Skye, on her blue Rickenbacker, but was when Julia was suddenly running.

"J-" Beckett started to say before Skye was waving to her.

"It's alright," the investigator said. When the girl was on the stage she smiled at her wife as Julia looked out before Skye told her, "Paul wanted to show you the set list."

"Oh, sure," the girl said, shaking herself and taking the paper that the singer was bringing to her. She beamed and said, "You really took all my suggestions."

"I did, they were fantastic ones," Paul said. He glanced at everyone in the audience; seeing they were greeting his wife; and he said, "You should show them."

"Sure, thanks Paul," Julia said, smiling at him widely.

"Sweetie-" Beckett started to say when she had reached them.

"Sorry Mom, but I was keeping this a secret for way too long," Julia said simply.

"What secret?" Jim asked.

"It's the set list," Castle said.

"Did you ask Paul to sing something special?" Martha asked in confusion.

Shaking her head Julia explained, "He asked if I would make up the spaces in a list he had; there were some songs he always performs. And I did, I e-mailed Skye and she sent this to Paul." When she saw the shock on everyone's face; except for Nancy McCartney who she waved to quickly; she said in slight embarrassment, "It's just for tonight, since this is the special concert with the band."

"You picked out some really great songs," Castle said.

"Thanks, and he wanted some that weren't really going to be well known," Julia replied. She then asked shyly, "Could I show that to Mari?"

"Here," Beckett replied, handing it to her. She watched her go and said to her husband, "Did you notice?"

"Of course," Castle replied before they turned back to the stage when they heard Paul calling to them.

"Alright, we can start rehearsal," the singer called. "If you lot are ready as well."

"I am!" Julia said, raising her hand. She looked over at her sister, watching her jumping up and down and squealing and she laughed before telling him, "She is too Paul."

"Alright, we're singing this tonight but we need a bit of practice," Raj was saying from the keyboard he was standing behind. "Since we're not used to having Paul here."

"Are all of you going to be performing?" David couldn't help asking.

"I will," Jackie said, knowing he was thinking of her being there. "Luckily we have tried this, and it does work."

"What's the song?" Clive couldn't help asking.

After they'd stopped laughing Skye said, "It's called _It's What You Value_."

"I can see why they wanted to practice this one," Isaac said.

Nodding Beckett watched as Skye played them in and it kept playing until the investigator stepped up to the mic and began singing, not surprised the kids were very shortly after beginning to dance.

 _Someone's driving a 450  
And his friends are so wild  
They're still in their stick shifties  
But they feel they have much more style  
But I've found…_

At the chorus, Castle looked to the stage as Mary and Paul were joining her for that, surprised that it ended up sounding as harmonious as it did since it wasn't the latter's song.

 _It's all up to what you value  
Down to where you are  
It all swings on the pain you've gone through  
Getting where you are_

 _It's all up to what you value  
In your motor car  
It all rests on what it's cost you  
Getting where you are  
It's what you value_

Julia laughed when the McDouglas girls stopped so they could cheer their mother on, Skye playing bass there a little more prominently. She joined them in applauding her before Mari was touching her shoulder, making her turn her head slightly before she spoke.

"It's really good, they're going to sing this tonight?" the girl asked her.

Julia merely nodded before Skye was beginning to sing again and she grabbed her partner's hand so they could begin to dance. She thought she noticed two people behind them, but she was too busy moving to really check.

 _Someone's driving a 6-wheeler  
Seems the world is all blurred  
Knows he's in a show stealer  
With a sound that's uncompared  
And I've found…_

Glancing behind them, Castle touched his wife's arm quickly while she was checking on Josie. Since the music was loud they had headphones on the baby and he could see that she was alright. When Beckett looked at him he nodded behind them, seeing her turning her head just slightly before she smiled and then looked back at the band and Paul.

 _It's all up to what you value  
Down to where you are  
It all swings on the pain you've gone through  
Getting where you are_

 _It's all up to what you value  
In your motor car  
It all rests on what it costs you  
Getting where you are  
It's what you value_

When the song stopped with that, Julia was startled when two people began to applaud and looked over with the others. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the man of the pair and she looked at Mari with wide eyes.

"Is that George?" Peter asked in a stunned whisper, though his voice wasn't as low as he'd thought it was.

"Peter," Julia said quickly. She looked back at the pair as they walked by them and she watched Paul greet them, looking at her parents. "Did you know they were coming?"

"We did, Skye told us," Castle said, not sure they could really keep that from her.

"How long ago?" Julia asked.

"It doesn't matter," Beckett said, speaking swiftly as Paul was bringing the two new guests over.

"Everyone," the singer was saying. "This is Olivia and Dhani Harrison," Paul told them while the others were looking at him. "They came to hear the performance of the last song."

"Hopefully that was good enough to pass muster," Skye said; she and the band having come off the stage with Paul.

"It was," Dhani said. "You're handy with the bass."

Nodding her head Skye said, "Would need to be, they push me to it." She laughed when Raj and Barry hissed at her; playfully; and said, "Or I just enjoy it."

"They can sing that later tonight?" Julia finally said, trying not to let the words blurt out of her mouth.

"They can," Olivia said. She smiled at the girl and said, "You're one of the four from the Hamptons, aren't you?"

"Yeah, and all of us danced last week," Julia was quick to say to include all the other kids. "And that's Mari's sister Dani, and that's my baby sister Josa- Josie."

"I should give better introductions," Skye said with a slight laugh. Since she'd met George's wife and son before with the band and her family she didn't need to introduce them and focused on their guests. When she was finished she put her hand on Julia's shoulder and said, "She's quite a fan of George's," squeezing her so she wouldn't become embarrassed before Dhani was speaking.

"She's told us," the man said. "Skye told us you and Peter have danced to my father's songs."

"A couple," Julia said, blushing deeply.

"Including the one Skye and Derek are dancing to this week?" Olivia asked.

Julia was about to answer when she heard someone calling to them and smiled when she saw that it was the dancer. "You're going to practice?" she said to Skye.

"Not yet," the investigator said. "But eventually we will."

After Derek had greeted everyone the band and Paul went up to the stage and they proceeded to rehearse, performing a few of the songs they'd be singing that night. The kids were mostly dancing to them, though eventually the younger ones became tired and they sat on the chairs there were.

"Alright," Paul eventually said, stopping the band. "I think we're good and ready."

"What about the other band?" Julia asked, going to the stage.

"They're taking the day off," Paul said.

"What about you?" Julia said, almost speaking over his words before he finished.

"The tour's nearly over," Nancy said, coming up to stand with her.

"Come with us to Disneyland," Julia blurted out. She then winced and said, "Sorry, I mean I wish you could." She was surprised when they didn't say anything, the six on stage getting off before Paul came up to her.

"We are," Paul said simply.

"You are?" Julia said in amazement.

"We are," Nancy said. When the girl looked at her she said with a smile, "Paul wanted to surprise you."

"Sorry lass," the singer said with a laugh when the girl whipped her head around to look at him, her nose wrinkled. "Couldn't resist. But we are going to join you, Beatrice too."

"She's coming here?" Beckett asked, walking up to them with Josie in her arms.

"She is," Paul said. "Do you mind?" he asked, holding his arms out to her. When Beckett handed him the baby he said, "You're just growing and growing Josie." He laughed when she smiled at him before he said, "Look at those pearly whites. How's that been going for you?"

"Not too badly," Martha said. "She wants to chew and luckily they have these mittens with a rubber like end she can do that with."

"My grandchildren have had those when they teethe," Paul said with a nod. "Marvelous invention. She's not wary of strangers."

Castle was about to say something as Olivia walked up to the baby when Josie started to cry. He hurriedly took her and said, "Just a little bit," bouncing her gently.

"But that's not why she's crying," Beckett said, coming over with a bottle. "Are you okay to take her?" she asked her husband. Before he could answer she was surprised when Paul was talking instead, and she glanced at Julia after what he said next.

"We're treating you all to lunch," the singer said. "And I hope it's alright, it's vegan."

"That's fine," Castle said first after he had looked at his wife.

"Yeah, the kids will be fine won't they?" Genevieve asked.

"They will," Paul said.

"The restaurant isn't too far," Mary said. "But we'll take the cars."

Heading out to the parking lot, Beckett wondered if they'd be joined by others she knew worked with Paul for the concerts but the two McCartneys were on their own. At their car she let her husband get into the driver's seat and she turned to him once the girls were settled in the back. She was about to ask him if he knew the area from his previous trips when Julia was talking to them in the back.

"Mom, what're we going to eat at the restaurant?" the girl asked.

"What's vegan?" Eliza asked before their mother could reply.

"It means it has nothing to do with animals," Beckett said, settling for a simple explanation.

"So… plants?" Eliza said.

"And fruits, it'll be something different," Beckett said reassuringly.

"Do you want to try it Dad?" Julia asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, I don't mind," Castle said, smiling at her in the mirror. "Do you?"

Shaking her head, Julia didn't want to say that she had always wanted to try that kind of food, though she knew Paul only ate vegan when he went to that particular restaurant as he'd told her earlier since he was strictly a vegetarian. She looked out the window as they were stopping and she said, "Mary was right, we didn't go that far."

"No," Castle replied before they were leaving the parking structure they'd driven to. Once the girls were out of the car he took Josie's carrier and was going to take Eliza's hand when she looked around them as soon as they were outside.

"It looks like at home!" the little girl cried.

"Stay with us sweetie," Beckett said, taking her hand. "And you're right, it does a little."

"This way," Skye called to the others once they were all out on the sidewalk. She was talking with her wife and Oliva, about the show and the next week. "I wasn't aware you watched it," she said.

"I never have," the woman said with a smile. "But when they were asking for permission to use George's songs I decided I should see." Looking at her son for a moment Olivia said, "Dhani was surprised you wanted to sing it, but he appreciated the performance."

"It needed to be there fully," Skye replied. "Oh, we're here," she said quickly as they'd come to a courtyard between some buildings.

Entering the restaurant, the group was taken towards the back where there were more empty tables, they sat apart in smaller groups and were looking at the menu together.

"Dad, they have burgers," Julia said with a smile after she looked at the one her grandfather was holding.

"I saw," Castle replied. He glanced at Eliza who was next to him and said, "It's soy meat sweetie, not real meat but they treat it as if it were."

"Oh… can I try it?" the little girl said.

"I think you should get the alfredo," Beckett said gently.

"Will that be enough for her?" Martha asked.

"I think it's the best option," Beckett said as she'd looked at the kid's menu first.

"Mom?" Julia asked.

"It's up to you," Beckett said, knowing what she was going to ask.

"What're you getting?" Castle asked her.

"The beef teriyaki," Beckett said.

"I'm not surprised," Castle said. He looked at their second oldest and said, "Do you want to try the same."

"Go ahead," Beckett said. "But remember it's not meat."

"I know," Julia replied with a nod. She then said, "The burger?" to her father.

"Of course," Castle said with a smile. "Mother?"

"The same as Kate and Julia," Martha said.

"So will I," Jim said as he knew someone was going to ask about his choice.

When they had ordered, Paul called Julia over to where he and Nancy were sitting with Olivia and Dhani. She hurried over to him and said, "What is it?"

"I was telling them about your dancing," Paul said. "Hold on," he told her when she turned towards her partner. "It's just concerning you."

"He told them you had the idea to have the song go in and out of hearing when you danced to _Shanghai Surprise_ ," Nancy told her.

"Oh… well my parents said there was a word in there that was bad," Julia said, wishing she wouldn't blush. "I really liked the music and the other lyrics so I wanted to dance to it still. I said they should do that and we got to dance to it."

"And they'll get to dance to it on Monday," Dhani said.

"We'll do our best," Skye said, the McDouglas table near them.

"Will you be there to watch?" Julia asked.

"We're flying back to London on tomorrow," Olivia replied. "Dhani has some work to do. But we will watch."

Nodding the young man said, "Some recordings."

"Cool," Julia said. She was about to go back to her family before she paused and then asked, "I'm sorry, but I was wondering, do you still live at Friar's Park?"

"I do," Olivia replied with a smile. "I'm not surprised you know about it."

"It looks really pretty," Julia said with a nod. She heard her mother calling her and she said quickly, "When we went to Liverpool we met a cousin of George's, Jane French. She knew my gram when she used to live in New York City."

"We know her," Olivia said with a nod. "I didn't know your grandmother did."

Smiling Julia nodded and went over to the table telling Martha, "I told them you know his cousin. George's."

"Oh, good I can ask how Jane is doing," Martha said. "I haven't called her since before we left."  
Looking down at her food, since it had been served while she'd been talking to the others, Julia said, "Wow… it looks a lot like it's meat."

"Try it," Beckett urged her.

Glancing at her mother, Julia realized that she had already done so with her dish and she picked up a piece of the 'meat'. Eating it she was unsure at first, but then realized it wasn't that bad once she stopped thinking of it as if it was meat. "It's good," she said with a smile. "I like the teriyaki sauce with it."

"Can I try?" Eliza asked immediately.

"Here," Beckett said feeding her some. "Rick," she said, getting his attention as the was watching their daughter.

Turing to his wife, Castle was a little startled when his wife fed him a piece of it as well. He smiled at her and said, "She's right, with the teriyaki sauce it's even better."  
"Eat yours love," Beckett said, smiling at him.

After they'd been eating for a while Eliza asked, "What are we gonna do next?"

"We need to get home," Beckett replied.

"That's it?" Julia asked in surprise.

"I think Derek has another plan," Castle said, seeing the dancer was waving towards him and Beckett.

"We'll ask him after we eat," she said before either girl could say anything. When they had finished she murmured to her husband for a moment and then walked over to the dancer and Skye who were standing by the time she reached them.

"Derek's heading back to the house with us," Skye said first. "Bit of practice for the kids."

"Very little," Derek said. "I need to head to the studios for something before I join you for the concert."

"Not dinner?" Skye asked him.

Shaking his head Derek said, "I'll be going to a dinner with friends, but I'll meet you at the center."  
"Okay, come on girls," Skye said quickly.

" _How're you doing_?" Beckett asked in her friend's ear in Irish.

" _Good_ ," Skye replied. " _Trying not to think about it_."

" _I don't blame you_ ," Beckett said with a slight laugh before she went over to her family so they could start getting ready to go back to Santa Monica.

* * *

"Rick."

His wife's voice making him jump, Castle turned and said, "Hey love, I was just about to see if… You don't buy it do you?" trailing off when he saw the expression on her face.

"Not really, and Mary said they should be finished soon," Beckett said, taking his hand with her free one.

"She was fussing?" Castle asked, walking with her as she was pulling him along.

"Yes," Beckett said simply. They came to the family room and kitchen and she let him go saying to her mother in law, "I just managed to stop him."

"Let me take her," Castle told his wife.

As her son was holding the baby Martha said, "I wonder why they didn't just use the guest house temporarily."  
"It's not going to take that long," Beckett said. "Derek does need to go." She turned to her father and said, "What're you doing?"

"Getting some water for them," Jim replied as he was in the kitchen and getting six glasses out. He looked at them when he finished and asked his daughter, "Will Derek want some?"

"Get it for him," Beckett told him, watching him fill them at the fridge before she heard laughter coming their way.

"Why the other kids got to go and not us…" Castle grumbled in mock annoyance.

Beckett merely glanced at her husband before she was turning to the kids as they were coming towards them. Looking for their daughters, she wasn't surprised when Eliza was in the middle with Fleur and Julia in the back with the other three dancers and Derek. "How did it go?" she asked her daughter once she was close.

"Good, I think we're going to be ready really soon," Julia said with a wide smile.

"Tell your dad why you didn't let us go too," Beckett commented.

"Dad," Julia said with a frown, putting her hands on her hips.

"And I'm looking at you at eleven Kate," Castle told his wife.

Shaking her head, and smiling at the same time, Beckett said, "He wanted to see the dance."

"I know Dad, but since it's later in the week not until Monday and the episode," Julia told him firmly.

Castle merely nodded and walked over to the kitchen, watching as Derek said goodbye to them. "I guess it's important," he said after the dancer had left.

"Most likely," Mary said. When the others looked at her she nodded over to the backyard and watched with the others as Mari, Clive and Peter ran out to their families that had just arrived.

"I wonder why the boys' parents went to their hotel," Martha commented while they watched the kids talking eagerly to their parents outside.

"To rest," Beckett said. "They got in late last night remember," she said while the others were walking inside.  
"How long do we have until you go?" David asked the investigator and doctor.

"About two hours," Skye replied. "I'm going to make some tea; anyone else want some?"  
"What is it?" Beckett asked as she was the only adult who hadn't said yes to that.

"Peppermint, good for my throat," Skye replied.

"I'll take it," Beckett said. "And while we're having that I think we should let the kids head out to play."

"Play with the games we have, no kites," Mary said to hers and Skye's daughters though she wasn't too harsh in her tone.

"Oh, come on Mom," Kathleen said in mock annoyance.

"Kathleen," Mary said before she smiled and hugged her daughter quickly. "Go."

Watching them go Beckett headed out to the patio while her husband was following her, and she turned to see the others were following. She was surprised to see Rebecca shaking her head at her husband and she got her friend's attention, looking at her questioningly before the woman was speaking with a heavy sigh.

"He wanted to ask you something, I told him not to," Rebecca replied.

"Is it that bad a question?" Isaac asked.

"No, it's because you guys are here," David said, not surprised when his wife put her hand on her face. "Have you heard about their past life?" he asked.

"I have," Genevieve said, Clive's father nodding as well.

"If I gave you guys a date," David said, speaking to Castle and Beckett then. "Would you be able to remember?"

"You might want to ask him," Beckett said, nodding to her husband. "He might have a better chance of doing that."

"She's right," Castle said when the others looked at him. "How come?"

"Just to see if you could," David replied.

"Go ahead," Castle told him. When the man was getting his phone out of his pocket he said in amusement to his wife, "I knew he had something ready."

"Okay," David said before giving his friend a quick look. "September seventeenth, in 1929."

"What day?" Castle replied.

"Tuesday," David said.

Beckett was watching her husband, wondering if he actually would recall something when he was smiling and looking at her. "What?" she asked in surprise.

"Okay, I can remember it. Julia was seven, so she was at school, but we had Eliza and Alexis with us," Castle said, looking at Genevieve and Isaac to see their reactions. "Eliza was just barely two and Alexis was two weeks away from turning a year old; which meant they were at home with us. Where I'm remembering was after lunch so they were taking a nap."

* * *

 _"You didn't need to look in on them," Kate told her husband with a smile as he walked to where she was sitting in the living room knitting._

 _"I felt I should," Rick said easily. "And I didn't want to write yet."_

 _Kate frowned for a moment before she said, "You're not having trouble, are you?"_

 _"No, I'd just like to sit with you," Rick said. They were silent, and he glanced at her at the sound of her needles hitting together lightly. "I thought you'd already gotten Julia's scarf?" he asked. "Are you knitting one in white?"_

 _"No," Kate replied. She finished the row she was on and then flicked out what was underneath the needles at the end of the yarn._

 _"That's an awfully small sock… even for Alex…andra… Kate?" Rick started to say before he realized why the sock was so tiny. When his wife nodded he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace though her knitting needles were still between them. "When?" he asked when he let her go._

 _"It may be February," Kate said, pleased at his reaction. She moved her knitting to the table next to the couch and let him place his hand on her stomach saying, "I waited a bit longer this time love. I wanted to be sure," as she was aware it was a little more curved which she knew meant she was further along. She then put her hand on his and said, "This will be the last though."_

 _"It will be," Rick replied. He then looked up at her and said, "I'll be glad for that; so you won't need to go through this anymore."_

 _Kate smiled before her husband leaned into her and their lips met before she wrapped her arms around him and they were holding onto one another tightly as they took their chance to celebrate the good news together._

* * *

"That's sweet," Genevieve said. "Amazing if it was real."

"Yeah," Castle said with a nod, not arguing that it was.

When they were left alone Beckett said softly, "I'm glad you stopped where you did."

"I had to," Castle said, taking her hand so they could sit at the table with the others to have their tea. He was thinking of the memory still and he glanced at his wife when she squeezed his hand, very aware they were both recalling it.

* * *

 _When they parted, Rick found that his hand had slipped underneath his wife's dress and he moved it away slowly as they looked at each other. "I couldn't help myself," he told her._

 _"No," Kate replied simply. She then reached for his hand and stood, pulling him over to the stairs so they could make their way up to their bedroom. When they reached the bedrooms on the second floor, she paused for a moment, looking at her husband to wait and see if their children were awake. But there were no sounds and they continued to the steps down the hall and up into their room._

 _Rick left the door open slightly, and then literally raced to his wife so he could help her out of her dress and then underclothing so she was naked. He followed suit himself; he'd urged her to the bed to wait for him; and once he could he was climbing onto her. He kissed her at first, deeply, until they needed to breathe and once he pulled away from her he then began kissing over her neck until he had reached her breasts._

 _At her husband's pause, Kate smiled and caressed his cheek with the back of her hand before she said, "Hurry love."_

 _Rick nodded but instead of beginning to make love to her he slid down to her stomach and kissed at it gently. He felt his wife's hand on the back of his head and looked up at her saying, "I love you Kate," as meaningfully as he could._

 _Pulling on her husband's arm gently, Kate waited until he was above her again and she said, "I love you Rick. Please."  
With his wife's help, Rick slid within her sex going as slowly as he could, listening to her moans of pleasure in response to him. "Kate…" he breathed out once they were coupled fully._

 _"Yes…" she sighed as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Kate let out a soft cry when her husband thrust once, and she told him, "Don't stop."_

 _"I wouldn't love," Rick told her. He thrust a little harder after a few times but was very careful, not surprised when he felt his wife's nails digging into his back. He was biting at the inside of his mouth, the pleasure intense even with as slowly as he was going, and he moved to kiss her so he could keep from becoming too loud and wake their daughters. With their tongues fighting together he ran his right hand over where he could of her body, all to allow them more time to feel each other._

 _Kate was moving her hands all around her husband's back, feeling him moving there as well until he suddenly stopped. "Why are you-" she began to say._

 _"Shall we now?" Rick asked. When she nodded rapidly to him, he started to move, and they kissed passionately while they were thrusting together. He wasn't sure why he began moving faster, but when he did he knew his wife was enjoying it as she was crying out into his mouth._

 _Though she didn't want to, when she reached her orgasm Kate was pulling away from her husband and crying out to him, forgetting everything but the intense pleasure he was giving her. She was pleased when he quickly joined her a few seconds later, and they were groaning and gasping out together until they stopped, sated on the bed._

 _"I couldn't wait for tonight my love," Rick said, rousing himself when he had enough of his strength back._

 _"Was this to thank me?" Kate asked with a smile, reaching up and running her fingers through his hair._

 _"Partially, you're intoxicating," Rick replied. "I'm that glad I'm not with the police, I'd never make it to the station."_

 _Raising her head, Kate kissed him deeply before she told him, "Then it's a good thing you aren't." When he started to kiss at her neck she sighed and said, "We need to get up love."_

 _Groaning against his wife's skin, Rick took a moment to enjoy that before he pushed himself to move away from her carefully. After they got off the bed he asked, "Should we bathe?"_

 _Glancing over towards the door, Kate told him, "Quickly." She wasn't surprised when her husband nodded, and they went together to their bathroom where they began to wash one another with a washcloth. After she had dried her husband; which she had only been able to do when he'd finished with her body; she held her towel around herself and went to the bedroom to get her clothes._

 _Rick made sure that he moved slowly then, wanting to watch his wife while she dressed. As she slipped her stockings on, he had to sit on the armchair that was near the dresser suddenly and he was breathing heavily though he abruptly stopped when she turned to him._

 _Standing straight Kate put her hands on her hips and said, "You have to get dressed as well you sap. We can't be doing that again; the girls will be up, and we'll need to get Julia soon enough."_

 _Rick's response was to stand up, striding to her and grabbing her by her arms before he kissed her roughly. Their lips crushed together he was slightly startled when her tongue slipped through his and he groaned before they began to duel until they had to breathe. "I'm sorry love," he said when they parted._

 _"Get dressed," Kate told him firmly before she pushed him gently to the armoire._

 _Nodding, Rick turned his attention to his own clothes and dressed, speeding up at the end as his wife was nearly running out since one of the girls was crying. He ran a comb through his hair swiftly and then made his way down to see who had woken up. But before he was at Alexandra's room he heard Elizabeth cry, "Dada! Dada!" Going inside, he saw the toddler was standing in her crib and he smiled at her saying, "You've had enough of your nap honey?"_

 _"Up Dada!" Elizabeth said._

 _Taking her out, Rick dressed her back in her clothes she'd worn before lunch and set her nightgown aside before they went over to Alexandra's room. "She's awake love," he told her._

 _"I could hear," Kate said with a smile. "And since you're ready so quickly, I think we can start walking to your sister's school now."_

 _Rick followed his wife downstairs and they got their coats before leaving the home. He hurried to his wife on the sidewalk and he walked with Elizabeth while Alexandra was being carried by her mother. When they reached the school, the bell was just ringing for the day and they waited together for their oldest to come outside._

 _"Ma! Da!" Julia cried once she was on the top step. She hurried down and over to them saying, "You both came," before she looked down at her sister. "They came too?" she asked._

 _"We couldn't leave them at home," Kate said, trying not to laugh at the little girl's surprised tone. "Come on, we'll head to the grocers and then home."_

 _"I can go too?" Julia asked._

 _"You can," Rick said as they turned to head over to the store._

 _"How was school today?" Kate eventually asked._

 _While Julia was telling her parents about what she had learned, she was holding her little sister's hand and trying to keep her from pulling away from her. "Elizabeth, stay still!" she finally had to say as her sister wasn't stopping._

 _"Here, let me take her," Rick said, picking her up. He waited for her to cry but when she merely wrapped her arms around him he smiled at his wife before they entered the store to get the last things they needed for dinner that night with their girls._

* * *

 _"This is quite a dinner Kate," Rick said, following his wife with the ham that she'd made._

 _"We'll have enough for lunch tomorrow," Kate replied. "I'll make you some sandwiches honey," she told Julia._

 _"We can eat?" the little girl asked, holding Alexandra for her parents._

 _"Yes, let me have her," Kate said, hurrying to get her apron into the kitchen before going back to the girls. Taking the baby, she set her in her chair and sat down in her own next to Alexandra. "We need to eat all the eggs," she told her husband and their oldest._

 _"We can put them in the icebox," Rick reminded her._

 _"No wonder you wanted us to have these," Kate said as she'd allowed him to make the eggs at his insistence._

 _"Your ma's recipe is the best," Rick said simply, not surprised his wife was looking at him while he was carving the ham. He set two small slices on the first plate on the stack in front of him and handed it to his wife so she could put some mashed potatoes on it. Once Julia had the plate with a deviled egg and warm roll on it as well, he cut more ham for his wife and then for his own plate. With them ready they sat and began to eat, watching the two youngest to make sure they were alright._

 _"Are you sure they can't eat Ma?" Julia asked her mother._

 _"I'm sure," Kate replied with a smile, it not being the first time the girl had asked her that though she was feeding Elizabeth some mashed potatoes and smaller pieces of ham. "They have their own food. And you have yours which you need to eat."_

 _Julia frowned for a moment before she returned to her plate, picking up her roll as she listened to her parents talking about a serial story her father was going to write for the_ San Francisco Chronicle _._

 _"I think I may do well," Rick said at the end of the meal._

 _"You will," Kate told her husband reassuringly as he stopped her from standing. She smiled and said, "I must get the girls cleaned up."_

 _"I can do it myself Ma," Julia said quickly._

 _"Help your ma after that," Rick said, getting the plates and then food. He listened to his wife and their daughters before they were going over to the living room. He hurried to make a sandwich for their oldest for school and he then went over to where his family was, pausing to watch them in the doorway from the dining room._

 _"What letter is that?" Kate was telling her daughter as she was holding a book for her._

 _"A, so it says_ The horse and the an-te-lope _…" Julia began before trailing off and looking at her mother hopefully._

 _"It does, keep reading," Kate told her._

 _"_ Ran around the field, jumping for joy _," Julia said. She looked up at her mother and then smiled as she spotted her father out of the corner of her eye. "Da, did you hear me?"_

 _"I did, that was swell honey," Rick told her before he walked into the room. He picked up Alexandra from the blanket she was on before he took Elizabeth's hand. He sat next to the two on the couch and told his wife, "Should we?"_

 _"We will now," Kate said. She took the book Julia had and set it aside before she turned to their daughters and said, "I told your da something today and now it's your turn to know."_

 _"Are you still in love?" Julia blurted out._

 _"We are," Kate said with a slight laugh as her husband looked thoughtful. "But it's not that. In February of next year, you'll have a brother or another sister."_

 _"You're gonna have another baby!" Julia cried. When her mother nodded she smiled widely and threw her arms around her mother and hugged her hard. "Oh… but do they understand?" she asked, looking over at her baby sisters._

 _"They will when it's near time for the baby to be born," Kate replied. She then smiled and said, "We'll have to have my ma and the others come on Friday."_

 _"I can call them now," Rick said after he looked at his pocket watch._

 _Nodding, Kate watched her husband go over to their telephone by the front door and she and the girls listened in to his conversation. She smiled at him just inviting her family to dinner and once he returned to them said, "They didn't ask if anything was amiss?"_

 _"No, they just think the girls want to see them," Rick replied with a smile._

 _"Good," Kate replied._

 _"What do we do now?" Julia asked, looking at the two._

 _"Whatever you'd like," Kate told the girl. She watched her go over to her games and she felt her husband taking her hand, smiling as she pulled it and then placed it on her abdomen. They spent some time like that watching their daughters as Julia was playing with her baby sisters the best she could._


	40. Gonna Sing My Song (Part 2)

"I can't believe we get to come backstage," Julia was saying to her mother. It was that evening and they were walking through the backstage area of Staples Center, about to meet with Paul and the band before the concert. "And we got front row seats."

"And I get to see my first concert!" Eliza said happily.

"What's that noise?" Martha asked.

Looking ahead of them, Castle said, "I'm not sure, it does sound like Barry though."

"He's not singing," Beckett said.

"It sounds like he's chanting," Julia said before the worker that had led them there allowed them to walk into a room.

"They do this," Jackie said, looking at the group that walked inside.

"Guys," Mary called to Barry and Raj who had their hands on each other's shoulders, chanting to one another as they bounced up and down. "Our family is here and you're scaring the heck out of our daughters."  
"Sorry," Raj said once he and his husband had stopped and let each other go. "We do that before cricket matches. It helps calm us."

Beckett looked at the other end of the room, spotting Skye and Paul towards the back talking to one another before they looked over towards the kids laughing.

"Sorry," the investigator said, walking to them quickly. "We were going over some last-minute things."

" _An bhfuil tú néarógach_?" Beckett asked as her friend walked up to her, asking her if she was nervous.

" _Ar ndóigh_ ," Skye said, which meant the words of course. She was startled when her friend suddenly hugged her but wrapped her arms around Beckett a second later saying, " _You did this for me before_ ," still speaking in Irish.

" _Of course, I did_ ," Beckett replied, pulling away. " _We were sisters after all_." She smiled as she squeezed her shoulders and said, " _You'll break a leg_."

"Thanks," Skye said, speaking in English. She turned to greet her daughters and after she had done so she greeted the others until she said, "Did you lot have dinner?"

"They've eaten," Liam assured his daughter. "And well, you?"  
"Tea and a bit of almonds," Skye said. "What?" she said to Beckett's look.

"Nothing," she replied, knowing she wasn't going to be able to eat that much with her nerves.

"We also had a pastry from the cafeteria," Mary said. "Something sweet at the very least, for energy."

"You had dessert already?" Kathleen said in obvious disappointment.

"No, that's cruel _grá_ ," Skye told her wife. "We're having dessert right now."

"Really?" Fleur asked.

"Yes, we have a lot of time until we go on," Skye began.

"I'll be back to get you," Paul began. He then looked around and said, "Or someone will. I'll see you before you all go to the arena."

After saying goodbye to the singer Eliza asked, "Where did he go?"

"He's going to meet some fans," Mary explained. "Come on, who's hungry for some sweet _crêpes_?"

Laughing as all the kids were saying they did Beckett took Eliza's hand and they walked down the hall outside so they could go to the room and have their dessert.

The group ate with the band, talking together until they needed to go but not before Derek was arriving.

"I'm sorry," the pro was saying. "I got stuck in traffic all the way out here."

"At least you made it," Skye said, hugging him. She smiled and then said, "And you're here in time."

"Alright," Paul said, walking in then. "Time to go."

Skye wasn't surprised when hers and Mary's daughters hugged them and said, "Don't worry, we're ready."

"You'll be great Mum," Ivy said.

"Yeah, break a leg!" Iris added.

"Thank you, girls," Mary said when all five said that to both her and Skye. "We'll see you in the front row and as soon as the show's over."

"I can't wait to see you playing," Marie said. "This is going to be really cool."

"I hope so!" Skye said, hugging the five one more time before she let them go with the others.

"Come on," Paul told them, leading them out to the hallway once the others had left. They went near the stage and he turned to them saying, "I usually huddle up with the other lads."

"We do that," Jackie said quickly. "And we'll do it with you too."

"Then huddle up," Paul said before they were doing so in a circle. With their arms wrapped around each other he said, "Let's get out there, make all the kiddies happy, your family and friends happy and all the others who've come to listen to some music in this arena. Let us have some fun and rock out tonight."

When the group had let out a collective, "Yeah!" they parted and clapped before those that needed them got their guitars.

Going onto the stage, Skye breathed out heavily, feeling her wife squeezing her shoulder. She smiled back at her and they kissed quickly before she looked to see Raj and Barry doing the same. When they were told everything was ready, she smiled at Paul and nodded, waiting for him to count them in with his fingers before they began, Raj leading them with one of Paul Wicken's keyboards he was being allowed to use. She prepared herself to sing, doing so with Mary in the same mic as they joined in with Paul.

 _Sitting in the stand of the sports arena  
Waiting for the show to begin  
Red lights, green lights  
Strawberry wine_

 _A good friend of mine  
Follows the stars  
Venus and Mars are alright tonight_

Watching the dark stage with red and green lights flashing around, Julia was jumping up and down hearing Paul with the two women. She hadn't been sure Paul was going to use her suggestion for the opening but hearing it she was overjoyed.

With the instrumental after the two verses of the short song, Beckett was looking down at her daughter with a smile. She was going to squeeze Julia's shoulder but then felt a tug on her hand, looking over at Eliza who she picked up as she knew she wanted to ask something.

"Do they like her?" the little girl asked, close to her mother's ear. Eliza was glad she remembered not to yell but her mother never answered her question as the music began to change and sped up. She cried out; as her big sister was doing so; when the lights came up on the stage fully and the audience began to cheer as Paul was singing, Skye and Jackie signing back up with him as well.

 _What's that man holding in his hand?  
He looks a lot like a guy I knew way back when  
It's silly willy with the Philly band  
Could be… Oo-ee…  
Tell me, what's that man movin' cross the stage?  
It looks a lot like the one used by Jimmy Page  
It's like a relic from a different age  
Could be… Oo-ee…_

 _If there's a ROCK SHOW at the Concertgebouw  
They've got long hair at the Madison Square  
You've got Rock and Roll at the Hollywood Bowl  
We'll be there…  
Oh yeah…_

Handing Eliza to Castle, Beckett was watching Skye while there was an instrumental there and she smiled at her friend. She could tell; so early in; that she was enjoying it greatly though she had to wonder about her nerves. She supposed that because the investigator and the rest of the band had performed in smaller spaces for smaller audiences it was a little better, but she kept her eye on her friend as Paul was going back to his mic and the three guitarists joined the singer the next verse.

 _The lights go down  
They're back in town O.K.  
Behind the stacks you glimpse and axe  
The tension mounts you score an ounce, ole!  
Temperatures rise as you see the whites of their eyes…_

 _If there's a ROCK SHOW at the Concertgebouw  
They've got long hair at the Madison Square  
You've got Rock and Roll at the Hollywood Bowl  
We'll be there…  
Oh yeah…_

"Down to the Rock Show!" Paul was speaking/singing as he raised his hand while the music changed.

Julia, holding onto the barrier in front of them, jumped up and down as the band started to chant, "Oi!" before Paul was continuing to the next verse.

 _In my green metal suit  
I'm preparing to shoot up the city  
And the ring at the end of my nose makes look rather pretty  
It's a pity there's nobody here to witness the end…  
Save for my dear old friend and confidante Mademoiselle Kitty_

Smiling at the way the band called out the word, "Kitty," before Paul responded with the same and then they all together said the same word before playing again, Beckett squeezed Julia's shoulder as she could hear her screaming out in joy. She was surprised that she reached back to her to squeeze back but turned to the group on stage as Paul was returning to his mic after playing his guitar with the other three.

 _What's that man movin' to and fro?  
That decibel meter doesn't seem to be reading low  
But they was louder at the Rainbow  
Could be… Oo-ee…_

 _If there's a ROCK SHOW at the Concertgebouw  
They've got long hair at the Madison Square  
You've got Rock and Roll at the Hollywood Bowl  
We'll be there…  
Oh yeah…_

 _If there's a ROCK SHOW at the Concertgebouw  
They've got long hair at the Madison Square  
You've got Rock and Roll at the Hollywood Bowl  
We'll be there…  
Oh yeah…_

The band and Paul played out the rest of the song until they finished with Mary playing some higher chords until she stopped, and Barry did as well at the same time.

"Alright," Paul said, brushing back his hair quickly. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen and Los Angeles," he said, pausing as the audience was cheering loudly. "We have… hold on, hold on," he said jokingly, looking over at the band members as they'd started to play some chords though they'd planned that before. "Can't get on with it just yet. I must introduce this band of troubadours… this band of minstrels. Shall I?" he asked, looking at the audience.

Julia screamed with her friends in response and she laughed as Paul looked surprised before he was laughing. "These are The Rambling O'Dells-" he had to pause again as some in the audience were cheering. "Well then, I think we've all set."

"Should we start?" Skye asked. Paul had told them he was going to do that to introduce them, but they hadn't discussed what exactly they would be saying.

"Not yet," the singer replied with a smile. "First off we have Skye McDouglas, Mary McDouglas and Jackie Masterson, the guitarists." Paul waited for the audience to cheer and applaud as the three women were bowing, and he said, "Tonight on keyboards we have Raj Fox. And last on drums," he finished with. "Is Barry Fox."

Castle was impressed by the way the drummer played then, a brief instrumental before he stopped by hitting the hi-hats. He applauded with Eliza, trying his best since he was holding her still, and then looking up at the singer as he was counting down.

When they started to play, Beckett looked at Julia with a smile and wasn't surprised she was beaming herself. She knew her daughter loved the song and was pleased Paul had asked her daughter to think of part of the set list for the concert as he started to sing with Skye and Mary helping him on the background vocals.

 _I saw you flash a smile, that seemed to me to say  
You wanted so much more than casual conversation  
I swear I caught a look before you turned away  
Now I don't see the point resisting your temptation_

 _Did you come on to me?  
Will I come on to you?  
If you come on to me  
Well I'll come on to you_

As the band was playing the instrumental, Paul was vocalizing with the two women until they got to the next verse.

 _I don't think I can wait like I'm supposed to do  
How soon can we arrange a formal introduction?  
We need to find a place where we can be alone  
To spend some special time without an interruption_

 _If you come on to me  
Will I come on to you?  
If you come on to me  
Will I come on to you?_

Beckett smiled at the way Skye was rocking her upper body with the rhythm of the music, letting her know how much her friend was enjoying it. After the vocalization she watched Julia as she was almost hanging on the barrier, reaching over to her before her daughter was moving back.

 _Before you grab your coat, I'll try to be discreet  
You know we can't be seen exchanging information_

There was another instrumental and Julia was awed by the four guitarists, not having been aware they could do that with the song. But it worked, and she smiled as Skye was following Paul with her guitar until he was signing again, and the three women joined him for the chorus immediately after.

 _Well, I saw you flash a smile that seemed to me to say  
You wanted so much more than casual conversation_

 _If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me well, I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me well, I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you_

 _If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you_

Eliza was about to start applauding; when it sounded like the song was over; but Fleur was grabbing her hand since they were standing together, and she cried, "Not yet!" before Paul was singing again.

 _Yes I will, yes I will, yes I will now  
Yes I will, yes I will, yes I will now, aha_

Watching Barry, Beckett was impressed by his drumming there, knowing the man had been concerned about his efforts. But the audience was cheering, and her husband was whistling to show his appreciation before she looked from him to the stage as Paul was singing with Skye and Mary for the rest of the song.

 _If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah  
If you come on to me then I'll come on to you_

When they had finished performing, Paul raised his hand and said, "Let's hear it for Barry."

Skye smiled at the drummer as he stood and bowed; not surprised to see the relief on his face before he sat back down again. They went into their next songs, all chosen by Julia, but first was _This One_ which she was relieved the audience was seeming to enjoy, singing it as a duet with Paul. She glanced down a few times at her family and friends, pleased that the kids were mostly singing along with it.

Julia, clapping as hard as she could when Paul went to his piano to play _Let It Be_ , was surprised that he was okay with her order of songs. But when he finished the song and moved to get back onto his guitar for the song _Silly Love Songs_ she thought of the next songs in her head. ' _Monkberry Moon Delight, Get Out of My Way, Here Today_ ,' she thought to herself. And she had just thought of the next three songs, _Press, Live and Let Die_ and _It's What You Value_ , before Paul and the band were moving on.

Holding her husband's hand, Beckett looked at her father to make sure that he was alright standing and seeing he was she turned her head back to the stage.

Some time later, Paul was sitting at one of the keyboards with Raj and he said in his mic there, "Thank you, bit of a nod to our dear friend George. He might have wanted to sing that for you to dance to."

"Go on," Skye said with a smile, not surprised when the audience cheered.

"You'll all be voting for Skye and Derek, won't you?" Paul asked. He was laughing heavily at the cheers from the audience at that and told the investigator, "I think they might."

"We'll appreciate it," Skye said. "Shall we sing then?"

"Yes, we shall," Paul said, playing on his keyboard. " _When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza_ … Hold on a minute," he said as he was taking his hands off the keys as Skye was playfully waving and telling him to stop. "That's not right. What'll be next?"

Julia was jumping up and down; not surprised the McDouglas girls were too; as Paul played the intro to the song and Barry soon joined him before the rest were as well and Paul began to sing with the women joining him for backup.

 _Well I was talking last night  
Magneto and Titanium Man…  
We were talking you, babe  
They said_

 _You was involved in a robbery  
That was due to happen  
At a quarter to three  
In the main street_

 _I didn't believe them  
Magneto and Titanium Man…  
But when the Crimson Dynamo  
Finally assured me, well, I knew_

 _You was involved in a robbery  
That was due to happen  
At a quarter to three  
In the main street_

 _So we went out  
Magneto and Titanium Man  
And the Crimson Dynamo  
Came along for the ride_

 _We went to town with the library  
And we swung all over  
That long tall bank in the main street_

 _Well there she were and to my despair  
She's a five-star criminal  
Breaking the code_

 _Magneto said "Now the time has come  
To gather our forces and RUN!"  
Oh no…  
This can't be so…_

 _And then it occurred to me!  
You couldn't be bad…  
Magneto was mad!  
Titanium too!  
And the Crimson Dynamo  
Just couldn't cut it no more  
You were the law…_

Waving her hands as the group continued to play, Eliza was squealing in joy as her father was bouncing her to the faster rhythm of the song. When they stopped and Paul went to the piano that raised up from the floor she made her father put her down before she hurried to her sister. "What's next?" she asked her when Julia had leaned down to her.

"Want me to tell them all to you?" the girl asked quickly. Julia smiled when her little sister nodded rapidly and she leaned down, talking as fast as she could before Paul started the next song, which would be _English Tea_. " _That Was Me, Flaming Pie, Maybe I'm Amazed, A Love for You, Band on the Run_ -" she was able to say before the next song was beginning and she smiled at her sister before they turned to the stage to watch the performance. Going through the next songs she was glad that she'd put _Maybe I'm Amazed_ there, as it allowed her parents to be close since her father was hugging her mother from behind. When they reached the end of _Band on the Run_ she smiled at her little sister before Skye was speaking above them.

"We're going to take a little trip," the investigator began with, watching to make sure that everyone was ready. "Heading down to _Old Siam_ … _Sir_ ," and with that Paul began to play bass before the rest of them joined in until she and the singer were making it a duet.

 _In a village in Old Siam Sir  
Lived a lady who lost her way  
In an effort to find a man sir  
She found herself in the old U.K._

 _She waited round in Walthamstow  
She skated round in Scarborough  
She waited round in Walthamstow  
She skated round in Scarborough_

 _In a village in old East Ham sir  
She met a fellow who made her reel  
Took her rushes to show his mam sir  
Met his dad at the wedding meal_

At the instrumental, Skye was playing her guitar and she walked back and forth a bit in front of the mic until she went back to it to sing with Paul again.

 _In a letter from Old Siam Sir  
Came a terrible tale of woe  
She decided the only answer  
Was to get up a pile of dough_

 _She waited round in Walthamstow  
She skated round in Scarborough  
She waited round in Walthamstow  
She skated round in Scarborough_

 _When a relative told her man sir  
He directed her not to stay  
In a village in Old Siam Sir  
Lives a lady who lost her way_

 _In a village in Old Siam Sir  
Lived a lady who lost her way  
In an effort to find a man sir  
She found herself in the old U.K._

 _She waited round in Walthamstow  
She skated round in Scarborough  
She waited round in Walthamstow  
She skated round in Scarborough_

"Thank you," Paul said, waving his hand before he was going over to the piano. Once he was sitting he began playing, singing the song _Winedark Open Sea_ with Skye's help before Mary and Jackie were joining in as well.

Julia felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and looked behind her, smiling widely before she looked at the stage. She was listening to the song closely as she wrapped her arm around her sister, eager to hear the rest of the songs as the concert continued.

* * *

Watching Eliza jumping up and down as the confetti rained down on them, Beckett debated whether she needed to pick her up before she slipped. But the little girl was fine, and she noticed that their group was starting to move. She made sure Castle was getting their second youngest and they walked together to move backstage, security helping them.

"My ears are kinda ringing," Iris said with a soft laugh.

"Are you alright?" Liam asked her.

"Yeah," Iris replied with a nod.

"Where're Mummy and Mommy?" Ivy asked.

"We'll meet with them soon," Castle said.

"Why didn't we leave with everyone else?" Fleur said.

"They wanted us to come backstage," Liam said.

"But what about everyone else?" Fleur was quick to ask.

Laughing slightly, Liam ruffled her hair and told her, "Your mums wanted us to come to see them. So here we are."

Watching the girls racing over to their mothers, Rebecca said, "That doesn't explain the rest of us really."

"I don't think she wanted to leave us out," Beckett said simply.

"Hopefully we'll get out of here sooner," Genevieve commented.

"It's not that late Mom," Peter said.

"It is, luckily tomorrow's a Saturday," Genevieve replied. She then thought of something and looked at Derek asking, "Do they have practice?"

"No, with the concert I figured Skye and Mary would both be tired," the pro replied. "Sunday morning I need the kids there too," Derek continued with. "But only until lunch for the four of them."

"Don't wear my wife out," Mary commented as she and Skye had heard that.

"Or mine," Skye commented before they were all laughing together. She then turned to her friends as some were hugging her and they were all telling her how well they'd done. "We're heading back home for the kids," she finally said when things had calmed down. "But come over for something to drink; likely tea though."

"We're heading to the hotel," Isaac said, the Fosters and Genevieve agreeing.

"Then it's goodnight until breakfast tomorrow on the beach," Mary said. And they began the process of saying goodnight to everyone before they went out to their cars to leave Staples Center for the night.

* * *

"It looks like everyone's saying it was a good performance," Castle said, setting down his phone. "And it was."

"Thank you, we'll have to get that movie out definitely," Paul replied. "I'm surprised you didn't really react to the cameras."

"I think we're used to them now," Mary said laughing. "I know the kids are."

"They ham it up for the cameras?" Nancy asked.

"Yes, but mostly our girls," Skye said with a smile. "I think they'll miss this whenever I finish."

"It'll be to the end _grá_ ," Mary said. When her wife just waved her free hand; they were holding hands with the other; she sighed and said to the singer and his wife, "You see how this goes for me."

"I noticed," Paul commented. "So we're invited too."

"For everything you can join us for," Skye said, glancing at Beckett.

"I don't care," she said, shaking her head and smiling at her friend's teasing glance as she knew she was talking about Disneyland. "I told you that was up to them."

"And Julia," Castle couldn't help saying.

Laughing, Beckett said, "I hope you'll go on a ride with her."

"Oh, many if she'd like to," Paul said. "I haven't been to Disneyland in… years."

"It's two parks," Skye commented.

"We have those two park tickets?" Nancy asked.

"Park hopper," Skye said with a nod.

"You'll enjoy that one," Mary said first. "Though…" she began before glancing at her wife momentarily. "Do you mind inversions; going upside down."

"I do," Paul said, Nancy nodding next to him.

"I'll go with you," Beckett said.

"Me too, likely Julia and the other older kids too," Castle said. "But your daughters it depends on you two."

"They're tall enough to and they love it now," Skye said with a smile. "Pixar Pier and all."

"It should be quite a birthday," Paul said, smiling at Beckett.

"It will," she said with a slight smile on her face. She wasn't surprised when the older couple stood, and she joined the others in saying goodbye to them before they were off with their driver to get to their Santa Monica hotel safely. That made her think of something and Beckett asked her husband, "Did you suggest the hotel?"

"Of course, it has anonymity enough for them both," Castle replied as they went into the house. "And it's a nice quality hotel. Plus, Paul's people looked at it."

"They would," Skye said, trying to keep him from taking the mugs they'd used for their tea.

"I've got this, you two had a tiring night," Castle said.

"Tiring but it was great," Skye said with a sigh as she sat. She looked at the table for a moment before she started to speak when her friend interrupted her to her surprise.

"What do you have planned next?" Beckett asked

"We're planning on heading to the Huntington Library," Skye replied.

"We're not sure which day yet though," Mary added. "It depends on her practice schedule," she commented, looking pointedly at her wife.

Sighing Skye said, "What she said."

"I'm guessing we're all going," Beckett said. "But are you sure?"

The investigator smiled and said, "I know, it wouldn't seem like we'd want you to come with us, but we do. The place is huge and where I proposed to her is just a small part." Skye squeezed her wife's hand when it took her own and she said, "We're going to show our three youngest the spot. And where we got married."

"I'm glad you're letting us go," Beckett said, handing her husband a towel to dry his hands as he'd finished with the mugs. "I'd like to see where you took that picture in person."

Laughing briefly, Skye nodded and said, "I'm not surprised. But would you mind going to the tea house that's there for lunch?"

"No, and if Julia found out there was a tea house she'd never leave us alone about it," Castle said jokingly.

"That's not why we ask," Mary said. "It's because there's a place to eat at the Chinese garden."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "We've had that here before."

"Okay, we'll make reservations as soon as we know what day we're going," Skye said. "And with that…"

Looking at her friend when she trailed off, Beckett followed her gaze and saw that her daughter was coming down the stairs. "Julia-" she started to say.

"I wanted to get my list," the girl said softly.

"Let me," Castle said to his wife as he picked up the copy of the set list that Paul and the band had signed for Julia.

"I'll take her up," Beckett said, taking the page from him. She glanced at Macca who had come down by then and said, "Both of them."

"Mom-" Julia began.

"It's alright, I had a feeling you might come back for this," Beckett said, letting her take the paper as they ascended the stairs. "Be careful," she told her as she expected the girl to look at the set list.

"It was so fun Mom," Julia told her.

"It was," Beckett said with a nod. She smiled when they were silent, and she could hear her daughter murmuring the names of the songs. "Okay, we're here," she told her as they reached the room she was sharing with Mari. She let her climb onto the bed and they shared a quick kiss before she left, knowing her daughter would sleep and hurrying downstairs so she could say goodnight to Skye and Mary.

Opening her eyes, Julia watched her mother leave before she looked up at the ceiling. She had thought she could fall asleep but thinking about the show and her own copy of the set list she couldn't really. So she murmured the songs, to see if his had them committed to memory, doing her best not to wake up her friend. " _Winedark Open Sea, Calico Skies, Please Please Me, Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, Nod Your Head, Spin It On_ ," she was able to say before she paused as Mari was shifting next to her. She waited a little breathlessly, hoping she hadn't woken up, but finally was sure and she went back to her list since she had scared herself enough to keep herself awake again. " _Rocky Racoon_ ," she said under her breath. " _Back in the USSR, Coming Up, Yesterday, Fuh You, I Saw Her Standing There, Pipes of Peace, Save Us, Paperback Writer_ ," she said before she paused, trying to remember the next song for a moment before she got it. " _Hi, Hi, Hi_ ," she said, smiling as she recalled how the three women had played their guitars for that one. " _Hey Jude_ , the second _Sgt. Pepper's_ then _Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight_ and _The End_." She smiled sleepily at her memory then and thought she should go through the songs by their lyrics when she fell asleep, turning towards her friend and pressing close as her memories of that night ran through her mind.

* * *

Gasping out her husband's name, Beckett reached down to him and threaded her fingers through his hair as he was pleasuring her almost furiously. When he pulled away she breathed out roughly and said, slightly wearily, "Again?"

"You told me to make it last as long as I could," Castle said as he raised his head to look at her below him. "You're not tired?"

"We're all sleeping in," Beckett said firmly. She wasn't surprised when her husband studied her, and she bit her lower lip before looking away. When he gently turned her head she whispered, "I needed you."

"I need you too," Castle replied before he leaned over and kissed her. When they stopped he said, "How-" before she was wrapping her legs around his waist. They had to shift around for a moment before he was sliding within her body and when their hips had met he said, "How love?"

"Do whatever you want to me, but… you'll need to make me come again," Beckett said, her voice a little shaky as she'd climaxed once he'd entered her.

"Yeah," Castle breathed, suddenly pushing himself up and visibly licking at his fingertips before he slid his hand in between them both. He proceeded to rub carefully at her clit, finding it easily as it was heavily swollen. He watched her, making sure he was pleasuring her, until she grabbed him by the arm. When his wife kissed him, he groaned and moved his hand so he could hold himself up on the bed. While their tongues were tangling around each other he thrust once, not surprised at the cry that she gave though it was muffled. He eventually pulled back, thrusting by using just his hips, and he went slowly at first before he sped up gradually. When she was crying out heavily and holding onto him tighter he thrust with his entire body, going faster and faster until he was almost moving the bed as well.

Digging her nails into her husband's back, Beckett was doing her best to withstand what he was doing. But it was becoming more and more difficult and feeling her peak nearing she cried, "Rick! Please… I'm going to come if you don't… stop…"

"Do you want me to?" Castle asked, slowing down slightly.

"No!" Beckett cried before he was pounding into her. She was calling his name the second she began to orgasm, and she was relieved when he joined her in pleasure a second later. Her nails were still raking over his back and she kept that up until she was spent and limp on the bed underneath him. She gasped at his last two thrusts since they were harder than before, and she held him to her when he slightly collapsed on top of her. "Okay?" she asked with a smile as she could feel him groaning against her neck.

"Yeah," Castle finally said when he felt stronger. Raising his head he kissed her, keeping it calm but sensuous so their tongues could meet lazily until they needed to breathe and part. Pressing his forehead to hers he said, "Should we stop?"

"Unfortunately," Beckett replied before she reluctantly let him go so he could lay on his back. Once he was set she moved to press against him saying his name while she pressed her cheek to his shoulder.

"Yeah love?" Castle asked, raising his hand to lazily run his fingers through her hair.

"Do you remember the date that you recalled earlier?" Beckett asked him.

"I do," Castle said. He looked down at her and with a slight smile asked, "Do you want me to try again?" When she nodded he didn't respond to that verbally, instead he leaned over to her to brush his lips against hers before he began to turn to get his phone. "What- you have a date in mind?" he asked, when he realized why she'd stopped him from moving.

"I do," Beckett said, slightly uncomfortably. "January twentieth, in 1939… a Friday."

"Can you remember anything?" Castle asked, studying her. When she shook her head, he shared a quick kiss with her before laying back and looking up at the ceiling for a while until he began to smile.

"What is it?" Beckett asked as she was watching him.

Castle was about to ask her if she remembered anything herself but had a feeling she didn't just yet so instead said, "It was later that night and we were inside our room. I came in after getting some water and you were sitting at your vanity… you had that since you-"

"Don't worry," Beckett said in slight amusement since his voice had suddenly sped up. "I know women had that back then; and I'm not going to be the way I was back then." She then urged him, "I was sitting there…"

"And I went over to you because I was worried about you," Castle said simply though he continued quickly after.

* * *

 _"What's wrong my love?" Rick said, putting his hands on her shoulders and lowering his head to hers. He looked at their reflection; his cheek against her own; and was slightly startled when she let out a slight groan of annoyance and got up._

 _"I'm not a looker anymore Rick," Kate said, turning to lean back against the table. She glanced at him and said, "I was talking to Mrs. Jansen and she kept saying she hoped she would be as lucky as I was having three children. But she wasn't complimenting me," sighing. "She was telling me, under all that, that I was lucky you were still here with me."_

 _Frowning; as their new neighbor was very young and obviously unhappily married to her Navy husband who was in Hawaii at that time; Rick said, "She had that all wrong; I'm lucky you're still with me." When he saw she was about to speak he quickly said, "I'm not the young big six I used to be."_

 _"No," Kate breathed out, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Oh no Rick you still are. I love you and you're a Sheik. My Sheik."_

 _"And you're my Sheba," Rick said firmly though he loved how steady her tone of voice was. "I don't care how Mrs. Jansen looks; she's married to another man. What I care about is why my wife thinks she's not going to make me wild for her anymore."_

 _Though she didn't want to, Kate let go of her husband and walked away to the bed before she said, "I'm not young Rick."_

 _"Neither am I," he replied simply._

 _Kate nearly spoke but she merely turned away from him and shook her head saying, "I'm not the same dame I was ten years ago."_

 _Stepping up to her while she was turned away from him, Rick wanted to touch her but felt it wasn't the time. Instead he said gently, "We've aged my love. And what we've done all during that time is grow." He was relieved when she finally turned to him and he told her, "In our family; our love. I haven't stopped loving you just because of an age that you'll be. I love you because you're my love, a goddess that was given to me to pleasure in every way." He saw the tears welling in her eyes and he said firmly, relieved she seemed to be shaking her self-doubt, "And I will do that because I married you; I swore it to you to love you forever Kate. I intend to keep my promise." When she let out a sob and rushed up to him he was overjoyed at her embrace, holding her tight against him while he could._

 _"Oh Rick, I will too," Kate breathed when she felt a little calmer though she still had tears in her eyes. She looked at him and cupped his face with her hands telling him, "You've been everything I've wanted my love, since we were in Golden Gate Park. I was happy you were with us; I never wanted you to leave. We grew older and I wanted you as a suitor…" She bit at her lower lip and then said softly, "Then you were a man and I wanted you as a woman. I wanted you to love me as much as I love you." They kissed gently before she whispered, "I'll never stop wanting that Rick."_

 _Leaning over slightly, Rick kissed his wife again, but he was a little more intense that time and he soon slipped his tongue into her mouth. Feeling her responding to him he was joyful, tangling around her tongue before they slowly parted. "Kate," he breathed._

 _"She wants this," she suddenly said. "To be-" Kate started to say before her husband was kissing her again._

 _"Shh," Rick said when they'd parted to breathe. "I don't care about her, you're my wife and all I desire." He smiled and said, "You're the cat's meow Kate."_

 _Kate kissed him deeply before she said, "So are you. What-"_

 _Brushing his lips gently across hers Rick stopped her so he could then tell her, "Will you do something for me?"_

 _"Of course," Kate said quickly. She was startled when her husband let go of her to step away, and she watched with slightly wide eyes as he was unbuttoning his vest. When his tie, shirt and trousers joined it on the floor she started to ask, "Should I-" as she was starting to grab the tie of her robe._

 _Shaking his head, Rick didn't say anything else, undressing fully and relieved he hadn't grown fully aroused from their kissing. He then finally spoke telling her, "I don't like saying this, but it's necessary my love. Play with my cock without touching it; and you'll know how much I adore you."_

 _Kate felt her cheeks flush but at the same time her sex throbbed, and she felt a sense of excitement at his request. Her answer to him was to push his shoulder, watching him hurriedly sit on the edge of the bed. She tugged her robe open and discarded it, hearing his rougher breathing as her nipples were straining against the fabric of her nightgown. That was lost as well before she was left in front of him naked, stepping up to him and saying, "I need some help myself Rick. Play with my cunny?"_

 _"Yes," Rick breathed as he reached for her by her hips, pulling her against him. He leaned down and kissed around her clit roughly at first before he slowed down and then was just brushing his lips to her swollen nub. He was fully erect by then and it took little effort to help her onto him before she was moving, rocking on him while he was rubbing her back and ass. He ran his fingers through her hair which she'd let down before he'd come in, and he was soon kissing her neck once it was out of the way until they were orgasming together. He breathed out realizing they'd done so extremely fast that time and he said, "I won't have that with any dame; just you my love," when they'd recovered their strength. He was nuzzling her neck, feeling her pulse racing and he was thrilled at the feeling, knowing he'd helped that happen before she was gently making him tilt his head back._

 _"I was a sap Rick," Kate told him, caressing his lower lip with her thumb. "I should never have doubted you."_

 _"I needed to show you," he said firmly. "I think," Rick said slowly. "I didn't do very well, I have so much more to show you."  
Kate was going to speak when her husband suddenly picked her up to her cry of surprise and she let out a soft laugh as he laid her in the middle of the bed. She reached for her husband as he moved to climb on top of her and they were kissing hungrily while her arms and legs were around him. She expected him to slide into her, but he was soon pulling away and she was gasping in surprise and then joy while he kissed around her neck before he went to her breasts. She was waiting for him to take them but when he instead nipped playfully at her shoulder she was laughing again, startled to see his heavy shudder and his eyes nearly black._

 _"I love you Kate," Rick told her huskily. When she caressed his hair while she looked at him questioningly he told her, "You laughed the same when we were in Daly City; that first night. I wanted to hear it for the rest of my life."_

 _"You will," Kate told him firmly. She leaned up and kissed him passionately before they were slowly parting, and she smiled for a moment. "I love you Rick," she told him seriously._

 _The two kissed deeply again and they didn't stop, touching each other at the same time and slowly working their desire until it became unbearable. They coupled slowly, allowing them to feel one another more easily, and they made love that time; already knowing they would come together again and be rough once more as they couldn't resist each other in any way._

* * *

"So… the word cun-" Castle started to say when he'd finished.

"I know," Beckett told him. "I've heard of that word before and I'm not surprised I used it." She shifted a little and told him, "Rick?"

"I can't…" Castle said. "I shouldn't have talked about that but… it was what we did." He wasn't surprised when his wife carefully moved his hand from her sex and he said, "You had to do the same for me about twelve years later."  
"Hmm, it ended the same way," Beckett said turning back on her side as she'd moved to her back while he'd been telling her about the memory. "Which I'm really glad it did."

Castle moved to kiss his wife, engaging her tongue soon after before they had to part as they were breathless. He stared at her, caressing her hair before he said, "You know I feel the same about you now right?"  
"As long as you know I feel the same about you," Beckett said with a smile. She leaned over and kissed him gently before she traced his lips with her fingertip and told him, "But I don't know that I'd be that worried."

"No, but I get the feeling that neighbor flirted the few times I talked to her a little too much," Castle replied. He became thoughtful and then said, "But we were passionate after those times."

Beckett smiled and said, "We were," before they kissed each other again.

When they have stopped Castle said, "There's something I'm wondering though, if I told you a date right now would you be able to remember it?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I don't think I can. I can remember things but specific dates…" She shrugged before she then said, "Once you recall I seem to."

"So you remembered everything," Castle stated. At his wife's nod he held her close and then told her, "We were amazing together love."

"I could see," Beckett said, running her hand down his chest lightly. When he took it and brought it up to his lips she told him, "I love you Rick," pushing herself up.

"I adore you Kate," Castle said, sitting up as fast as he could. He kissed her hard and then said, "I love you," the second they'd parted. He cupped her face in his hands and pulled her to him for another kiss while he was touching her as intimately as he could before he realized she was doing the same. "Vixen," he breathed out huskily at the touch of her hand on his erection.

"Hmm, do you know what I want right now?" Beckett asked him. When her husband breathed out a, "What?" she moved and laid on her back again before she tugged at his hand. When he was laying on top of her she told him seductively, "I want you to fuck me. Fuck me now lover."

Castle's response was to kiss her intently before he moved to do what she wanted, entering her body swiftly to their groans of pleasure that made their lips swiftly part. Before he could move he was telling her, "I want to worship you my love."

"Please," Beckett begged him. She was crying out heavily as he thrust the first time and she brought him down to her so they could kiss again. And as they made love together, she was elated at how he was taking her as she desired. She knew already they would only stop to regain their strength before the morning so they could be intimate again as they would never feel fully sated, needing one another always.


	41. Back Here By Monday

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Shanghai Surprise_ by George Harrison, from the 2004 reissue of his album _Cloud Nine_ ; _Tennessee Waltz_ by Redd Stewart, the version I've used is sung by Sam Cooke from his album _Ain't That Good News_ and _Maxine_ by the Traveling Wilburys, from their album _Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1_.

A/N #2: I was glad getting the feedback I did for the last chapter so will go ahead and get into my thank yous for that. TORONTOSUN (Great you thought the songs for the concert were very good songs, I wanted to pick some interesting ones),

MsNYC (Really happy to see you thought the first half of the chapter was great. So happy of course to see that you enjoyed the flashback there, since I had fun writing that one. And it was nice seeing that you liked the flashbacks in the second half. Relieved seeing that you thought the love scenes were tastefully written, I try my best with that. Pleased to see you thought it was great writing as usual too. Not surprised you're glad Beckett's not worried about her appearance but I don't really see that happening. And you're right, it helps Castle definitely only has eyes for her as you said),

Emma (Great to see that you're still reading and loving the story as well! It was nice to see you're enjoying the dancing as well as the romantic parts between the couples and the flashbacks too. You're welcome for everything!) and

Mb (Really happy to see you thought the first half of the chapter was wonderfully written. And great you love Julia still getting surprised by Olivia and Dhani; since she's such a fan of the Beatles I figured it'd still happen, lol. Not a surprise that you love them all going to Disneyland and Paul with his family going too; it's a fun plan, lol. Definitely agree with you about Julia's filling in the playlist being dear and special for both her family and friends. I was so pleased reading that you thought the flashback was fantastic since I had wondered what the reaction would be to the news in it, lol. But nice you thought it was extra special with that in it and I had to laugh at your mention of them celebrating as only they can in any time period, lol, by making love. Great you thought the first happy was a fantastic update. And you're welcome for the first half! Really happy that you thought the playlist was good in the end. And yeah, I chose a lot of those songs since Paul hasn't played some too often so they'd be great to hear live. Great you could see Beckett in the past having a bit of doubt as well as being self-conscious. And you're right, in the present life she had insecurity too, it was why I did that with the flashback since she's not the same in the past and I thought that could come up. And you're right about Castle's insecurity too, definitely agree with that! I'm not surprised that you're happy that they get rid of those insecurities in either life since they're so deeply in love with other as well as with their family. Glad you enjoyed the love scenes in the flashback and in the present. Really happy you think them hot and loving. You're also right that there's no other way they can be. You're welcome for sharing the second half!).

Thank you for the reviews, I appreciate the time taken to write them out and loved reading them as I always do!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Maxine_ , the information about it is in the A/N above.

Back Here By Monday

"Skye," Julia said, knocking on the door. She wanted to continue but was laughing since Mari next to her was doing so. "Skye open the door we want to see what you're wearing!"

"Oh good," Skye said, the door to her dressing room flying open. "I wanted to see how your outfits are," she told them with a smile. "And you look fab."

"Like urchins?" Mari asked.

Tapping her nose, Skye couldn't help laughing when the two girls looked very confused, and she said, "It means you're on the nose. But not urchins, just imps."

"Little imps," Clive said as he and Peter were coming up to them from down the hallway to them.

"That too," Skye said with a nod and slight laugh.

"You look like you're really in the eighties," Julia then said to the two women.

"Good, then we've achieved our goal," Mary said.

"Exactly," Skye said with a laugh before they stepped out into the hall. "All the parents are out dancing?"

"They are," Mari said with a smile.

"We need to go get ready," Skye then said. "Get the instruments and go ahead on stage. You lot need to go to the Sky Box as usual."

"Cool, we're leaving," Clive said.

"Hold on," Mary said quickly. When the kids all stopped she said, "I have to change after the performance, and then…"

"Derek called to us while we were dancing," Castle said as the doctor had trailed out. "He said they confirmed you are dancing second tonight."

"I'm glad they finally got that set. Then you can wait with the kids," Skye told them. "We'll head off to meet the band."  
"Break a leg," Beckett told her. She smiled at the kids and said, "You guys can go now. We'll change very quickly and head up there with you."

Julia, though she wanted to go with her mother to see her dress for the first dance, nodded with the others and they went together to the balcony. "I'm so nervous," she whispered.

"Me too," Mari said.

"Imagine how Skye feels," Clive said. "Only two more weeks away from the finals."

Though she was distracted, Julia nodded at what he'd said and looked down at the dance floor. She felt a little weird not seeing her parents there when she felt Mari playfully poke her shoulder. She turned to look at the entrance from backstage, smiling when she saw her parents were there. "Mom, Dad you look so cool," she told them as she hurried over to them.

"You forgot something," Castle said with a smile, handing her the newsboy cap that was part of her costume.

Julia shrugged, taking it, and said, "I was hoping I wouldn't have to wear it."

"Is it too big?" Beckett said, running her hand over her daughter's hair which was braided back for the dance.

"No…" Julia said. "I just don't like it."

"It's not for too long," Mari told her.

"That's true," Julia said before she glanced at her parents again. "Do you like your hat Dad?"

"Of course," Castle replied, since he'd been given a thirties style hat to go with his suit cut from the same area.

"He's been tipping it this whole time," Beckett said.

"She's joking," Castle told the kids. "I'd like to, but it'd be very weird."

Julia smiled and said, "How do you feel Mom?"

"Odd… but there's something almost familiar about this," Beckett confessed, looking at her dress. She was wearing one that was made from blue fabric with tiny white flowers on it, the cut she wasn't a fan of but as she had said it felt familiar to her.

"You must have had a dress like that before," Mari said.

"Maybe," Beckett said in agreement. She smiled at the kids; all of them wearing overalls with different colored shirts on underneath as well as the same kind of hat. "Are you ready?" she then said as the music stopped and she knew the show for the ninth week of the season was about to begin.

"Yeah," Julia said first, smiling widely as her parents came up to the railing and they were watching as the O'Dells were on the stage, waiting for the announcer to start the show. As soon as the man's voice stopped the band was playing the intro to the song and she felt a chill at the familiar music before Skye and Mary were beginning to sing.

 _Welcome to your life there's no turning back  
Even while we sleep we will find  
You acting on your best behavior  
Turn your back on mother nature  
Everybody wants to rule the world_

Beckett, smiled at the three guitarists, as they were all wearing polo shirts with the collars pulled up and Raj and Barry had patterned shirts. She knew they weren't enjoying their wardrobe that much, but she was glad for their sakes that they enjoyed the song since they'd been practicing it as much as they could in the week leading up to the episode. As Skye went back to her mic she turned her attention back to the band while she and her wife sang together again.

 _It's my own desire, it's my own remorse  
Help me to decide, help me make the most  
Of freedom and of pleasure  
Nothing ever lasts forever  
Everybody wants to rule the world_

 _There's a room where the light won't find you  
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down  
When they do I'll be right behind you  
So glad we've almost made it  
So sad they had to fade it  
Everybody wants to rule the world_

"How cool they get to sing together," Mari whispered to her friend as there was an instrumental break there. Though she was talking to her friend she was also watching the dancers since they'd come out during the break.

Nodding Julia said, "I bet they asked to sing this one."

"They did," Beckett told her daughter. She smiled when the girls both looked at her with wide eyes and she said, "They wanted to sing together."

"And now they are," Castle said.

Beckett squeezed her husband's arm, shaking her head while she was smiling, before she looked down as Skye and Mary were starting up the next verse.

 _I can't stand this indecision  
Married with a lack of vision  
Everybody wants to rule the world  
Say that you never, never, never, need it  
One headline why believe it  
Everybody wants to rule the world_

With another instrumental break, Julia watched as Keo and Peta were dancing together then, continuing to do so through the rest of the song.

 _All for freedom and for pleasure  
Nothing ever lasts forever  
Everybody wants to rule the world_

Applauding with the rest of the audience, Julia wasn't surprised when Skye was rushing down to where her partner was, the other stars coming down the stage as well since they were being announced by Tom. She tried not to laugh when the dancers and Skye and Mary were running together off the dance floor to change, watching as Daisy and Sasha remained since they were dancing first. "I wonder how fast they can change."

"There's a commercial," Castle said as the show had gone to that.

Watching the others coming up the stairs, Beckett took her husband's arm to get his attention before she told him in Irish, " _I feel weird being here_."  
" _I know_ ," Castle replied with a nod. He then said, " _But it's what_ Skye _wanted_."

" _I realized she wanted us there_ ," Beckett said, shaking her head. " _And you wanted us to have a free lesson_."

Castle smiled widely at his wife; since he couldn't really deny that; and said, " _Which you didn't mind in the slightest_."

Beckett squeezed her husband's hand that had taken her, and she said, " _I didn't_ ," recalling the past week when Derek was telling them what they would be doing just before his and Skye's Argentine Tango began.

* * *

 _"Okay," the pro was saying as he watched Castle and Beckett dancing the steps they'd learned back at home. "I'm glad Skye asked for you two to join us on this one, you move well together."_

 _"Even though it's only for a short amount of time?" Beckett couldn't help asking._

 _"It does help," Derek said._

 _"We're supposed to have a setting," Skye commented._

 _"And a story," Mary reminded her wife._

 _Beckett nodded, knowing their friends were right, and she turned her attention with her husband to Derek as he was beginning to choreograph their steps. When they were attempting them, she thought that there might be a problem, but the pro didn't say anything until he was groaning at the end and his partner was asking him what was wrong before he spoke._

 _"I'm having a hard time with this one," Derek said to his partner._

 _"I noticed," Skye said as he'd been having some issues with some of their steps._

 _"Is it the song?" Mary asked._

 _"Not really," Derek replied. "But what I'm not sure of doing is this opening. We don't have that much time."_

 _"So we're not really necessary," Beckett couldn't help saying._

 _Glancing at her friend momentarily, Skye walked over to her partner and said, "We should go through it again, see what we need to have before we start." When Derek nodded she said, "It'll open with the newspaper and pan up to the couples doing the tango before he runs in from the audience. They'll stop, and I'll go over to you and we'll talk about the fact that you stole the drugs for the sick."  
"Does Len know you're doing this?" Castle couldn't help asking when the investigator paused._

 _"People have been saying on social media they want more stories, since we've had some," Derek explained. "And they're allowing it for the others this time since it's different eras. But there's only so much we can do of course."_

 _"Which means we need to go back to everything," Skye said with a smile. "That's when the kids will run in, yelling about the police."_

 _"Us first right?" Mari asked._

 _"Exactly," Skye said._

 _"That's when you'll go ahead to the record player and switch the music which will start right when Val and Tristan will come over to us," Derek said, talking to Julia. "And we'll start."_

 _"And we take turns stopping the music," Peter said._

 _When her partner nodded to the boy, Skye said, "And at first they'll dance with us," nodding to Castle and Beckett and the two members of the troupe who would be dancing as well._

 _"And I'll be at the bar waiting for you to give me the bottle," Mary said._

 _"Better?" Skye asked, looking at the pro._

 _"I think so," Derek said. "Let's have you guys start over and you'll join us for the start which I'll show you now too."_

 _Paying attention to the pro, Beckett watched the steps with her husband and hoped they'd be able to dance them well enough during the show._

* * *

"Are you ready?" Skye asked.

Turning to her friend Beckett said, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"You'll do fine, you're dancing the same basic steps you've learned in your class," Skye commented.

Nodding Beckett didn't say anything for a moment before she told her friend, "But not after we start."

"It'll be quick," Skye told her reassuringly. "And your daughter is very happy."

Looking over at Julia, Beckett could see that she was talking animatedly to Mari and knew already she was eager for them to join in on the show actually dancing that time. She sighed and said, "If it wasn't for my daughter and husband…"

"I know," Skye said with a smile before she hurried over to her partner as the commercial break was nearly over.

Beckett felt Julia's hand take her own and she smiled at her and Castle who joined them before they were watching the screen as the rehearsal footage began with Tom mentioning the week before. When it went to them rehearsing she smiled as it showed the pair talking about their story for that song and then Derek teaching her how to dance some steps.

"I've been interested in this dance," Skye was saying in a voice over. "Since I know Derek tends to do well with it." The footage went to the pair sitting on the steps on their own and she was saying to her partner, "Will the lifts be a problem?"

"No, I told you, you're about the same height as Maria Menunous and I was able to do lifts with her," Derek replied, drinking some water. "Come on," he said when he was finished. "We'll try a few things out, see how it goes."

"It's week 9 now," Skye was saying as it then showed the two having difficulties with both the lifts and steps. "Everyone's tired and that definitely includes me." The footage had the pair completing a lift where she was spun around with her legs spread and they gave one another a high five before Derek was saying, "Again," and Skye groaned.

"Good luck," Julia whispered to her parents before she rushed to where she needed to be in the audience with the others.

Watching her, Beckett turned to her husband and seeing the troupe pair starting to dance themselves she got into hold with him. They danced, and she closed her eyes for a moment hearing the announcer saying, "Dancing the Argentine Tango, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

Standing at a bar, Skye was dressed in thirties style grey trousers, a dress shirt, suspenders and dark green patterned tie. She was wiping down the counter, waiting for her cue as Mary was leaning against the counter watching her. Her wife was wearing a dress from the same time period, but hers was a deep red in color. She saw that Mary was tapping the counter and she was ready when Derek hurried up to them. She walked around the bar in a hurry and the pro was looking back once she reached him.

A second later the four kids were running into the 'bar' and Beckett stopped with Castle as the other pair was doing the same. She tried not to roll her eyes seeing that Julia had taken off her cap and was waving it while Mari and Clive were crying, " _La policía viene_!"

Skye was speaking to Julia and Peter, only pretending to since they knew what they needed to do already. The song began with instrumental and she went to Derek who grabbed her a second before Val and Tristan came onto the dance floor just as they began, dressed in vintage police uniforms they were walking around the three who were dancing the same steps before they split the two couples off from Skye and Derek. With the first lyric the three pairs were moving around in a small amount of space, stepping back and forth a bit into the second lyric of the verse. There the men lifted the women and they spun them while their legs were slightly spread and then set them down. At the third lyric the women were leaning against the men's leg as they did an extension before they stepped forward for the next to lyrics. Since they were being slightly censored, the 'recording' became a bit scratchy at a curse word until the verse was over and Skye and Derek were on their own.

 _I can't understand how I've gone astray  
I should be sailing away on a liner  
I was knocked on my back on a dock at Yang-Tse  
… to see China  
But… ready_

The next verse was only three lyrics, but since Skye and Derek were alone on the dance floor; except for Val and Tristan walking around then; they could dance further. They were stepping forward at first before they moved their feet around each other. By the second lyric Skye was moving her foot back and forth in front of them before Derek was lifting her and she slid down his leg.

 _You must be crazy  
And you got no money  
And you're a liar_

With the next verse, Derek was picking up Skye after they had strode forward and then holding her up while he spun her around. He set her down on the third lyric and they began to move forward while they were kicking up their legs together, taking turns with them. When they stopped they were on the last lyric and he was she was leaning against his leg as he made an extension after they'd spun by Castle and Beckett and she'd handed a small bottle to her and she gave it to Mary.

 _My straights are dire from the, the… into… fire  
I'd like to trust you… broken my…  
Sometimes there's no hope in, in chasing opium  
I'd like to love you but I'm not sure what's in your eyes  
Mmm, Shanghai Surprise_

The next verse was further in the song and at the end of it Derek was spinning Skye around before Val was yelling, " _Alto_!" just as the investigator was standing again at the beginning of the second lyric.

 _Back streets so crowded that, no room to swing a cat  
I'd like to know you but_-

The two pro dancers were walking around the pair who were frozen with their cheeks pressed together, watching them. Skye made a motion to Julia and Peter and the former pretended to get the song started again before it picked up at the third lyric. The investigator began dancing again, Derek picking her up as she jumped up into his arms, spinning her to get Val and Tristan away from them. The last two lyrics they were dancing around together, moving their feet around each other again.

 _I'm finding out pursued by evil looking dudes it's  
Getting hot for me like… when it deep fries  
Oh, Shanghai surprise_

With the last verse they were dancing to; the song five minutes long in its entirety; Skye and Derek were dancing with their foreheads pressed together. They were doing some basic steps together, faster to match the rhythm of the song, and they parted so he could spin her around as she wrapped her leg around him. On the third lyric her leg was down, and they began to dance in between each other's legs before he was spinning her at the start of the fourth lyric. When she came back to him they made their way back towards where Val and Tristan were standing at the end of the dance floor with their legs kicking up together that brought them to the end of the song.

 _But, baby, you look like any common crook  
That's hanging 'round in those… shady places (ooh, babe)  
While you asses me… try to impress me?  
Step over here, let me see what's there in your eyes  
Oh, Shanghai surprise_

When Val and Tristan disappeared into the audience, Skye and Derek let out a whoop of joy before she was taking the bottle from Beckett and they were disappearing themselves before the music stopped. The pair came back onto the dance floor and the investigator was hugging Beckett and her wife in passing before they went to the judges table.

"Alright, I think you managed to help those that were sick," Tom said to the two when they'd reached him. He laughed slightly when they nodded and said, "Len, let's go to you first."

"Well what can I say?" the British judge said. "You did very well, and your choreography was suited to the dance and for your partner Derek. Well done."

"Bruno," Tom said.

"You were very convincing in fooling the police," the judge said. "With an excellently done tango. And I will say it now that you have the potential to make it even further this season. A fantastic tango and I can't wait to see your next dance tonight."

"I don't know if I have all that much to add since I agree with what Len and Bruno said," Carrie-Ann began as Tom went to her last. "But I will say you don't have anything to worry about concerning the lifts. You executed those perfectly and it was just amazing all the way through; even with the story."

Skye couldn't help laughing at the way Len started to laugh and she was about to start walking to the Sky Box when Tom stopped her.

"You'll get your scores here, but I just want to ask what would it mean for you to make it to the semifinals next week?" the co-host said.

"Oh, it would be… amazing if I could," Skye said with a nod. "Not really for myself. But my wife and our daughters. And my friends that are here too." She laughed when she heard her daughters crying out they loved her, and she waved at them.

"Alright, let's get your scores," Tom said.

Beckett, leaning against the railing of the Sky Box again with the others, breathed out as the announcer finally said, "Will the judges please reveal their scores. Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Ten," the woman said.

"Len Goodman," the announcer said quickly after.

"Ten," the British judge said, smiling as he could see Skye and Derek jumping up together and hugging.

"Bruno Tonioli," the announcer said last.

"Ten!" he said immediately, holding the paddle up in front of his face for a moment.

"Oh good," Julia said with a wide smile, glancing at Mary. She wasn't surprised when the woman looked relieved and she said, "She'll do really well in the Flamenco; and you, both of you."

"Thanks," the doctor said, smiling at her.

"When do we need to change?" Beckett asked then.

"Not for a bit," Skye herself said, coming up the stairs with Derek behind her. "It's a while until we need to dance again, and your dresses will be quite heavy. Let's just wait until we should change." Looking at her wife, she saw the look on her face and was about to ask what was wrong when she spoke first.

"You just want to leave that on," Mary told her wife laughingly.

"Yes well… it's quite comfortable," Skye said simply.

"Are you wearing a dress?" Castle asked.

"Sure, why not," Skye replied. She then smiled and said, "You've seen what we've been dancing; I can't do my steps in a dress."

"We're not going to have that long," Derek said to his partner. "There's only two more after this one."

"True," Skye said with a sigh before she looked at the others. "That includes the rest of you, you know."

"That's okay," Julia said quickly, not surprised that Mari was nodding in agreement with her.

"Then we'll go now," Skye said, and they left the Sky Box together hurriedly so they would make it for the kids' dance that was coming up.

* * *

"Do you think that Skye's getting into her costume?" Julia was asking her mother as she was zipping her dress up in the back.

"Probably," Beckett replied. "You don't really think she's wearing a dress, do you?"

"No," Julia said with a laugh. "But I thought she might be in our dance."

"The soda jerk?" Mari asked, coming out from behind the screen.

"Yeah, the other one," Julia said, smiling at her.

"You look great," Mari said.

"So do you," Julia said before she looked up at her mother.

"You both are right," Beckett said in amusement as Mari was looking at Rebecca too.

"She's right, they did a wonderful job on your outfits," Mari's mother said, hugging her to her. "And since you're all dressed we need to go."

"Our hair?" Julia asked. "The same way?"

"Derek said it was up to you," Beckett told her daughter.

Looking at Mari, since they both had their hair in braided pigtails, Julia said, "We better take it down. And maybe see if they have headbands or ribbons or something."

When her daughter nodded Rebecca said, "Then this is going to be fast. Brace yourself Mari."

"Mom," the girl said in slight embarrassment before hers and Julia's mothers were brushing out their hair. When they were leaving the dressing room Mari asked Beckett, "When will you change into your dress?"

"After, when you need to get your flamenco dresses on," she told both girls. They went to where makeup was and after she had secured two ribbons she and Rebecca got them ready for their daughters. "You're ready now," Beckett said to the girls with a smile.

"Great…" Mari said before she literally launched herself at her mother.

"Oof, thank you honey," Rebecca said with a slight laugh. She leaned down and kissed the top of her head telling her, "I'll see you after the dance, to help you change."

"Thanks Mom," Mari said, squeezing her one more time before she let her go and watched her heading back out to the dance floor.

Reaching to her friend, Julia took her hand and said, "We should go and see if the boys are ready."

"They're here," Castle said, coming over with the two. "They're ready," he told his wife after they had all looked at Peter and Clive who'd had frowns on their faces.

"It's just for one dance," Julia told them, trying not to laugh at them.

"It's itchy," Clive grumbled.

"And these bow ties are annoying," Peter said in annoyance.

"It's just the one dance," Mari said though she couldn't help sympathizing.

"At least you guys are wearing normal dresses," Peter said.

"I don't think they're really normal," Julia said, since their outfits were in the style of the fifties.

"Well… at least you don't need to wear itchy sweaters," Clive said.

"Come on," Beckett said with a laugh.

"You didn't change," Castle murmured to his wife as they were heading to the crew member who'd called them over.

" _Neither did you_ ," Beckett replied, speaking in Irish.

"Easier to wear this instead of the Flamenco outfit," Castle said before they were stopped.

"The kids need to go," the woman said. "Sorry," she said slightly sheepishly.

"We'll be in the Sky Box," Beckett told her daughter though it was directed to all the kids.

Julia gave her parents a quick hug before she was going with the other four, holding Mari's hand tightly. "I'm really ready for this dance," she whispered to her friend as they were taken offstage and told to wait there.

"Me too, the outfits make it really fun," Mari said, whispering herself.

"We can hear you still," Peter said in mock annoyance.

"Sorry," Julia said, trying her best not to laugh though it seeped into her tone still.

"But they are nice dresses," Clive said before he slightly squirmed in embarrassment. "You look… nice…?"

"Why's that a question?" Julia asked him teasingly.

"I don't have a crush on either of you," Clive said, slumped over.

"Me neither," Peter said, raising his finger.

"We don't have them on you guys," Julia said. "But thank you for complimenting us, both of you."  
"I was worried what you would think," Peter told them.

"Thanks," Mari said.

Looking out on the stage, Julia smoothed down the skirt of her outfit before she said, "You know these aren't dresses."

"They aren't attached?" Peter said, startled.

"No, the belts cover where they end," Mari said.

Julia smiled as the boys looked at the belts she and her friend had on with their outfits. She was wearing a green sweater that had three quarters sleeves and a grey poodle skirt that was embroidered with white flowers along the front of it. She looked over at Mari and smiled at her friend as her outfit was similar, but her colors were blue and white for the sweater and skirt. And there were music notes on the side of it near the hem which she was slightly jealous of though she still liked the flowers on her skirt. She was shaken from her thoughts when Derek joined them, and she smiled at his soda jerk outfit. "You look like we could order sodas from you," she told him.

"I know, I almost did that to myself in the mirror," the pro replied in amusement. "We need to head out to the dance floor, Eddie and Emma are finished."

"What scores did they get?" Peter asked as they started to walk.

"Two nines and a ten," Derek said. "I think Sasha told me Eddie lost sync."

"Oh no," Julia said with a gasp. They were out on the dance floor so she looked up to see if the two were still there. But finding no one was leaning against the railing she shared a look with Mari and they turned their attention back to the floor where they were led towards the countertop of a soda fountain that was being set up.

"You remember everything," Derek was telling the four as he hurried them to a spot in front of one of the cameras.

"Are we joking before it goes to commercial?" Julia asked in surprise.

"Yeah, just something fast," Derek said. "I'll stay with you and your parents know about it; they're okay with it." He was startled when the four huddled up, led by Julia, and he glanced up at the Sky Box where her parents were with his partner.

"Why does that not surprise me," Beckett said in amusement as she and her husband had seen that as well.

"It doesn't surprise me either," Castle said. "But I wonder what she thought of. She's good at improv."

"Her gram will be proud," Beckett commented.

"Me too," Skye said. She smiled when the two looked at her and said, "She's taken to this well," before they looked down at the floor as Tom was speaking.

"Next up at the halfway point of our Eras Night dances," the co-host was saying. "We have the Hamptons troupe dancing a fifties styled Quickstep so stick around."

Beckett smiled, as the girls were pretending to fix the boy's bow ties they were wearing with sweaters while Derek was wiping down a glass behind them. "She's quick," she said when the show went to commercial after that.

"Very," Skye agreed before she felt a hand on her back. " _Grá_?" she said, startled seeing her in her Flamenco dress already.

"I was worried about the hem," Mary said with a shrug. "Ruffles," she said in annoyance as Castle and Beckett were looking at her.

"Yeah, I'll be wearing them soon myself," the latter said. She sighed and then told her friend, "You're pushing it Rose."

" _Cosúil le caithfidh mé do lámh a dhúnadh_ ," Skye said laughingly. It meant the phrase 'like I had to twist your arm' before she smirked and said, " _Ne govorite mne, chto vy ne nosite yego dlya nego_."

"What was that?" Castle asked Mary.

Holding up her hand, as her friend had said the phrase 'don't tell me you're not wearing it for him,' Beckett said back to her, " _Kto yeshche_."

"Guys?" Castle asked them.

Shaking her head, since her friend had said who else for, Skye then said, "It's good natured ribbing."

"Between siblings," Mary said.

Beckett did her best to not roll her eyes before she heard the countdown and they hurried to the railing so they would be able to watch the kids. She searched out Julia and quickly found her, standing at the counter and listening with the other kids to Derek.

When she looked up, Julia was startled seeing Mary was wearing a Flamenco dress and she wanted to point it out to the others, but they were getting into their places.

"Welcome back," Tom said. "As promised before the commercial break, dancing the Quickstep to the song _Tennessee Waltz_ the Hamptons troupe."

As the music for the song began, Julia was dancing with Clive before they went together over to the counter. At the first lyric, Peter came over to them; having been dancing with Mari on the other side of the stage; and he held his hand out to her before they started to dance. They went across to the other end of the stage at the fourth lyric before they were stopping. The rest of the verse they began to jump around at the same time before they were kicking their feet in between each other's.

 _Well I was dancin' with my baby to the Tennessee Waltz  
When that old friend I happened, I happened to see, oh yeah  
I introduced him to my baby  
And while they were dancin'  
My friend stole my sweetheart away from me  
Oh yes he did_

Going back across the stage, Julia and Peter stopped halfway where they slowed down and spun around until the second half of the verse started and there they continued down the dance floor again. When they reached the end of the verse Clive and Mari suddenly started to dance, going across so the other pair could take a break.

 _I remember the night and that beautiful Tennessee Waltz  
Only you know how much I lost, oh yeah  
You know that I lost my, lost my baby  
That night they kept playing  
That beautiful Tennessee Waltz, oh yeah_

Clive and Mari stopped spinning in the middle of the dance floor, turning back and forth until after the second lyric. When they stopped they began to kick their legs in between each other's before they went down to the end of the dance floor which took them to the end of the verse while Julia and Peter were standing across from them at the counter.

 _I was dancin' with my baby to that Tenne-Tennessee Waltz  
When that old friend I happened, I happened to see oh yeah  
Introduced him to my baby  
While, while they were dancin'  
Dirty dog stole my baby from me, oh yeah_

"I hope you're ready," Julia said softly to her partner so her lips wouldn't move. She wasn't surprised when he replied to her, though he needed to speak fast since they needed to start dancing soon.

"More than ready," Peter said.

"Get ready," Derek told them quietly.

At the very last verse of the song, Julia and Peter moved out as Clive and Mari were doing the same, all of them dancing at the same time. When they met they spun around each other before stopping at the end of the second lyric. They were dancing around in a circle for a moment before stopping and then kicking their feet through each other's before Clive and Mari spun away from the other two and left Julia and Peter. From the fifth to the eight lyrics, they were spinning, dancing forward and then spinning again. On the last lyric, they went to the counter and pretended to sip a drink with two straws as Clive and Mari were doing next to them.

 _I remember that night and that beautiful Tennessee Waltz  
Only you know just how much, how much I have lost oh yeah  
You know that I lost my, lost my baby  
That night they kept on playing  
That beautiful  
That wonderful  
That marvelous  
That glorious  
That beautiful Tennessee Waltz_

Beckett was applauding with her husband and the McDouglases heavily before Derek came around the counter and hugged the kids as they threw themselves at him. She squeezed Castle's hand tightly as the pro led the four to the judges and shared a smile with him as Carrie-Ann was calling them up to the table.

"That was amazing, I can't believe you four are only eleven and ten," the judge told them with a smile. "And even though you two have said you're not as dedicated as Peter and Julia," she then directed to Clive and Mari. "I can see you are."

Thanking the judge, the kids were going to walk back to Derek when Len motioned them over.

"Very nice lines and I appreciate your holds," the British judge told them. "And your footwork was fantastic. Great job."

"Thanks!" Julia said with her friends before she hurried over to Bruno.

Laughing the judge said, "I suppose I'm last. But I think Len is right, you were spectacular in your hold at your age. And you're all four very good dancers, I'm looking forward to seeing you next week."

After they had thanked him, Julia went with her friends over to Derek and they stayed by Tom before the show went to commercial and they then hurried backstage, meeting her mother before they went to the dressing rooms to change for the Flamenco which was not too far away.

Out in the audience Eliza smiled at Fleur; who she was sitting with; and said, "Do you miss getting to dance?"

Shaking her head, the little girl said, "I like seeing Mummy dance more."

"And your mommy," Eliza pointed out.

"Yeah, did you see her? Her dress is so pretty!" Fleur said happily.

"It is," Eliza agreed, remembering the white Flamenco dress with light blue polka dots.

"I feel sorry for Mom," Marie said. She wasn't surprised when her sisters looked at her and said, "She doesn't like ruffles."

"I don't think my mommy does either," Eliza said.

"She doesn't, but it's only for the dance," Jim said, knowing that the design of his daughter's flamenco dress was the same as Mary's with ruffles on the skirt and at the end of the sleeves.

"How do you two like your dresses?" Beckett was asking the dressing room while she put her hair into a bun.

"They're really covered in ruffles," Julia said first as she walked out from behind the screen where she'd gone to zip up Mari's dress before her friend had done the same to hers.

"But they are cool," Mari said with a smile as Beckett turned to them.

"You both look beautiful," she said with a smile, studying their hair which she had done before letting them get dressed in their costumes.

"And yours Mom?" Julia asked.

"Hold on," Beckett said with a smile as she stood up from her chair. She took her dress and went behind the screen, changing from her thirties dress into the flamenco dress she'd been given. She zipped it up as much as she could before she went back around the screen and told her daughter, "You'll have to help me sweetie."

"Sure," Julia said, smiling at her. "You look really pretty. Dad's going to love that dress."

"I thought the same thing," Beckett replied, turning. "I hope you'll be able to reach."

"I will," Julia said firmly before she was pulling the zipper up the rest of the way. "There," she told her mother.

When she turned around Beckett was going over to the door at the knock on it and opening it said, "You took your time," teasingly.

"I had to, I knew it might take you a while," Castle said, studying her closely.

Beckett reached out and squeezed his shoulder firmly saying, "Let us get out, the dance will start soon."

Castle nodded and hurried to step aside, smiling as Mari came out into the hallway soon. "You look great," he told her.

"Thanks, it's so real," Mari said. She then studied him and said, "You do too."

"You feel weird though, don't you Dad?" Julia said as she walked out next.

"A little," Castle replied since his outfit had black trousers and a white shirt with a black bolero jacket. "Luckily Derek and Skye are wearing the same."

"But different colors," Beckett said with a smile, watching her husband hugging their second oldest.

"You look great too sweetheart," Castle said when they parted. "Too bad we're not actually in Spain."

"I know," Julia said. "But I'd be afraid to dance in a dress." She then said, before her father could say anything to that, "I get to keep the dress," looking down at her dress that was dark green with tiny white polka dots all over it.

"We're gonna use them for Halloween costumes next year," Mari said, squeezing her friend's arm. Her dress was white with red dots on them that were a medium size and some ruffles were fully red. "Where are Peter and Clive?" she asked.

"They went to get their makeup over with," Castle said, not surprised when the two girls left and headed down the hall in that direction. He turned to his wife and was going to speak when she was wrapping her arms around him, leading him to immediately do the same.

"We should probably go back inside the room," Beckett told her husband.

"No, we're fine," Castle said before he leaned over, kissing her gently.

Beckett was a little frustrated by that, but she knew they couldn't really do much more until they were back at the guest house. When they parted soon after she murmured to him, " _Promise me you'll do better later_ ," speaking in Irish.

" _Of course_ ," Castle said before he reluctantly let her go. Taking her hand, they went together to makeup and since he had little he needed he waited for his wife while Julia stood with him.

"What?" Beckett asked, looking at the two when she stood from her chair and found them staring at her.

Castle took her hand again and pulled her after him back to the hallway to the dressing rooms. "I forgot to tell you," he said seriously to her. "You look stunning Kate."

" _I can't wear this for you later_ ," Beckett replied with a smile, speaking in Irish.

" _You don't need to, just… keep this for a little_?" Castle asked, touching her bun carefully.

" _I will_ ," Beckett said before they shared a kiss.

"Mom, Dad," Julia said softly, feeling bad for interrupting them. When they turned to her she said, "It's almost time."  
"We're coming," Beckett said, taking her husband's hand and they walked swiftly up to the Sky Box where they saw Daisy and Sasha were just finishing their Lindy Hop.

"Are you all ready?" Skye asked, smiling at her friends.

"Are you?" Beckett said as Mary was adjusting the navy-blue bolero jacket the investigator was wearing.

"We are," the doctor said.

"Hopefully you dancing before you dance with Derek won't hurt you," Peter said.

"Oh, thank you," Skye said. "We'll be alright."

Getting out of the way of the pair who were coming up after the judge's comments, Beckett went to Julia and took her hand as they went down the stairs saying, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, don't worry," Julia said while they went hurriedly to where they needed to stand on the dance floor while the crew was hurriedly setting up the façade of an old outdoor market for the Flamenco. She wasn't surprised when the pair got their scores; a thirty; and she then said, "Here we go," as it went to Tom.

After the co-host had introduced Skye, Mary and Derek; the doctor watching the other two with her hands on her hips; it went to the biographical video about the investigator.

"I was born," Skye was saying as the footage showed the investigator standing on the beach. "In 1980 in Santa Monica." It went to her sitting on a chair in a room as she said, "Unfortunately my mother had some complications after giving birth to me and she passed away, so I never knew her. I was raised by my father, Robert McDouglas and he gave me my nickname since he was certain I'd love flying as much as both him and my mother."

"Robin was very proud of his daughter," Liam said as it went to him. "He'd always wanted children and he loved his wife very much. But he was proudest of the fact that Skye did end up loving the sky and flying. I just wish he'd been able to see where she is now."

"In May of 1986," Skye was saying as it went back to her. "I was on a flight with my father returning from Washington DC. Unfortunately, the plane we were on ran off the runway after an emergency landing, I was only one of two survi…" She turned away then, trying to speak a few more times, before the footage flashed for a moment and Mary was standing and leaning over to her wife, hugging her tightly.

"We lost Robin that day," Liam said as the footage changed to him. "He died protecting his little girl and he asked me to continue that."

"After that," Skye said. "It was hard to go on, but I decided the best thing I could do was to try and keep what happened to me from happening again to other fliers. With the encouragement of my dad, I got my masters in psychology and as soon as I had left Oxford I applied and was accepted into the NTSB Training Academy."

"I met Skye after she graduated from NTSB training at the newly formed NTSB West," Doug Feith said next. "You could see that she was extremely passionate about what she would be doing, and she proved herself well." The footage then showed scenes of Skye and Derek dancing and the head of NTSB West said, "And she's doing the exact same thing on the show."

"It's hard to imagine Skye not tackling each dance head on," Beckett then said, her and Castle sitting together.

Julia smiled at her parents as they were looking at each other, knowing her mother was embarrassed at being on the screen. She wanted to speak but her father was talking that time and she looked up.

"And because she's doing this for her wife and daughters it makes it even more important, she does the best she can do," Castle was saying. "Which is what drives her."

"That's definitely one of the things I love about her," Mary said while there was footage of them practicing the Flamenco with Derek. "And it's so wonderful to see how happy she's been with this, that's all I wanted for her."

"I'm doing my best for everyone who cares for me," Skye said, the footage ending and getting back to her. "And if I can make it at least to the finals, then I'll be happy. All I want to do is dance."

The music of the show played while the logo went across the screen before it went to Tom standing near the corner of the stage while behind him Skye and Mary were standing in two spotlights; the only ones on the floor at that moment.

"Before their Flamenco tonight," the co-host was saying. "Skye and Mary McDouglas will dance a traditional Flamenco."

As the guitar player; on the stage in front of the band; began to play Mary started to use the castanets that she had in her hands, stomping her feet.

When Skye began to dance as well, Beckett began to call out to them; as the two women had instructed them to do. She felt a little embarrassed but felt better when Derek helped her and after a bit Emma up in the Sky Box she could tell. She watched the two dancing around each other with just the guitar music until the lights went off as they froze close together with their hands up in the air and them came on at the fake market set up.


	42. Back Here By Monday (Part 2)

Castle, playing the guitar he'd been given a little, watched the kids in front of him dancing the Flamenco while his wife was 'helping' them though they knew already. He smiled at the boys, wearing simple shirts and black pants, as they joined in and Mary came over to help his wife as the announcer was saying, "Dancing Flamenco, Skye McDouglas and Derek Hough, featuring Mary McDouglas," Skye walking in on the other side and watching her wife.

The music from the song began and Skye was walking over to Mary before she started to walk away, and she reached out for her just as Derek was doing the same on her other side. They looked at each other before Mary was stepping back and the two were stepping up to each other as the first lyric began. They began by stomping their feet before they stopped at the second lyric and walked around each other before Mary was parting them by walking in between them. They walked after her on the third lyric and grabbed her at the same time before they were all dancing together through the end of the verse and into the next one.

 _It was late in the mornin' of November  
She was loading up the wagon in the rain  
_ _She said she'd be back in the morning  
But she never came through here again_

Skye, Mary and Derek split up before they were dancing in unison, moving their legs and arms together. At the third lyric Derek was spinning both women and they came together to dance towards each other at the end of that verse. When the title of the song was sung after that, the pro was trying to dance with Mary and Skye took his arm and spun him before Mary was coming back to her.

 _I'd see her in the market  
She never had much to spend  
These days the market's an old parking lot  
And she never came through here again  
_

 _Maxine, Maxine, Maxine, Maxine_

At the first lyric of the next verse Skye and Mary were still dancing, but Derek soon came back and took the doctor away and they were dancing together up until the third lyric before the investigator took his arm and they were dancing together.

 _Time plays tricks on your memory  
It's been a long weekend  
She said she'd be back here by Monday  
But never came through here again_

Julia smiled as Mary joined in with them and they were dancing flamenco steps for the first two lyrics before they stopped at the third. There she was happy to see Skye's idea of her and Derek taking the ends of the shawl off Mary so she could dance out of it worked. It was left on the ground by the two and they danced down part of the dance floor at the last lyric of the verse and then the title of the song being sung again.

 _Some say a saucer landed  
And someone took her in  
They found her blue serape here on the ground  
And she never came through here again  
_

 _Maxine, Maxine, Maxine, Maxine_

At the very last verse of the song, and the title again, Skye and Derek danced together after the first lyric. They were basic flamenco steps at first before they faced each other, and they danced faster until the end of the third line. The end of the dance had Mary dancing back and forth between the two until the music stopped and Skye was dipping her fast as Derek stepped away from the pool of light that shone on them.

 _And if you should see her  
She may be old by then  
Tell her that I miss her, and you can ask her when  
She's ever coming through here again  
_

 _Maxine, Maxine, Maxine, Maxine  
_

 _Okay, that's it_

"Oh good," Julia said happily while they were applauding with the audience. "At least they kept George talking at the end."

"I don't think they could cut it out," Beckett said. "Come on," she then told her and the other kids, urging them over to the Sky Box where they would be waiting.

Hurrying up, Julia went straight to the railing just as Tom was calling on Bruno to give his opinion of the dance.

"Oh, what a difficult decision," the Italian judge said to Mary. He then laughed and said, "Though I don't think it was. I have to admit I wasn't sure why they had picked you."

"It was my choice," Skye said rapidly, thinking he would say it was a bad idea.

"And I can see why, she's quite a dancer too," Bruno said.

Smiling as her wife hugged her Mary thanked the judge before he was continuing.

"I know there are going to be some people who wonder if you had an advantage knowing the Flamenco before this," Bruno said. "Though you knew an idea of what we might ask I don't believe it was enough to help you. That was an amazingly well danced Flamenco."

"Len," Tom said.

"I had wondered about you too Mrs. McDouglas," the judge began.

"Mary's fine," she said quickly.

"But Bruno is right, you were able to execute these steps very well and what I liked was that you didn't forget your lines," Len said, directing that to Skye. "You looked fantastic and I felt like I was in Seville."

Laughing softly, Skye hugged Derek and then her wife before Carrie-Ann was speaking last.

"I couldn't help get emotional watching you in the footage before your dance," the judge said. "And I see why that passion transferred over to this dance; your wife?" When Skye nodded Carrie-Ann then said, "That's very good inspiration to have as I loved it. You had a story again, but you focused very heavily on steps. Those that you had in sync were just perfect. Your parents would be proud of you, I'm proud of you."

Julia smiled at her mother as Skye suddenly hurried to the judge, hugging her quickly over the table before Tom was sending them up to the Sky Box.

"Think they'll get good scores?" Castle asked her.

Opening her mouth; intending to speak fast; Julia couldn't answer her father as Skye, Mary and Derek had reached the box and Erin was speaking to them.

"I want to ask you about your dance before you two danced with Derek," the co-host was saying. "Why did you take the risk with two dances?"

"As soon as I found out we were dancing the Flamenco," Skye said. "I knew there would be some that thought we had an unfair advantage, even though I didn't know the ballroom version of this dance. So I thought to even the playing field a little we'd dance the traditional Flamenco and then go ahead with the ballroom version."

"You also had the Hamptons troupe with you," Erin said, smiling at the kids who were standing with Castle and Beckett, Eddie and Emma with them. "Do you four know how to dance this?" she asked them.

"Yep," Peter said immediately, laughing when his friends did.

"Do you?" Erin then said to Beckett.

Shaking her head, and because she didn't have a mic on her, Beckett pointed to Julia and said, "She showed me what to do," a little loudly.

"And very quickly, what was it like dancing together?" Erin said, directing that to both Skye and Mary.

"Amazing," the latter said first and even before the co-host stopped speaking. Mary laughed with the others before she said, "It was, I wasn't intending to do this since it was just for Skye to dance."

"There was no way this wasn't going to happen," the investigator said firmly. "And it was fun."

"A lot of fun," Derek added.

"Okay, let's get your scores," Erin said.

Julia felt Mari squeezing her hand hard and she leaned over, as the announcer was speaking, whispering into her ear, "It'll be good."

"Carrie-Ann Inaba," the announcer was saying.

"Ten," she said immediately, waving her paddle.

"Len Goodman," the announcer said next.

"Ten," the judge said.

In the Sky Box Derek was hugging Skye and Mary as they were embracing each other tightly. He let them go as they turned at the announcer saying, "Bruno Tonioli."

"Ten!" the last judge said.

"That gives you a perfect score for the night," Erin was saying as the three were hugging each other at the same time. "How are you feeling."

"Great! Thank you so much judges!" Skye said, trying to call out to them.

Julia was smiling as Erin talked about how viewers could vote though she knew there was still the elimination at the end of the show. She did her best to ignore it as the show was going to commercial and she went over to Derek suddenly.

"Mind if I take off the jacket?" Skye was saying to her partner.

"No that's alright," Derek told her. "But make sure that you put it back on at the end."

"And I need to take off my contacts," Skye added. She smiled when Derek didn't say anything and left, squeezing Julia's shoulder in passing.

"I was going to ask if we had to change," the girl said with a smile.

"If you don't want to that's fine,' Derek replied. He then said, "You didn't want to?"

"No… I like it," Julia said before looking over at Mari as she'd walked up to them.

"Me too," the girl said, looping her arm through her friend's.

Watching Derek go backstage, Julia turned to her parents and she was surprised seeing her father was gone. She hurried to her mother, her friend following her, and said, "Where-" before she was being interrupted.

"He went to take off his contacts," Beckett said. "Too?" she said, looking past her daughter.

"She said they were bothering her," Mary said, smiling at the two girls when they looked at her. "I'm surprised you're leaving your dress on."

Shrugging Beckett said, "I might as well."

"I'm thinking the same," Mary said laughingly before they turned their attention to the dance floor as they could hear the countdown was beginning.

While the show went on below them, Beckett wrapped her arm around Julia and they waited for Castle to rejoin them.

"Did we miss the dance?" he asked, standing on his wife's other side.

"No," Beckett said quickly as it was about to start below them.

"Not much longer," Julia said.

Squeezing the girl against her side, Beckett said softly, "I know how you feel," before Skye and Mary were standing with them and they looked down as Lisa and Keo began dancing below.

* * *

"Skye and Derek," Tom was saying at the end of the show, the five couples remaining on the stairs and stage. He had already told Eddie and Emma that they were heading to the semifinals and the investigator and her partner were next.

Julia, with her friends, parents and Mary in the Sky Box grumbled wordlessly under her breath before the co-host finally spoke.

"Are safe, you're going to the semifinals," Tom told them.

Breathing out hard, Skye hugged Derek tightly before they turned to hear that Jonathon and Whitney were in jeopardy before Daisy and Sasha were told they were the same. "Lisa?" the investigator asked her partner, surprised since the actress had been doing well and was just after them in scores that night.

Derek shrugged, and they listened to the music before Tom finally said, "You are both safe, there is no elimination this week."

"Oh geez," Peter said in the Sky Box. "I wish we would have known that before."

"Then it wouldn't have been so exciting," Beckett said with a smile as the five couples were hugging each other on the dance floor while Tom and Erin were ending the show. "But at least they get another week."

"And we find out what we have next," Julia pointed out.

"We do," Castle said. When he saw the way his wife was looking at him he said, "I'm eager for that to; whether or not we're involved."

Beckett shook her head, as she smiled, and they made their way backstage so they could change and make their way to the studio to see what they would have coming up for the investigator and the kids the next week.

* * *

"Are we all ready?" Derek said.

"Just open the envelope," Skye said in a mock annoyed tone. "We know what's in there already."

"Alright," Derek said with a laugh. "By the way, why didn't your band talk in your bio?"

Giving him a brief look; since he was opening the envelope while he was speaking; Skye said, "They didn't have time; they have work outside the band."

"I cleared my schedule," Mary said when the pro looked at her. "If you're wondering, now tell us what she's dancing to."

Derek couldn't help laughing again and he said, "Okay first you do have permission for your performance next week."

"Do you have something different?" Beckett asked, surprised at how pleased Skye and Mary appeared.

"We're all going to be on the dance floor this time," the latter said first.

"Not just me," Skye said.

"What's the song?" Mari asked.

" _Mary Jane's Last Dance_ ," Skye said.

"I'm not surprised you know that one already," Derek said as Julia was gasping in joy.

"I know it too," Mari said. "They're gonna let you sing it even though there's cursing in it?"

"It's not that bad, and they've had songs they dance to that are worse," Skye was quick to say.

"If ABC okayed it…" Castle said.

"They did," Mary said. "Now about the songs they're dancing to…"

"Our first dance is Contemporary," Derek said. "Don't react until I start choreographing," he told his partner firmly when he heard her suck in a breath loudly. "It's to _Struggle_ , by Paul."

"That's a great one for that dance," Julia said.

"I trust your judgement," Derek said in amusement as the girl was looking at him. "But you know this one in case I need your help teaching her?" he asked Julia. When she nodded he then said, "And our second dance is the Cha-Cha-Cha to _Unconsciousness Rules_ by George." When he heard the kids reacting he glanced at them and said, "One of yours?"

"Yeah," Peter said.

"What about the kids?" Genevieve asked.

"Well…" Derek said slowly.

"If you want it to be just Peter and Julia that's okay," Clive said, not surprised when the pro looked shocked.

"We thought you might want to do that again," Mari said, reminding him that it wouldn't be the first time the pair would dance alone.

"What's the dance?" Beckett said.

"Contemporary," Derek replied. "And to a song that I picked out for the two of you."

"What song?" Mari asked eagerly, wanting to know and wanting to assure the dancer that she and Clive didn't mind they'd be sitting out the dance.

" _Tiny Dancer_ ," Derek replied, smiling when Mari immediately hugged her friend as tightly as she could.

"I always thought she should dance to that song," the girl said. "And now you will."

"Yeah," Julia said. When Derek asked her what was wrong she said, "We haven't done that much with that dance."

"We're okay with it, but we never danced it in competitions," Peter added.

"Alright, I'll work with you two don't forget," Derek said reassuringly. "And helping Skye with our dance it'll help you two out too." When the kids nodded he turned to the investigator and said, "And now we can start getting this dance together, once I listen to the song," waving the CD before he headed to the player and they were listening all together.

"Do you have something already?" Skye asked as she'd been studying her partner while they were listening.

"Yeah," Derek said. "But you have something yourself." He glanced at her and asked, "For the song I'm guessing."

"My own struggle," Skye said, glancing at her wife. When she turned back to her partner she wasn't surprised to see the slightly confused expression on his face and she then explained, "My sexuality and being afraid to get close to people… after what happened to me."

"If I tell the show that's what this is about," Derek said in a slightly warning tone of voice. "They'll want to talk to you about it."

"I'd prefer it if we were talking to each other," Skye said.

"Just us?" Derek asked in surprise.

Nodding her head Skye said, "I'm comfortable doing so with you and…"

"And if I'm okay with what you tell me then the audience won't mind," Derek said. When she nodded he told her, "I'm game. Now though we should turn back to the choreography."

"Does that change what you wanted to do?" Mary asked him as the two went to the middle of the floor.

"No, it helps it," Derek replied. He turned to his partner and said, "We'll start now but… I have an idea."

Beckett had to smile at the look she saw Julia and Mari giving each other at that but then focused on the two to watch as Derek was teaching some steps to Skye already. She felt her husband taking her hand, squeezing it, and she knew he was feeling the same as she was about their daughter since Derek had her step up to help him while the evening in practice continued.

* * *

"You're wondering."

"Is it that easy to tell?"

"Not really all that hard to," Skye said, handing the mug she held in her left hand to her friend.

"Our spouses?" Beckett asked her.

"They're letting us talk alone," Skye replied. She wasn't surprised seeing the way her friend was looking at her and said, "It was their decision, not mine."

"Or likely my husband's," Beckett commented.

"Or my wife's," Skye said before they looked at each other and began to laugh.

When they had calmed down finally Beckett said, "I'm wondering why."

"Really, the song has always said that to me," Skye replied after a moment of silence. "And I'm not going to shy away from who I am." She then smiled as she looked from a rose bush; they were sitting at the table in the rose garden; and then said to her friend, "Plus I don't want Mary to be there."

"Too personal?" Beckett asked. When the investigator nodded she then said, "You were okay when you came out right?"

"To be honest not fully," Skye said. "I was just coming out to Dad but… even with him being gay himself I just didn't know." She pointed her finger at Beckett and said, "Promise me; if any of your three youngest daughters are the same that you'll assure them as soon as they come out to you that you still love them."

"I will," Beckett replied swiftly and keeping her tone of voice firm. "I've thought that already."

"Good," Skye replied. "And I'll be mentioning other kids coming out as well," she added.

"When will you tell Derek?" Beckett asked.

"Tomorrow," Skye replied. She then smiled and said, "It's funny we're going to Huntington on Wednesday."

"It's a coincidence," Beckett said with a nod. "If you two want to go on your own at all…"

"We'd like to for a bit after we show our three youngest where I proposed," Skye replied slowly.

"We'll take them," Beckett said, nodding. She finished her tea and then said, "Should we get them?"

"I'll send Rick to you," Skye told her friend before she took the two empty mugs and she went up to the house, calling goodnight as Beckett did the same.

"Hey, where's-" Castle started to say when he saw the investigator was walking up to the house.

"I told her I would tell you she went to the guest house," Skye interrupted him. She watched the writer hurry away and turned to her wife with a smile saying, "I thought it would be best if I made things shorter all around." She nearly jumped when she felt her wife's hand on her shoulder and she turned to her saying, "What?" at the expression on her face.

" _Come on_ ," Mary said in Italian, tugging her hand so they could go together towards the stairs.

Skye didn't say a word, letting her wife pull her at the top of the stairs into their room before she herself closed and locked the door. "What did you want?" she asked.

"Just this," Mary replied, wrapping her arms around her wife and kissing her. It was gentle but lingered, and when they parted she murmured softly, "And a bath."  
"I knew there was far more to it than that," Skye said, laughing. She brushed her lips to her wife's and said, "I'd far prefer a shower."

"Okay," Mary said simply. When her wife suddenly looked startled it was her turn to laugh and then kiss her briefly. She led her to the bathroom; not having to take her by the hand; and after closing the door she said, "Undress."

"And why should I listen to you?" Skye asked, smirking.

"It's either you take care of your clothes yourself or I'm going to end up tearing everything off," Mary said firmly.

"Good idea," Skye replied after pretending to consider that. She pulled off her workout top and then her other clothes while her wife was doing the same. They slipped into their shower stall and she let her attention focus fully on Mary as they pleasured one another earnestly. When they had finished she and her wife dried each other off inside the stall and she said, "Do you not want to leave either?"

"Not really," Mary said with a smile.

"But we should. Should get dressed," Skye said.

Sighing Mary told her while they were stepping out, "When the show's done for the season…"

"We will _grá_ , don't worry," Skye said with a soft laugh. They split up out in their bedroom, dressing facing away from her wife telling her, "I know you're watching me."

"I can't resist," Mary said simply.

"Bollocks," Skye said while she turned around, dressed. Seeing her wife in her pajamas she laughed when the doctor jumped on the bed and crawled on her knees until she was where she was standing. "No?" she asked.

"No," Mary said. "Get on the bed _grá_ ," she said in amusement.

Waiting for her to get out of the way, Skye followed her wife before she laid down on her side, looking up at the ceiling.

"What're you thinking?" Mary asked her gently, running her fingertips over her lower lip.

"Don't get mad, Kate and I were talking about my idea for the dance," Skye said. She quickly relayed their conversation to her wife and said, "I think she was confused why I wasn't having you there."

Shaking her head Mary said, "I'm not your dance partner this week."

"Still," Skye said.

Mary smiled and gently kissed at her wife's jaw saying, "You don't even agree with yourself."

Pretending to huff in frustration, Skye turned to her and they kissed deeply before she said, "I don't but I just hope people hiding themselves might find a way to feel comfortable enough to accept who they are." She then glanced at Mary and asked, "That's not incredibly self-serving is it?"

"No," the doctor replied with a smile. "But I can see why you fear that. Though I agree with you, it's hard to be this happy and not want to help others. And you tend to do that."

"And you," Skye was quick to point out to her.

"Okay, so you'll do that talk with Derek," Mary said to change the subject. "And we have Huntington on Wednesday."

"I'm more focused on that," Skye replied.

Mary laughed and said after she'd shaken her head, "At least you are. It's better for you stress wise."

"I'm doing fine _grá_ ," Skye said, sitting up then.

"Your leg-" Mary began.

"Is fine," Skye said firmly. "Go ahead," she then told her wife as she was touching her leg around the thigh. "I've been stretching like crazy; especially with tonight." She then smiled and said, "That was fun."

"It was," Mary said, moving her hands away. She then said, "I really never thought they'd let me dance with you."

"Neither did I, why did you think I was bringing you in any other way I could," Skye said.

"You love me that much Rose?" Mary said with a smile.

"Of course," Skye said firmly. They leaned towards each other and kissed gently before they slowly parted and she told her, "For now though I'm going to need to get some rest."

After the women had turned off the lights and had kissed one another good night they lay in the dark though they didn't fall asleep immediately.

"I'm worried about you."

"I'll be fine," Skye told her wife soothingly.

"But dancing blindfolded…" Mary said in obvious concern.

"It's not for that long," Skye said in the same tone as before. "Only the beginning and I'm not going to be dancing that many steps. Plus remember Derek will watch me."

"At least he's not going to be doing the same," Mary grumbled. She felt her wife hugging her saying, "What about Julia?" to change the subject.

"And Peter, they'll do well," Skye replied. "Especially since Julia's taken to that song as much as she has. Well… since she loves the song already."

"She's like you in that," Mary pointed out.

Wincing Skye said, "Best not let Kate hear that."

"Why are you so worried?" Mary asked since her wife's accent had grown stronger with that which she knew meant she was concerned about something.

"I don't know, just better to not," Skye said. "Come 'ead, we need to get some sleep. I need sleep."

"Goodnight _grá_ ," Mary said with a smile, her wife's accent thicker at the start before it evened out.

"Night Mary," Skye said. She let her wife keep her arm draped over her and closed her eyes. She didn't fall asleep directly, going over her steps and only hoping things would be alright during the semifinals episode before she finally nodded off.

* * *

"What is it?" Castle asked, watching his wife while she was looking at her phone.

"No, I'm just checking my e-mails," Beckett said, shaking her head. They were sitting on their bed, dressed in their pajamas and she told him, "I'm sorry about… curtailing what we talked about earlier." She was a little taken aback by the slight frown on his face but before she could ask why he was looking at her like that he was speaking first.

"No," Castle said quickly. "You said there was a reason."

"I can't at the moment," Beckett said.

"You… oh it just started," Castle said. When his wife nodded he said, "It's okay. But it didn't start until we got back right?"

Beckett smiled and nodded saying, "It didn't, which was a relief."

"How's your stomach? Cramps?" Castle asked hurriedly once she had stopped speaking as he'd remembered she suffered from that when she was menstruating.

"No, I'm okay," Beckett said.

"What about on Wednesday?" Castle asked slowly.

"I'll be fine," Beckett told him reassuringly. "By then things will slow down." When her husband seemed unsure she leaned over; as he was sitting next to her on the window seat; and kissed him tenderly. "But I won't be able to do anything until my birthday."

Counting in his head rapidly Castle said, slightly smiling at the same time, "You're a liar. And did you think we'd be able to do anything after two theme parks?"

"No but…" Beckett started to say before she trailed off.

"You know it's alright to need our intimacy that much," Castle said, slightly surprised she was talking like that.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "It's not that, it's more I was hoping for something tonight; looking forward to it."

"I see," Castle said. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Beckett said in amusement.

"I realize that but-" Castle began when she suddenly placed her fingers on his lips to stop him.

"We're just lucky this isn't happening every single month," Beckett said. She waited for him to nod and once he had she moved her hand away, kissing him before he could speak again. "But are you alright waiting?" she asked, since they always needed to the few times she menstruated during the year.

"I always am," Castle said with a shrug. "It's either that or see you go through another pregnancy… I hated doing that before," he suddenly said. He wasn't surprised when his wife was glancing at him questioningly and he said, "You had no birth control, so we did need to wait every month."

"We got rest," Beckett said suddenly after they were quiet for a minute. They looked at one another and started to laugh before she shook her head and said, "Though we did… why?"

"I'm not sure," Castle replied slowly, knowing her question about the fact that they were repeatedly intimate in their past life as in their current one.

"You have an idea about that though," Beckett said.

"I do but I don't know if it's right to be honest. I had the thought that what if it was because we had to repress what we felt for each other when we were around each other?" Castle said. "Back then I didn't think you'd want me, you thought I'd want someone else. And now…"

Beckett nodded, though slowly, and said, "But after so many years back then it would get-" She wasn't surprised when her husband kissed her to cut her off but was still planning on finishing her thought when they parted.

"Don't say it," Castle said firmly. "We were together for years and the only thing that slowed us down back then was our ages, but we managed to keep going… for years."

Breathing out slowly Beckett said, "I don't think that would affect us here." She smiled when her husband shook his head and she kissed his cheek saying, "But this does."

"Do you need-" Castle began as he was worried she was in pain.

"I'm okay, I took aspirin, I was just referencing the fact that we're going to have to wait," Beckett said.

"Well, there's that rest thing you were talking about," Castle said, squeezing her to him with one arm when she laughed softly. As she was leaning against him he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and was about to suggest they go to bed when she was suddenly pulling away and looking up at him.

"Tell me what you're remembering," Beckett said.

Not surprised she'd figured that out, Castle said, "Why don't we get into bed and I'll tell you there."

Beckett nodded before they stood and got on the bed before he was pulling her against his side. She expected him to start talking but when he didn't she asked, "Is it sexual?"

"No… I mean part of it is but it's not so much that I need to leave it for another day," Castle said. "It's just… it's not exactly pleasant." Since the lights were still on he could see his wife was looking at him in confusion and he said, "It's the day Pearl Harbor was attacked."

"Oh," Beckett said softly. She could see how tense her husband was and said, "You can tell me love, the good and the bad that you remember."

With a nod Castle took a moment to think of what he was going to be telling her and then said, "It was nearly eleven thirty; a Sunday of course; and the girls were putting some last ornaments on our Christmas tree while they listened to the radio. You and I were in the kitchen finishing up lunch and we could hear that radio because the volume was up."

"How old were they?" Beckett asked, her cheek pressed firmly to his shoulder.

"They'd all had their birthdays," Castle replied. "But we were forty-two and forty-one of course. And you were still incredibly stunning."

Beckett smiled as she murmured a thank you to him, not telling him he hadn't needed to say that since she knew he was trying to delay just a little.

"Julia was nineteen, still living at home as she wasn't sure what she would do yet," Castle replied. "She was going to school at Berkley at the time and was majoring in French. I think she would have been a teacher or tutor if she hadn't joined the WASPs. Eliza was fourteen so she'd just started high school that year. Alexis was thirteen and was in her last year of junior high. And Josie was eleven, so she was in I think sixth grade… yeah, sixth." He knew he couldn't delay and he began with him going into the dining room, peeking in on the girls to see if they were finishing with the tree.

* * *

 _"Girls," Rick said with a smile as he saw his oldest and youngest were dancing together. "The tree?"_

 _"Oh, it's all finished Da," Julia said, smiling herself. "I was just showing Josephine how this new dance went."_

 _"Lunch is ready girls," Kate said, walking up behind her husband with her apron in hand. "Wash your hands and-" she began._

 _"_ This is an emergency bulletin _," the radio was saying, the music cut off. "_ There has been an attack on the United States Naval Base in Pearl Harbor on the island of Honolulu, Hawaii Territory. Japanese military is suspected in the attack, great loss of life is feared. Stay tuned, there will be more bulletins as we learn more of this dastardly assault _."_

 _"Da?" Alexandra said, her and her two sisters rushing to their parents._

 _"What does it mean Da?" Julia asked worriedly, her heart dropping at the mention of Japan._

 _"We might be going to war," Rick whispered, looking at his wife as their two youngest burst into tears before he and Kate focused on comforting them._

 _Kate managed to calm Josephine down and once she had she was going to tell them they should have some tea when her husband was speaking again._

 _"I need to go love," Rick said._

 _"Go where?" Beckett asked in surprise._

 _"Into the city, I need to enlist again," Rick said, bracing himself as his wife went to him._

 _"Rick you're not a young man, they won't take you because of your knee," Kate said, fighting her tears as their two youngest let out a scream._

 _"I have to do something," Rick said seriously. He turned to the youngest girls and hugged them saying, "It'll be alright, I probably won't see any combat. But you have to understand this isn't just for the attack, it's about Europe too." He looked at his family and then kissed his daughter's cheek gently before he said, "Take care of your ma, help her until I come home."_

 _"We will," Julia said, knowing she spoke for all her sisters._

 _"I'll be fine Rick," Kate said when her husband turned to her. She wrapped her arms around her husband's neck and told him, "I know you'll want to protect us."_

 _"Be aware love, I know Hawaii is far but… I would hope they wouldn't attack us here," Rick said. "And don't wait up."_

 _"Girls get a basket ready for your da," Kate said, looking at the girls but not letting go of him. "And make sure he has plenty of food for the trip." When they were going into the dining room, she turned back to him and they kissed, doing so passionately before they slowly parted. "I love you Rick, don't sign up for combat," she said firmly. "I can't wait for you here while you're across the sea, I did it before and it nearly broke my heart."_

 _"I'll stay here in the States if I can my love," Rick said. They kissed gently since Josephine and Alexandra were walking into the room. "I love you Kate," he told her gently. Thanking Julia; who handed a basket to him; he smiled at his family and promised to return as soon as he could before they saw him to the car and he started to make his way to the nearest Army Recruitment Office across the bay in San Francisco._

* * *

"That was a horrible day," Beckett commented when he stopped. "I think I walked back and forth on the sun porch repeatedly, Julia had a hard time keeping me calm."

"The girls?" Castle asked, as he couldn't recall what she had told him in their past life about that day.

"They were scared, I also talked to my sister and mother and we were all worried," Beckett said. "Mainly about you since we knew what you were doing. But I was alone when you came in that night; late."

"I was worried seeing the lights on downstairs," Castle replied as he knew she wanted him to continue. "But you were very insistent on speaking first as soon as you saw me."

* * *

 _"Oh Rick," Kate said, running to him as soon as the front door was locked behind her husband. She threw her arms around him tightly saying, "They're saying President Roosevelt is sure to declare war on Japan and we might even fight in Europe now too."_

 _"Sgt. Matheson agrees, they're going to need a lot of men," Rick said grimly, not surprised when his wife was shaking her head and making their cheeks brush together. "But it needs to be done Kate, you know what's happening in Europe and at Pearl Harbor…"_

 _"But Rick," Kate said, pulling away a little so she could look at him. "What will you do?" she said tearfully as he was wearing an Army uniform._

 _"I won't be seeing combat," Rick replied, reaching into the pocket of his slacks to get his handkerchief. He handed it to his wife and said, "They knew about my knee already and told me I'd be of more use here in the Presidio; for training."_

 _"Oh," Kate breathed out, clinging to him as her knees went weak._

 _"You knew about my knee my love," Rick said, nuzzling the side of her head. "But I can help train the men to be functioning units that will fight."_

 _"You can," Kate told him. She kissed him briefly as she heard running and they turned to see all four of their daughters were clamoring down the steps. "Girls-" she began to say._

 _"Da!" Julia said as she was the first on the floor. She ran to her father and hugged him before feeling her sisters hugging him around her. "Please don't tell me you'll need to fight."_

 _"No, I'll be at the Presidio," Rick was quick to say, kissing them all. "Just to help train the men."_

 _"Will we need to move there?" Alexandra asked._

 _"No, no, since I'm so close I'll go from here," Rick replied. "And because I'm only just rejoining the Army to help train."_

 _"I'm relieved, when will you start?" Kate asked._

 _"Likely once the president declares war officially," Rick said. "Sgt. Matheson said it would be soon."_

 _"This week?" Elizabeth asked._

 _"Very likely," Rick replied, nodding his head. "But we'll be fine girls, whatever happens your ma and I will take care of you."_

 _"That means we need to go to bed," Julia told her sisters with a smile._

 _"She's right," Rick said. "You have to be tired and I know I am."_

 _"He's right," Kate said. "Let's get you all to bed." She was relieved when no one protested, and they went together up the stairs. She watched her husband kiss the girls goodnight before they sent them to their beds and once they could she took her husband's hand. They went up to their room and she closed the door before she watched her husband unbuttoning the top of his uniform. She went over to him quickly and finished it off for him before helping him get it off. She took his hat, though he didn't want to let it go at first and went to hang everything up in the closet._

 _"Are you alright love?" Rick asked, taking his shirt out from his slacks while he kept his eye on her._

 _"Yes I… I was going back and forth in the house and to the porch waiting for you before it grew dark," Kate replied, leaning against the door._

 _Walking over to her quickly Rick took her in his arms and embraced her saying, "I'll come home love, whenever they allow me to." He looked down at her and said, "I need to."_

 _"Good," Kate said before her husband was leaning down to her and kissing her. When they became a little too intense they parted, and she helped him with his slacks before folding them. She wasn't surprised when he reached for her and unzipped her skirt, making her turn to him so she could wrap her arms around him and they began undressing her so they could finish with him._

 _Rick picked her up once they were both bare, carrying her the short distance to the bed and laying her there before they were coupled, making love to one another to drown out the world just for that moment._

* * *

"It wasn't really any better after that," Beckett said, looking up at her husband. "With you gone for training and then Julia joining WASPS once she was old enough."

Nodding Castle said, "But I kept to what I said, I came to you whenever I could get away from the Presidio."

"I'm glad you did," Beckett said, pressing against him.

"Okay?" Castle asked when they'd been quiet for a while and he could feel her shifting around against him.

"No," Beckett said with a slight frown. "I'm not really happy that we had to leave while they were working on Julia's dance."

"She talked to me about it," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when his wife looked at him immediately and he was quick to tell her, "She just said she wants to surprise us."

Beckett started to speak but she paused and then sighed saying, "I guess she wants to make it more meaningful that way."

"Are you going to tell her she doesn't need to?" Castle asked, knowing she was thinking that already.

Shaking her head Beckett told him, "I'm tempted to, but you know how she is about dancing. I don't really want to stop her, it's not good for her art… or her self-esteem."

"Craft," Castle said suddenly.

"What?" Beckett asked in surprise.

"Her craft," Castle said. When his wife raised her head he said, "Well… that's how Mother would say it."

"And Julia prefers the word art," Beckett said with a smile. She kissed his cheek and then said, "Skye told me something earlier."

"Oh?" Castle asked, wondering if she was going to change the subject again.

"About the Freestyle," Beckett replied. "If she makes it to that she wants to include Julia."

"Not Mari?" Castle asked. "Or the boys?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "She wasn't sure, though I'm getting the feeling she wasn't really telling me the truth."

"Maybe she's not sure," Castle pointed out.

"Maybe," Beckett replied thoughtfully. She then smiled and said, "I hope she's serious though."

"Me too," Castle said. They were silent for a while and he then said, "Kate?"

"What?" Beckett said, looking up at him.

"When we're at the gardens, I'd like to spend some time with you and Josie," Castle answered.

Smiling, Beckett kissed at his jaw a few times before she told him, "I'd like that too," knowing they would end up spending a lot of time already with Julia and Eliza. "You wouldn't want to spend time with me?" she asked, nuzzling his jaw while she spoke.

"Yes," Castle said slowly. When he could feel her lips moving in a smile he couldn't help shuddering and said, "Would you want to?"

"I do, maybe after we're with Josie," Beckett pointed out to him.

"I'm sure Mother or your dad would take her for us," Castle said.

"But I only want to walk around," Beckett said quickly. She could easily see the uncertainty on her husband's face and told him, "I don't know if it would be the best idea for us to start making out."

"At least one?" Castle asked.

"Can we really stop?" Beckett pointed out.

"No, but… just a little," Castle replied. "And remember it's all we can do being out in public."

"And we'll be in public," Beckett told him.

"If we're alone at the moment?" Castle told her.

"Then it'll only be a moment," Beckett said with a smile.

"That's enough for me," Castle said before he was suddenly moving and kissing her hungrily.

Beckett didn't mind him doing that, since they'd been planning on doing at least that at first, and she responded to him passionately until they had to breathe. "You're still going to want this on Wednesday?"

"I'll probably want this tomorrow," Castle said firmly.

"It's funny…" Beckett began with as she was running her fingertips against her husband's lower lip. "I will too."

"I love you Kate," Castle said intently.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett said, a slight smile on her face. She took his kiss, responding to him eagerly before they lost themselves in each other. She knew they needed some rest, but as long as Castle was kissing her she could put off sleep just a little longer while they enjoyed being as close as they could.


	43. Two For Joy

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: It was great receiving the feedback for the last chapter that I did so I'll go straight into my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (Really happy to see that you liked how detailed the dancing was in the story since I tried my hardest to get that in! And I'm pleased that you thought it was very good writing too!) and

Mb (Great to see that you thought the first half of the chapter was a fantastic update. I wasn't surprised that you thought it was a great way to involve everyone with the dances. And I love stories with the dances too which is why I hate when Len complains about that on the show; makes the dances a lot of fun. But nice to see you loved how Castle and Beckett were included in the dances too. So happy of could you said you could easily picture the story and the dance that were in the first half. Same with the costumes for the dances too since I have fun making those up. I'm really pleased to see that you're biased and want Skye and Derek to make it to the finals. And yeah, hard to see which couple will stay towards the end since they should be dancing well. I'm not surprised you laughed at the guests in the audience rooting, lol, you make a good point. You're welcome for the first half! I was happy to see that you thought the second half was great too and not surprised at you mentioning the stuff with Skye that was needed, it's why I put it there. I had to laugh at you mentioning that you'd think Skye and Beckett were sisters and twins in this life too, lol, that seems to write itself. I wasn't surprised that you laughed and sympathized with Beckett about it being that time of the month for her. Really great to read that you loved the flashback since I enjoyed writing that one. I'm not surprised that you were glad that Rick there didn't have to go and fight during the war and just helped train the troops. With his WWI injury and already serving I figured they wouldn't deploy him to fight. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Two Magpies_ written by Paul McCartney, from The Fireman album _Electric Arguments_.

Two For Joy

"Can I admit something to you guys?" Castle said to Skye and Mary.

"Okay." "Sure," the two women replied.

"I never thought it was going to really cool down here," Castle said.

"They told you it would," Beckett said in amusement.

"I think he's talking about here specifically," Mary said, her voice also filled with amusement.

"The way you were talking I thought it might end up being in the nineties," Castle commented.

Shaking her head Skye said, "We checked on the weather to make sure it wouldn't be that. By the way it should be around the high seventies."

"If it was hotter than normal?" Beckett asked her. When the investigator nodded she didn't say anything, they'd reached the entrance of the Huntington Library of Gardens and needed to buy their tickets to go inside. She looked over at the kids, checking on the boys and Mari to see how they were doing. It was the twelfth of November and the day after they'd originally planned to go since Skye had had to unexpectedly go with Derek to the Ellen show as they'd been asked to appear as guests. The three kids' parents had gone back to the Hamptons by then, and she hoped that they would be alright that day. She shook herself as they were being let in; after getting some stickers with the logo for the library and gardens on it. "I think we should let you guys guide us," she then said to the two women.

"It's better that we do," Mary said with a smile.

"You're liable to get lost if we let you go off on your own," Skye said with a smile. "For now, our first garden is the desert garden."

"Oh cool!" Clive exclaimed. "Look at all the cacti."

"Our favorites are the ones that are round," Kathleen commented.

"Yeah, when we came here when we were five we wanted to sit on them," Marie said, looking at her mothers.

"That was fun," Mary said, shaking her head. "They weren't that happy when we kept them from going off the path."

"I wouldn't touch anything here," Martha said to Eliza.

"I won't, what about Josa?" the little girl asked.

"She won't be touching anything," Martha replied, getting the baby out of her carrier. "Thank you," she said to Liam as he was taking the stroller for her.

"You're welcome, it helps me walking around," the man said.

"You'll be alright Dad?" Skye asked, looking back at him.

"I will," Liam said reassuringly. "I won't go on the steep parts of course, so I'll take care of the stroller today."

"At least you still have your cane," Skye commented.

"I'll keep it close lass," Liam promised her with a smile.

Walking after the kids, Beckett was taking pictures of them and the plants on either side of the path. She did that for a while before she realized something and went to where Skye was, talking with Ivy.

"What?" the investigator asked as she noticed her friend walking up to her.

"This garden is taking a while," Beckett stated simply.

"It's one of the largest collections of these types of plants," Skye commented.

"That's great, but the rest of the place?" Beckett asked. "Lunch?"

"Don't worry," Skye said with a smile. "We usually come back here later on the way out to see more."

"And now?" Castle asked, holding Josie as he walked over to them.

"We'll walk down this path a little more," Skye said. "And we're nearly to the end."

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked.

"Hey Mom," Julia said, waving to her at the end of the path. When they were all together again she said, "Marie and Kath said that there's a pond next."

"Ah, you weren't supposed to give anything away sweetling," Skye said jokingly though she was looking at her oldest as she said that.

"How do you know it was me?" Marie asked before she wrinkled her nose as she realized what she'd just said.

"Just a guess," Skye replied before she looked at the other kids. "We're going to leave this garden for now, but we'll come back to it if we have time."

"There's more of it than we saw already?" Mari asked while they were walking away from the desert plants and along a field of grass. When they reached a path to the left; they were walking north at that point; she shared a glance with Julia as the oldest McDouglas twins walked on it before they came around a curve and came to a pond.

"These are the Lily Ponds," Kathleen said eagerly. "In the spring there's lily flowers, but the pads are still cool."

"I like that one plant that's really tall, those leaves look like there should be dinosaurs," Peter said.

"Look!" Fleur said with a gasp as she pointed to the water once they stepped up to the side of the pond.

"Those are big koi," Eliza said with a gasp, looking up at her grandfather. She turned back and took pictures before she was looking around for her little sister, hurrying to her father.

"Are you done looking?" Castle asked with a smile.

"I wanted to see if Josa could see the fishies," the little girl replied. Eliza smiled at her little sister and said, "They're really good fishies to take pictures of." She frowned when the baby was looking around and said, "She doesn't look."

"She's looking around," Julia said with a smile, walking over to them. "At least she's doing that."

"Let's keep going, there's more gardens yet," Skye called.

"We're going to stay here for a minute," Castle said, grabbing his wife's hand with his free one. "We'll catch up."

"We'll walk slowly," Mary said with a smile. "There's more to see going this way."

Watching everyone else walking away, Castle said, "I get the feeling they expected this."

"I don't really think it was that surprising," Beckett replied wryly before she followed him to the bench that was by the edge of the water. She took Josie from him and pressed a kiss to her temple before saying, "I was afraid there wasn't going to be much."

"Yeah, the greenery and blooms still here are great but it's fall," Castle commented.

Smiling Beckett said, "You're thinking of the Adirondacks, aren't you?"

"I am… we're not really going to have time to do much… it might even start snowing after Thanksgiving," Castle said.

Squeezing his arm gently Beckett said, "I thought the same thing. But we'll go next year for sure."

"Promise no season of the show next fall?" Castle asked.

Beckett couldn't help laughing, smiling down at Josie who suddenly cried out before she was settling, and then said, "No, we might have another tour though…"

"I said no tours until Josie's four," Castle replied. "We'll stick with the city."

Nodding and relieved he hadn't changed his mind about that, Beckett reached down to Josie and smoothed some of her hair that had moved in the slight breeze that was blowing. She felt her husband's arm wrap around her and she looked up at him before he was lowering his head to her.

After their lips had met, Castle used both his arms to hold his wife, pulling her closer though being careful of the baby. He gently slipped his tongue into her mouth after they'd started and hers rolled around him before they had to part. "We need to go, don't we?" he asked with a sigh.

"We do," Beckett replied with a slight smile. She let him stand and take their baby before she joined him and then raised herself up on her toes. She kissed his cheek and said, "We might have a chance to do that again, but it would need to be quick."

"What about tonight?" Castle asked, starting to walk with her up the path.

"We'll have the chance," Beckett said with a smile as she was taking pictures.

" _Ní féidir liom fanacht_ ," Castle said, telling her he couldn't wait.

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smile.

"Tell me you don't agree with me," Castle told her. When she merely smiled again at him he breathed out and said to the baby in an undertone; though he knew his wife could hear; "She does this a lot, but hopefully she doesn't really mean-" before she was suddenly pressing her hand to his chest to stop him. "What?" he asked in surprise.

" _Ní féidir liom_ ," Beckett said simply, which meant neither can I. She was smiling again as her husband was breathing out roughly, and didn't say anything when he leaned down, taking her lips gently.

"Wait, not so fast," Julia whispered to her sister, taking her hand. They'd been allowed to go back to get their parents; since the whole group had been able to see the pair down the path; and seeing them kiss she paused as she didn't want her and Eliza to interrupt them. She was surprised when that kiss was brief but looking at her little sister she shrugged and then let her go to them walking after her a little faster.

"Hey, did we take too long?" Beckett asked, smiling at the two once the girls had reached them.

"No, we're in the Jungle Garden Mommy," Eliza said. "See the waterfall."

Walking over to it, Castle looked down at Josie who shifted around in his arms before she cooed. He kissed the top of her head and was about to point out she was watching the water when Eliza turned to them and spoke after she gasped.

"Josa can you see the water?" the little girl was asking her baby sister, taking her hand.

"I think so," Beckett said, taking a picture of them.

"Can she hear it?" Julia asked.

"She can," Castle said. "Now if she recognizes what this is…"

"She might," Beckett said as her husband had trailed off looking at her. "She hears the same sound when we run water."

"So she knows it's water," Eliza said. She then turned to her sister and said, "It's not bath time Josa!"

"We need to keep going," Beckett said then, looking up and seeing that her father was on his own on the path ahead. "We're going to miss everything if we have to keep catching up."

Julia walked with her mother and she watched her taking pictures since she had already gotten some herself. "Do you like it here Mom?" she asked her when they were close to the others.

"I do, do you?" Beckett said.

"Skye and Mary said there might not be that many flowers," Julia said with a nod. "But I'm glad they were wrong."

"What's on your mind?" Beckett asked, putting her hand on her daughter's back.

Glancing up at her, and not surprised her mother had figured that out, Julia said, "I wanted to ask them something but… maybe later."

"Good idea," Beckett said. When her daughter looked confused she only smiled at her and they regrouped before they stepped out of the Jungle Garden she could tell. She was surprised when their guides were suddenly talking to each other; in what she knew was Japanese; while they were looking at the map. "Guys?" she finally said as the two sounded frustrated. "I think you need to let us know what's wrong."

"Right," Mary said first. "There's a lot to the south of us."

"There are gardens but a lot of grass and open spaces," Marie blurted out.

Skye was laughing with everyone else at how swiftly the girl had spoken and then said, "You've wanted to say that for some time haven't you?" She smiled and hugged the girl when she nodded rapidly and then said, "Well here is the Subtropical Garden and ahead of us is the Rose Garden."

"I say the Subtropical," Castle said, handing Josie to his father in law. "We have time until our reservation, don't we?"

"Okay, we've seen some of it already but we'll go on another path that takes us through it fully," Mary said.

"Instead of just going on the side mostly," Kathleen added.

Walking through that garden, Beckett eventually went to her father and said, "You don't want to take pictures?"

Smiling, since he knew his daughter was aware he was managing to do that even holding Josie, Jim said, "Did you want to take her."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I'm just making sure." She squeezed her father's arm before they walked to the end of the path. She took a quick picture of some of the foliage they had passed before she said, "Now?"

"Now we head to the Rose Garden," Skye said. "It's right here so we can't avoid it."

"Is it almost lunch? I'm hungry," Iris said.

"Luckily it almost is," Mary said before she took her hand and Ivy and Fleur went to Skye.

Going up the hill there, the group reached the tempietto and the others went to the rose bushes that still had a few roses while the McDouglases stayed there.

"This is where Mum and Mom got married," Marie said, sharing a smile with her twin before their sister was speaking.

"How come here?" Ivy asked.

"This was one of the first places we came to together," Skye said first.

"And we both loved this garden," Mary said.

"Tell them _grá_ ," Skye told her wife.

"I've loved this tempietto since I first came here," Mary told their three youngest; the oldest two having heard the story already. "And your mum did too."

"Not quite as much as you though you kept saying I did," Skye said, smiling at her wife lovingly.

"No but we did both love it," Mary replied. "I had the idea; when I was older; that I really wanted to get married here. It was beautiful and if it was in the spring it would be perfect."

"That was before you met Mummy?" Fleur asked.

"It was," Skye said, squeezing her wife's hand. "And because there really wouldn't be a better place; in the spring; to be married I was happy to agree with her idea."

"Julia," Beckett said, touching her daughter's shoulder. When she looked up at her she smiled and said, "Are you eavesdropping?"

"Come over you guys," Skye said, glancing over at them.

"Sorry," Julia said as soon as they were close. "I was just looking at the roses," she said.

"It's alright, I had a feeling something was on your mind," Skye said before she glanced at her friend.

"No, it wouldn't be hard for you to tell," Beckett said quickly.

"I couldn't tell," Mary commented.

"She's been wondering something," Beckett said, keeping Julia from speaking for a moment.

"And I was going to say that you were my aunt," the girl said, furrowing her brow for a moment at her mother for stopping her. "But I was wondering… what was your wedding like? You were at my parents', but I've never heard anything about yours."

"It was simple," Mary said. "A lot simpler than your parents' wedding."

"But… oh," Julia said before she looked behind herself and saw the space there was before the hill. "So who was here?"

"Most of my colleagues from West," Skye said. "Detective Burke and his wife."

"My colleagues from the office were there too," Mary said, smiling when she saw the rest of their group drifting over to them. "How many would you say Liam?"

"Oh… eighteen… twenty perhaps," Skye's dad replied. "Are you going to say much more than that?"

"Do you need to sit?" Mary asked her father in law in concern.

"No, no, just letting you know I'll be happy to tell you when it's twelve," Liam said easily.

"Thank you, but this shouldn't take that long," Skye said, smiling when Josie, in Martha's arms, vocalized a ba sound. "We're getting to that now Josie."

"Liam walked me down the aisle," Mary said, glancing at her wife.

"I did," the man himself said when his three youngest grandchildren turned immediately to him.

"Yes, we didn't have that much family," Skye said gently, as she'd already explained that their mother's parents had passed away before their wedding. "I was already here, waiting for her," she then continued with, smiling as the memory was vivid though it had happened nearly ten years before.

* * *

 _"I'm sure her father would admonish you lass," Liam said to his daughter as he watched Mary take her hand tightly. "To care for her."_

 _"Believe me Dad, I already do," Skye said with a brief smile for him as she looked at her fiancée. She barely heard a word the officiant they'd hired for the wedding speaking, only knowing when Mary needed to begin saying her vows._

 _"Grá," the doctor began, smiling at her. "_ I can't begin to tell you how happy I am today _," Mary said, speaking in French. "_ When we first met I was so intrigued by you and I couldn't get you off my mind. But I never thought I would be so lucky as I am right at this moment, marrying you. It was a lot more than I thought you would want with me. But I will make sure that you are happy every single day we have together, so you know how much I love you and never want to lose you. I love you Rose, and I will never stop _."_

 _Having to take a moment to recover from how much her fiancée's vow touched her, Skye couldn't speak for a while. But she got a hold of herself and then spoke saying in French as well, "_ I didn't think I could be happier than when I asked you to marry me, but I have been proven wrong; gladly so." _She shared a smile with her and then said,_ " _Mary_ , I promise you that I will spend each and every day loving you because my life has never been so amazing. You've brought so much to it that I do not want to lose that or you. I need you and I will make sure to show you my love and my desire for you constantly. I love you Mary and in giving you this ring; I promise it's going to be forever _."_

 _After the two had exchanged their rings, the officiant pronounced that they were married, and Skye and Mary turned to each other, wrapping their arms around one another. They kissed gently but lingered and then slowly parted while their guests all started to applaud. When they had finally let go of one another the investigator took her wife's hand and they walked down the path they'd used for the aisle, laughing together as their guests on either side were throwing different colored rose petals onto them._

 _Going together to the building where the tea room was located, Mary grabbed her wife and kissed her hard though she couldn't really let that last. "I was thinking of you as my wife," she told the investigator as they pressed their foreheads together._

 _"I did the same, quite a change," Skye said, smiling at the way Mary was holding her tightly, knowing it was her accent that was affecting her._

 _"And how do you feel about that?" the doctor asked._

 _"I quite like it," Skye said. She took the kiss that her wife gave her and then cupped the bun that her dark hair was in whispering, "I love you Mary."_

 _"Hmm, I love you Rose," the doctor said. "And I love this, already."_

 _Skye was laughing heavily before she embraced her wife as closely as she could, kissing her a moment later before they needed to part. She smiled at one of her fellow investigators calling for them to save it for the honeymoon before they walked over to everyone so they could accept their congratulations on their marriage and share their happiness with them._

* * *

"It sounds like you really had a dream wedding," Beckett was saying as they were watching the kids running under the trellis together before they suddenly stopped and started to play tag.

"We did," Mary said. She squeezed her wife's hand and then said, "We made it fast… very fast."

"We did too essentially," Beckett said. "We just had a larger wedding party."

"That would happen since it was just my dad," Skye said in amusement.

"I can't believe I never asked," Beckett said, "Where did you go for your honeymoon?"

"To Japan," Skye said. "Really," she said with a smile when her friend looked at her. "She wanted to go since I'd told her about it-"

"And because I loved the culture she told me about too," Mary added.

"We stayed for a month," Skye said.

"That's not a surprise in your case," Castle said.

"But it is in yours," Beckett said as she looked at Mary.

"I took the time off," the doctor replied. "I wish you guys could have been here in April."

"You mean April 30th?" Beckett asked.

"Any day, you would have seen the roses blooming," Mary said.

"I don't need to see that to understand it was a great day for you both," Beckett told them. "And you're very happy still, though you didn't really tell us your vows; not that you need to."

"They were like yours," Skye said.

"The same kind of sentiment?" Castle guessed.

"Basically," Mary said with a broad smile.

"Oh, before we need to go in for lunch," Beckett said, turning to the doctor. "Your dress was gorgeous."

"Thank you, I told you I thought the same about yours right?" Mary asked, smiling slightly at the memory of her wedding dress. It had been sleeveless, made of ivory lace with a slight train and she'd had her hair pulled up with seed pearls wound through the braid along the bottom of it her fiancée had given her as a pre-wedding gift.

Seeing Beckett nodding, Skye looked at her husband and asked, "What's that look for?" as it hadn't been very hard to notice the slight frown on his face.

"What do you think about her outfit?" Castle asked, losing the frown as he spoke.

"It suited you, and you looked… perfect," Beckett said as she thought that over for a moment. "It was what you needed to wear," recalling the pictures she'd seen of the woman. Skye had worn a white blouse and tuxedo blazer, a bow tie as well though it had been undone and hanging from her neck while her hair had been up in a bun.

"I thought the same," Mary said quickly, smiling when her wife looked at her. She then said to Castle, "And your outfit suited you."

Beckett clutched at her husband's shirt tightly to keep him from saying some kind of wise ass remark and was relieved when he took her hand off him saying, "Thank you, it… for some reason a tux wasn't going to work."

"Don't look at me," Beckett said, shaking her head. "I…" she said before she breathed out the word. "Oh," she said, looking into his eyes.

"He had a similar type of suit," Skye said quickly, knowing her friend was recalling their past life. "But his tie was striped in blue and grey, dark blue and grey."

"Yeah…" Castle said. "But we're going to be late for lunch."

"We'll get the girls," Mary said, not surprised when Castle followed her.

"I also liked her bouquet," Beckett said to her friend as they walked slowly after their spouses. "From you?"

"Oh of course," Skye said before she smiled. "Mary does love roses and colors so… it had to happen."

"Did you pick them for their meanings?" Beckett asked her while they stopped to watch Mary and Castle calling to the others so they could go eat.

"Yes," Skye aid firmly. "Lavender for love at first sight, light pink for passion, dark pink for gratitude and white for reverence."

"She knows," Beckett said.

Smiling, and then speaking swiftly since their families were going down to the building by the roses, Skye said, "I told her on our wedding night."

Beckett was smiling herself, in her relief that her friend and the doctor were so happy after almost ten years. She had wanted to ask if the two women weren't going to do something for that anniversary but had to shake that off as she was going with her family inside of the tea room.

"Do we get to have tea?" Eliza asked hopefully once she and her sisters were sitting with their parents. She glanced over at their grandparents, sitting with Liam and Mari and the boys and said, "Do Grandpapa and Gram like sitting over there."

"They do, don't worry," Beckett reassured her.

"We're having dinner together," Castle added.

"Oh, the Promenade!" Eliza said eagerly.

"And Mari and the boys, don't forget," Julia told her.

"Yeah, the Hamptons family," Eliza said, nodding her head.

The family then laughed before their tea they'd ordered was being served and Julia asked, "What did we get?"

"Vanilla Berry Truffle," Castle answered, as Skye and Mary had recommended that one to them before they'd come since they were getting it themselves for their girls. "No caffeine and it sounds like it's going to taste like a dessert."

"Here's lunch," Beckett said, looking over at the waitress who was coming with two tiers of food.

"Is there enough for them over there?" Julia asked, looking at the table between them and the McDouglases.

"There is," Castle said. "Now we're going to divide them so we need to be fair."

"We will be," Eliza said firmly, eying hers and her sister's tiers hungrily.

"Take the egg salad first," Beckett said. "That one," she said with a nod as Eliza was pointing to the phyllo cup.

Taking a bite before she put the cup on the plate in front of her, Eliza made humming noises at the taste and swung her legs back and forth before her big sister put her hand on her shoulder.

"Mom and Dad don't want you to do that," Julia told her firmly. "They want you to stay still."

"Oh," Eliza said, looking at her mother over Josie's carrier since the baby was in between herself and Beckett. "Sorry, it's good," she then said to their parents.

"We could tell," Castle said in amusement.

"Is yours good?" Julia asked, seeing that he was holding a cucumber sandwich.

"It is, do you girls want to try something?" Castle asked, unable to help smiling as the two were eyeing his and Beckett's tiers.

"That one," Julia said, pointing to the cucumber sandwiches, her sister nodding rapidly.

"I'll split one for you," Castle told them.

"How's the salmon one?" Julia asked her mother since she was eating that one.

"Very good, but don't forget you have your own sandwiches," Beckett said with a smile, not wanting them to forget theirs.

"How is yours?" Castle asked.

"Lizzy was right, the egg salad cup is really good," Julia said.

"And so is the ham and cheese," Eliza said soon biting her triangle of a sandwich.

"Everything is good, especially the tea," Julia added.

"Do you like it sweetie?" Beckett asked the little girl. She smiled when Eliza nodded rapidly and then took a sip from her own cup. She looked at her husband next to her and said, "I'm wondering about the seating order."

"I like it," Eliza said.

"Me too," Julia added, smiling. She was sitting to Castle's left and she said to her father, "When can we eat the ants on a log?"

"You can now," Castle told her. "And they're actually fire ants on a log."

Beckett did her best not to laugh at the way Eliza was looking down at her celery stick and said, "Those are dried cranberries, they're red."

"Ooh," the little girl said. She bit the celery and chewed before she smiled saying, "I didn't get bit."

"I noticed," Beckett told her, looking down at Josie and making sure she was still asleep.

"I hope she wakes up," Julia said as they were all watching her.

"She will," Beckett said. "But naturally I shouldn't see anyone waking her up."

"I got the hint," Castle said exaggeratedly as he was putting fruit preserves on his scone after getting the clotted cream on it. "And I'll leave her alone."

"Isn't Liam gonna stay with her?" Eliza asked.

"He will," Beckett said, handing her a scone she'd prepared for her.

After they had eaten the savory tier Castle and Beckett had their daughters eat the fruit that was on the top tier before they let them go to the desserts on the second one. They turned to their own and were quiet until they were finishing, and he was paying while Beckett turned her attention to their second oldest.

"What is it?" she asked, watching the girl looking at the screen of her camera.

"Well… we got to eat all that dessert…" Julia said slowly.

"No, we're not getting any tonight," Beckett said. She was going to continue when Eliza stopped her as she was making a disappointed noise. "Sweetie, what if we had fruit?" she asked. She bit the side of her mouth at the way the little girl's nose wrinkled and said, "It's either that or nothing."

"Okay," Eliza said. "Do we have to go?" she asked as she watched her mother standing.

"Yes, we have a lot more to see," Beckett replied easily.

"And more pictures to take," Castle added. He helped his wife with Josie's carrier and they went to the door where the stroller was.

"She's okay?" Beckett asked him.

"Yeah, she's ready," Castle replied once he'd checked to make sure the carrier was secure.

"So are the children," Martha said, coming up to them.

Since the kids were back outside under the trellis Beckett said, "Marie and Kath know where we're going next."

"They better not be slipping what that is," Skye commented as the adults all went outside together.

"They're going to see it soon," Castle pointed out.

"Who made your lenses?" Skye asked, looking at him. "I need to go to them; you can see miles away apparently."

Giving her a look, though it didn't really have much behind it, Castle simply said, "I have seen the map."

"That and you can see far away," Mary commented.

"Oh no, not you too," Castle said with a groan.

"You're swayed too easily," Beckett told her husband with a smile before squeezing his shoulder.

"I knew they were doing that," Castle said before they looked ahead of them at the kids, some of them crying out.

"They found the _Shi_ ," Skye said. "What? You know I can speak Mandarin already," she directed to Castle when she saw him looking at her.

"Is this where Mummy proposed to Mommy?" Iris was asking her two older sisters eagerly.

"In there," Marie said with a nod. She looked over at the adults and then said, "I think we're gonna split up."

"But… why?" Fleur inquired in surprise.

"Why aren't we going too?" Eliza asked her father as they watched the family head down the covered path.

"They need to be alone right now," Castle said simply. "And you didn't look in front of us."

Hearing her little sister's gasp, Julia smiled and was about to tell her that the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco was a lot like the one they were looking at when Eliza spoke first to her surprise.

"It looks like the one in San Francisco!" the little girl said eagerly.

"Do you remember the pictures I took?" Julia asked, turning to her.

"Yes but… I remember it too," Eliza said.

"Skye _would tell you this was bound to happen_ ," Castle told his wife as she was visibly tensing next to him. He'd spoken in Irish and then continued in that language saying, " _You know Julia has_."

Beckett didn't reply to that, instead saying, "We can walk through," to the girls as they were still looking down at the garden.

Though he wanted to talk to her, Castle followed his wife down to the path and they went to the pond that was there. He was holding Josie then and he switched her to his other hip saying, "Too bad we can't go on the bridge," since it was chained off.

"Mom, we _are_ going back to San Francisco again right? Lizzy and Josa need to get to see the garden up there," Julia said, turning to her from where she was standing with Mari.

"Why are you just asking her?" Castle asked with a slight smile on his face.

"Sorry, I figured she needs to say for sure when," Julia replied, smiling back at him.

"That's true," Castle said before he looked at his wife and saw she was looking at him.

"We'll go, like I told you," Beckett told them both. "I'm not going to say anything for sure though, we have too much planned right now that I don't know when we could go."

"Hey," a voice suddenly said, making the group turn to see it was the McDouglas girls with Liam.

"What'd you think?" Mari asked the three youngest.

"It was just a bench," Ivy said slowly. "It's not really that special."

"Believe me," Liam said once they stopped walking since they had reached the other group. "It's very much so for your mums."

"Oh, here they come," Clive said, spotting the two women first.

" _Didn't take that long_ ," Castle murmured under his breath in Irish. He wasn't surprised when his wife nudged him in the side with her elbow, or that she'd done so gently since Josie was on his other side.

"Why are we stuck here?" Mary asked once she and her wife were with them.

"She's right, bit odd seeing you lot so close to where we came in," Skye commented.

The kids took that as permission to go and they walked through the garden, some of it changing color in the foliage of the trees. Beckett went over to the investigator, as Fleur and Ivy were walking with the doctor.

" _Tá do liopáis dearg_ ," Beckett commented, not looking at her friend.

Raising her eyebrow, since she'd said her lips were red, Skye said in Irish, " _You know you and_ Rick _should have a chance to go off on your own_."

" _So you can throw that line back at me_?" Beckett asked, turning to her as they'd stopped while the others were going up some steps.

" _No, to be fair_ ," Skye said seriously then.

" _But we already were_ ," Beckett reminded her.

Shaking her head Skye then told her, " _Without_ Josie."

" _We were fine with her there_ ," Beckett said swiftly. " _And we're_ -" she started to say before her friend was grabbing her arm and she looked over to see her husband was walking up to them. "Oh, _not you too_ ," she said with a sigh, still speaking in Irish.

" _It wasn't me_ ," Castle said quickly. " _It was… believe it or not it was_ Eliza."

" _She's learning from her sister, we'll stay around here_ ," Skye said with a slight smirk.

Shaking her head Beckett told her husband about what they'd been talking about and said, "Eliza seems to be learning Irish."

Castle shook his head that time and told her, "She said that because Skye and Mary had been talking about their wedding I should want to come get you." He was going to say more when he paused at his wife's soft laughter and then continued with a smile saying, "Also take you somewhere but I don't know if she understood what she was saying."

"Probably not, that she learned from Julia," Beckett said. She took her husband's hand but instead of following the others she stood in place, looking at him when he entwined their fingers.

"Come on," Castle said, pulling her down the path to the left of the steps where the rest of their families and friends had gone up towards the house. "If we go this way we'll have to go back the way they're going now," he said, pausing before they could walk too far down it.

"Let's go, the girls won't care if we do that," Beckett said before they were walking again. When she saw the path their family and the others were on would meet them she had him stop. "Here," she said, since they were blocked a little by foliage at that point.

"Oh… this'll work even better," Castle said before he saw what she had. He took her in his arms, as she was wrapping her arms around his neck, and he leaned down to capture her lips with his own. They were swift and gentle the first time, parting before he couldn't stop himself and he crushed his lips to hers. His hands were clutching at her back while their tongues were tangling around each other for some time. When they absolutely had to breathe he moved away, doing so slowly until he couldn't feel her against him anymore. " _Is breá liom sin_ ," he said as they stared at one another.

Beckett smiled and repeated that herself; since it meant the phrase 'I loved that'; and she then told him, " _Anocht is féidir linne dhéanamh níos fear_."

" _Promise_?" Castle said, as she'd said tonight they could do better.

Beckett had only a moment to nod as their daughters were hurrying to them and she turned when they got close. "Are you enjoying the garden?" she asked.

"Of course, did you enjoy your time alone with Dad?" Julia asked. When her mother narrowed her eyes at her she merely began to beam at her since she knew her mother was only joking. "I heard what Lizzy told Dad."

Sighing Beckett said, "Yes but that's the last time we're doing that."

"Come and see the house," Eliza said then, taking her hand.

"Are you guys waiting for us?" Castle asked once they were reaching where the others were standing at the house.

"Yes, this is something to see," Mary said.

"It was shipped here," Skye commented. "And was built in 1904."

"It's cool inside," Peter said. "But they just opened it so you could see inside right?"

"No, they made the doors like this so the gardens could be enjoyed," Skye said.

"Cool, especially now," Clive said.

"Let's keep walking now we're all together," Skye said though she was watching Beckett taking pictures of the view of the garden from the rise the house was on. She waited for her to finish, as the others were starting to walk, and said, "I won't say it, but hard not to notice," smiling at her before they began walking together.

"I'm not surprised. There was something I wanted to ask you earlier," Beckett said. "What are you going to do in April? Anything?"

"Nothing like you and Rick do," Skye replied, taking pictures of a maple tree that was rich in red leaves they passed. "No, we've decided to head over to the hotel we went to in Japan for our honeymoon… one of them," she said before she corrected herself.

"Your dad is staying with the girls?" Beckett said.

"For two weeks," Skye said. "Just that, because we'll be getting closer to summer."

Smiling, as they had already agreed with the McDouglases to go to Spain the next summer, Beckett said, "My cousin will join us."

"I'd hope so," Skye said. "Since of course that would be rough for Alexis and Louis.

"That and they want to see Spain," Beckett said.

"They've never been?" Skye asked.

"No, they've gone to Greece in the summer," Beckett replied. "But the Fosters are unsure right now and I know Brad can't take off much time this summer. They're going to travel to Philadelphia and Boston; closer places like that."

"Too bad, they're fun to travel with," Skye said. "But they said they might want to just take a single family vacation, didn't they?"

Nodding Beckett then said, "But hearing about the places we want to go to, it sounds like they both might try to work it out."

"They wavered?" Skye asked.

"They did, I think David and Rebecca can work things out," Castle said, as he'd walked back to the two women and had heard a bit of their conversation. "And Brad and Lily will try."

"They're not worried about Sophie, are they?" Mary asked as she'd been close behind Castle.

"Not taking her," Beckett said hurriedly. "They're just wondering how she'll be when as she gets older."

"She's six months now isn't she?" Mary inquired.

"Six months and-" Castle began before his wife covered his mouth with her hand.

"Yes, and her development is good, she's been meeting every milestone she should and they're taking her to her pediatrician a lot," Beckett took over.

"Good, though they won't stop of course," Skye commented.

"It's hard not to," Castle said, taking his wife's hand away from him. He was about to speak again when he heard Eliza calling to them both and he said, "They're at the bonsai trees, your girls wanted you to see them too," to Skye.

"We should head back," Skye said with a smile before they were walking together over to the others.

"Okay?" Castle asked his wife.

"I was asking what they would do for their tenth anniversary," Beckett said, telling him what the investigator had said.

"That should be nice," Castle said, nodding. He then took her hand to give it a squeeze saying, "There's not much left."

"I know which garden is next," Beckett said in amusement before they were meeting up with their daughters and she was taking pictures with them. They stayed together going through the little trees and then the rest of the garden before they went back the way they came. She took pictures of the trees they passed going to the next one, taking more of the ones that were changing color for the season before she heard Fleur squealing ahead of them.

"Look at the gate! Did we go back to Japan?" Fleur asked.

"No, it's the Chinese Garden," Kathleen said eagerly. "This one is the newest one."

"Go ahead inside," Mary urged Fleur and Iris who were with their oldest sister. She glanced at her wife and said, "The gate…"

"She just wants to make sure," Skye said with a smile.

"It's imposing," Julia commented, smiling at her friends when they nodded. "But I can't wait to see what it looks like."

When they were inside the garden Beckett found herself taking pictures rapidly of the architecture and the landscaping together. At one point she looked up from her camera screen, standing in one of the pavilions, and saw only her husband and their daughters were with her.

"Mother and your dad went to the tea house here," Castle said quickly. "And the McDouglases are out," he added, looking out on the lake of water the pavilion was at. "And about."

Beckett smiled and shook her head before going to him and kissing him tenderly on the lips. She pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Josie's head and said to the girls, "The kids."

"They're with Skye and Mary and everyone," Julia said. "I told them they could stay but…"

"They miss their families," Eliza piped up with.

"Are they doing alright?" Castle asked both girls.

"Yeah, they just wanted to walk around," Julia replied reassuringly. "If they had to choose between their parents coming here or Disneyland-"

"Disneyland!" Eliza said eagerly, jumping up and down.

"I'm not surprised they'd pick that," Beckett said, squeezing her second oldest's shoulder reassuringly as she could tell she was a little annoyed at the interruption.

"I can't wait for that too," Julia said, calming down. She smiled at her mother and said, "It's next week already."

"And the semifinals," Castle commented. When he saw his wife and daughters looking at him he said, "I'm just glad Skye's able to keep calm about this."

"Thank Mary," Beckett said as the girls went to the railing to look out on the water. She handed her camera to her husband and took Josie from him, kissing the baby as she vocalized softly. Holding her close she went with Castle to their other daughters, standing and looking out at the lake together before they were waving to the McDouglases and other kids they could see across the way.

"Dad?" Julia said after a while.

"Yes," Castle said, looking at her.

"Could you say something in Chinese?" Julia asked.

Looking around for a moment Castle then said, " _Zhé shí San You Ge_."

"What does that mean?" Eliza asked.

"This is the Pavilion of the Three Friends," Castle replied. "I'm not kidding, there's a plaque over there that says. But we should walk around love," he directed to his wife. "Before they need to wait for us." When she nodded they were about to leave the structure when someone came in and saw the camera in his hand.

"Would you like me to take a picture of you and your family?" the woman asked.

"Sure," Castle said after looking at his wife and seeing her nod. He handed the camera over and stood with Beckett to his left and Julia to his right, Eliza in front of him and his wife.

"Do you want me to get the baby's attention?" the woman asked.

"You can try but it's alright if she's not looking," Beckett said hurriedly. She gently bounced Josie a few times before the baby was turning her head towards the woman and she hoped she'd taken the picture in time. "Thank you," she said, the girls following her in that.

"You're welcome, she was looking at the camera luckily," the woman replied while she was giving it back to Castle. "And you have adorable children."

"Thanks," Castle said before they left the pavilion. He walked with his family around the lake, switching the camera for Josie who was looking around them as they walked past some weeping willows that were shedding their burnished colored leaves.

"Hullo again," Liam said when the family joined his and the others. "How was it?"

"It's so pretty," Julia said, looking at the screen of her mother's camera as she was getting their family picture to show everyone.

"We took our picture! All of us," Eliza said rapidly then as they were looking at the photo.

"Oh wonderful, Josie was looking too," Martha said. "I'll want a copy of this, for the loft."

"I'll get a copy for you Mother," Castle told her. "And for you Jim."

"Thank you," he replied, as he'd been thinking of a frame for the photo already.

"Would you want one of us to take a picture of you guys?" Mary asked.

"We should take turns," Beckett said, smiling at the kids. "One of your family, one of ours and then all the kids together."

"Mom, could we take that last one in the pavilion? My dad said it's called the Pavilion of the Three Friends," Julia said, directing the last to her friends.

"That's fine," Beckett said.

"Would you take ours through the Chinese gate looking out on the lake?" Skye asked.

"Sure," Beckett said before they made their way over to the structure. She took the investigator's camera and waited for the eight of the family to arrange themselves. She tried not to smile noticing that Liam was the tallest and Skye the next, feeling like that fit since the two seemed to be the most protective of the three adults. Taking more than one shot, she then said while she was handing over the camera, "I'd like us to take ours in front of the grotto."

"Alright, let's head over before we finally go see the art," Skye said. She smiled as her two oldest looked startled and said, "I had a feeling you'd forget it. But there's that too."

After they'd taken their family picture; including his mother and his wife's father; in front of the waterfall, Castle followed the others over to the pavilion where his wife and Skye were taking pictures of all twelve kids as Eliza insisted on holding Josie. He took a few pictures on his phone, to send to the three kids' parents who weren't there and one to Alexis. After that they headed back towards the Rose Garden so they could make their way to the first of the buildings in the compound and start looking at what art the Huntington had to offer.


	44. Two For Joy (Part 2)

"That one was my favorite," Eliza said, peering over her mother's shoulder at the screen of her camera.

"Oh yeah?" Beckett asked, glancing up at the bedroom of the guest house where they were gathering to get ready to go to the Pier. As they'd returned home from practice on Tuesday the kids had asked about the Pier and they'd decided to head there since they hadn't had the chance to visit it yet.

"I like that one too," Mari said, looking as well though she was trying not to.

"Her clothes?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yeah, though I'm really glad we don't have to wear bonnets anymore," Mari said.

"Or dresses all the time," Julia commented, sitting with her mother and sister on the couch. She had been allowed to feed Josie when the baby had begun crying, holding the bottle for her while the baby was periodically grasping it.

"Yeah," Eliza said. "What if you had to wear those…" she started to say before looking at her mother as she'd been talking to Peter and Clive who were with them.

"They called them breeches," Beckett said, knowing she was talking about _The Blue Boy_ painting they'd seen.

Making a face Peter said, "I'm really glad. But at least you wouldn't have had to wear stockings."

"No, they would have," Castle said, coming down the stairs from the bedroom where he'd been getting ready.

"Under their dresses," Beckett added. She stood then, watching to see when Josie would finish her bottle, and was planning on taking her to burp her when she felt the towel on her shoulder moving. "Rick-" she started to say with a frown.

"It's okay," Castle assured her.

"Where are we gonna have dinner Mommy?" Eliza asked.

"You're hungry already?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Of course she is," Castle said. "And she'll be exhausted too," he added as Julia rushed to the door at the knock there.

"Hello," Martha said. "Are we ready?"

"Almost," Beckett said, rinsing the bottle quickly. "Josie needs to finish."

"Gram," Eliza said, taking her hand. "Do you know where we're going to eat?"

Glancing at her son and then daughter in law, Martha said, "I don't kiddo, I think they want to make it a surprise."

"Not really, we haven't decided yet," Beckett said after she and Castle had shared a look.

"We're going to the amusement park so…" he said when his wife looked at him.

"Cool, we get to have something that's junk?" Clive asked.

"Not exactly," Castle said. "We're not getting dessert, but we're not going to a restaurant, so it'll be a burger or something."

"Alright, we can go," Beckett said as she could see that Josie was finished fully by then. She helped Castle get the kids out and let him put the baby into her car seat before they were splitting the rest of them up and making their way to the Pier. After they'd parked she smiled as she watched the three from the Hamptons look more closely at the rides; they'd seen it before from the railing at Palisades Park on the cliffs.

"We get to go on the rides?" Mari asked hopefully.

"Of course," Castle said. "A little preview for Disneyland." He was startled when the girls looked at him and said, "What?"

"It's not really like Disneyland," Julia was saying to her friends. "But it's still fun."

"Come on," Jim said, saying that because Eliza was jumping up and down next to him.

The group walked together, laughing, over to the park before they were pausing so Castle could buy wristbands for them.

"Are you sure we should have these?" Martha asked.

"We'd like to watch Josie too," Beckett said simply. "But first we're going to get dinner."

They looked at all the different options before the kids begged for the _Japadog_ place and they were ordering swiftly. After they had their food they went back to the amusement park, sitting at two tables next to each other before they started eating.

"What do you think?" Beckett asked, looking over at the kids as they'd all gotten the same kind, even Eliza.

"Good, I thought the seaweed was going to be gross," Peter said as they'd gotten the hot dog with teriyaki sauce, mayonnaise and small strips of seaweed on the top. "But it tastes… not like lettuce but… green?"

Smiling when the other kids agreed, Castle said, "I'm glad you guys picked this."

"How's yours?" Beckett asked her husband.

Nodding, since he'd chosen the same one she had, with avocado, cream cheese, Japanese mayo and soy sauce, Castle said, "You?"

"It's good," Beckett said. She looked at their parents and said, "I hope you're okay with yours," since her father had gotten the same as the kids while Martha had opted for a plain bratwurst.

After the two had nodded that they were, Castle ate a French fry; they'd decided to all try the ones sprinkled with dried ground seaweed; and then said, "We're going to play the games after this-" before he was suddenly interrupted by the kids crying out before Julia was asking them something rapidly.

"We don't need to wait to go on the Ferris wheel, do we?" the girl said.

Looking at it, Beckett hesitated for a moment before she said, "I don't think so, but we should at least walk to the end of the pier before that."

"Sure," the five kids at the same time.

After the group had stopped laughing, even Josie starting to a little, they finished eating and made their way from the park to the main part of the pier.

"What's it like at the end?" Mari asked Julia while they were walking together.

"You'll see," she replied. "And I showed you pictures I took here."

"Yeah but it's not the same," Mari was quick to point out. She laughed slightly when her friend shrugged and then noticed something. "They fish here?" seeing people with fishing rods and buckets.

"Yeah, but we never stopped to watch last time," Julia replied. She wrinkled her nose as she could smell the fish in some buckets, but they luckily came to the very end of the pier.

"Cool," Clive said. "It's almost like at home but…" He hesitated and said, "Is it weird if I say the water seems different?"

"No, I noticed that too," Peter said with a nod. "When we were at Laguna Beach."

"Don't explain to them," Beckett told her husband as they were listening to the kids.

"I wasn't going to," Castle replied. He then looked with her at Eliza who was coming up to them and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shaking her head, the little girl said, "Can we go down to the beach? Please?"

Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband quickly turned to her and she said, "We can, but not for that long. Despite it being Friday you still have school tomorrow."

"Kay," Eliza said. "Can I go in with my feet?"

"No," Beckett said slightly laughingly at how the little girl had worded that.

"It's going to be too cold," Castle said. "So we'll keep our shoes on, and not stay too long. Your mom's right, you have school but you've been walking around a lot today."

"Not all day," Eliza protested, since he'd carried her on his shoulders towards the end of their time at the Huntington.

"Still," Beckett said. She nodded to her husband and watched him getting the other kids away from the railing so they could go. She noticed that her father was coming over to her and she took Josie from him, putting away her camera.

"Katie, the beach here is where you-" Jim began.

Shaking her head to interrupt him, Beckett said, "It's alright Dad, I don't mind going down the stairs. I have before."

Nodding, Jim kept an eye on his daughter though before they reached the stairs down to the sand. He had to take Josie back, since Eliza was taking both her parents' hands before they went down the beach.

"Shouldn't we get Gram so she can come down here too?" Julia asked.

"She didn't want to come," Beckett said, standing with her as Eliza and Castle had gone ahead.

"Mom?" Julia then said as she made her stop. "What was Grandpapa talking about?"

Beckett wanted to shake her head, but her daughter was looking at her solemnly and she told her daughter a little more about the first time she and Castle had been in LA together. They'd told their daughters the basics about that trip and the investigation, but never about what had happened at the pier. When she had stopped she watched her second oldest look underneath the structure they were next to still.

"You just shot him in the leg?" Julia said. She wasn't surprised when her mother looked stunned and said, "I could tell Mom… he killed your… friend…"

Sighing under her breath at the way her daughter had said the last word so hesitatingly, Beckett said, "You know already sweetie, I thought I was in love with him, but it was just… something like a schoolgirl crush." She saw the slight panic on the girl's face and was about to ask what was wrong when she was speaking first.

"So the crush that I have-" Julia started to say.

"I didn't mean that kind," Beckett said hurriedly. "Sorry sweetie. What I meant is that it was just because I thought I should feel like that about him. Yours is likely different, unless you realize the same thing about the person you like."

Shaking her head Julia said, "I don't, I thought about it for a long time." She then said, "And he's the one who wrote to you that you shouldn't fight what you felt about Dad?"

"He was," Beckett said. She was going to speak again when her daughter was suddenly hugging her, and she said, "What is it?"

"I'm glad you're okay," Julia said. Looking up at her mother and seeing the slightly puzzled look on her face, she made a frustrated sound and said, "You jumped off the side of the pier Mom! You could have gotten hurt, even if there was sand there."

"I'm lucky there was," Beckett said, unable to help smiling at her daughter's tone. She was going to speak again but heard yelling down by the water and saw that Peter was chasing Clive with some kelp. "Oh no," she said, letting go of Julia as the younger boy was yelling at the older one to stop it. "Peter," she called sternly while her husband was walking down the beach with Eliza as fast as he could.

"Sorry," the boy said as he froze where he was standing. He dropped the long piece of kelp and said to Clive, "Sorry."

"I told-" the younger boy started to say when Beckett put her hand on his shoulder. He stopped and breathed out before he then said, "Sure… just don't do that again."

"Peter," Castle said then, being careful to make his tone even. "Why don't you walk with me."

"We can't go to the park now?" Julia asked, taking Mari's hand.

"We should," Jim said, having been with Mari and the boys while his daughter and son in law were with their daughters.

"What's Dad going to do?" Julia asked her mother while they began to walk, her father and Peter last in their group.

"Just talk to him, don't worry," Beckett said.

"I don't know why I did that," Peter was saying to Castle as they walked. "I just… thought it would be funny."

"I'm not surprised," Castle said. "But for Clive it wasn't, since he doesn't like that."

"Yeah…" Peter said slowly. He hurried up the sand and walking next to his friend said, "I'm really sorry I… thought it would be funny, but I was the only one who laughed wasn't I?"

"You were," Mari said, since she and Julia were with Clive.

Seeing Peter blanch, the boy wasn't surprised when he was apologizing again before he stopped him. "It's okay, I know you mean it now," Clive interrupted.

"Are we still friends?" Peter asked slowly. He started to smile widely when his friend held out his fist and he immediately moved to bump his against it. Looking at the girls with them he asked, "That's good enough right? We don't have to hug or something do we?"

"No," Julia said, rolling her eyes as Clive was making a face at that. "And now we finally get to go on the Ferris wheel," she said while they went back up to the pier. Since they had their wristbands for the rides already, they went straight into line and she whispered to her friends. At their nods of agreement, she went to her sister and murmured to her before the five of them began to move.

"What are you-" Beckett started to say as they were watching the kids.

"We're going by ourselves," Julia interrupted. "And then Lizzy will go with Gram and Grandpapa. Oh, and Josa too," she corrected herself before smiling at her parents.

Beckett wanted to argue that, but they were at the front of the line and the four kids first were tall enough to go into their car alone. So she merely kissed the side of Josie's head and watched Martha take her into the next one.

As he and Beckett were getting into theirs Castle said, "Is it that bad she planned this?"

"No," she said honestly as they were moving. Beckett then said, "I just wish she'd tell us."

"We'd have said no," Castle pointed out. He couldn't help smiling as his wife groaned loudly and he leaned over, pressing a kiss to her temple before they were moving without stopping. "But this is nice."

"It is," Beckett said, watching him slide over to her. She leaned forward so he could wrap his arm around her and she leaned her head against him as they were at the top of the wheel. "Rick?" she said when they were going down shortly after.

"Yeah?" Castle asked.

"I wish we could," Beckett said simply, knowing he would be aware of what she meant already.

"We don't need to," Castle said, rubbing her back gently. "Not after Tuesday."

Shaking her head, as she didn't really want to remember that morning when she'd had to stay in bed for a half hour with a hot water bottle on her stomach, Beckett said. "After my birthday."

"Love," Castle said as they were stopping near the top. "You need to let me know when you want us to be together, I'm sure I'll want to whenever that us, but you have to tell me."

Nodding Beckett wrapped her arms around him and said, "I love you Rick."  
"I love you too Kate," Castle said, nuzzling the side of her head with his lips. When she tilted her head up to him he lowered his own so they could kiss, enjoying it greatly though it needed to be brief. After they'd parted he looked out on the ocean with her and murmured, "I'll be happy with this tonight."

"Me too," Beckett said, not surprised when he breathed out in obvious relief. She smiled and then kissed his cheek before enjoying his embrace while they watched the view as they were ascending again.

* * *

Screaming as they were going around at the end of the roller coaster, Julia laughed as Mari next to her was playfully groaning at the force on their bodies. They soon came into the station and she said, "That was fun wasn't it?"

"Yeah," the girl replied. "I'm glad we got to go."

"Don't look at me," Beckett said in amusement as her daughter then looked back where she was sitting with Clive. "Your dad wanted to leave this for last."

"I think he wants to play the games again," Julia said. She giggled when her mother nodded in agreement and they got out of the train for the coaster before walking down the stairs to where Martha was waiting with Josie.

"We heard you having fun," Castle's mother said as she handed her youngest granddaughter to her son.

"It was a lot of fun," Clive said first. "Those bumps make you feel like you're going to fly out."

"What's next?" Jim asked, holding Eliza who he'd sat with since she was tall enough for the roller coaster.

"I'd like us to split up," Castle said as he looked at his wife. "Jim, would you mind taking the four oldest around the rides? You don't need to go on them if you don't want to, but it would be nice if you could keep an eye on them."

"I don't mind," Beckett's father said as he looked at the four and saw that they didn't have any protests. "And Eliza?"

"I'll take her," Martha said before her son could speak. She smiled when he looked at her and said, "She should have a turn with me."

"What about Josa?" Eliza asked, jumping up and down in her excitement at going with her grandmother.

"She'll be with us," Castle said, glancing at his wife.

"I'm fine with that," Beckett assured him. She took the baby from him and then said to the kids, "We'll come to see you on your rides, but until then listen to the adult that's with you." She watched the kids go after they promised they would and then turned to her husband.

"The-" Castle started to say when she was placing her hand on his chest to stop him.

"I don't mind," Beckett reassured him. "But this is all we're taking her on."

"Of course," Castle said, nodding. They walked together to the Ferris wheel and once they were in their car he took the baby back.

"Rick," Beckett said, watching him trying to teach Josie to speak. "I don't think she's really going to get it."

"I wanted to try," Castle said, stopping. He handed her the baby and then asked his wife, "Selfie?"

"Sure," Beckett said with a smile. She watched him getting his phone and looked down at Josie, seeing she was smiling herself. Kissing her temple, she looked up at her husband, not surprised that he was already taking a picture.

"I couldn't resist," Castle said with a smile before he leaned over and kissed her gently.

"I'm not that surprised," Beckett said, cupping his face with her free hand. After she was looking forward again Castle took the picture of them, trying to get Josie's attention too. When he showed it to her she said, "I guess we got lucky earlier," since the baby was looking to the side.

"I agree, but we should take another," Castle said. He saw his wife looking at him and then said, "One more."

"Alright," Beckett said, waiting for him to get the phone ready. She started to laugh when he leaned over to her, kissing her cheek and hoped the picture would still come out.

"Now she looks at the camera," Castle said in amusement when they looked at it.

Beckett laughed softly and kissed his cheek quickly as she knew they would need to get off the ride soon before saying, "Probably because we weren't paying attention to her."

"Probably," Castle said, kissing the top of the baby's head. When they needed to get off their car he was first, holding the door open for his wife before they were walking away from the wheel. "Want to get a drink?"

Glancing at him, Beckett smiled and said, "Are you giving them more time?"

"Basically," Castle said. "There's a coffee place over there," he then said, motioning towards the way they'd come into the park.

"Alright," Beckett said with a nod. She laughed softly at her husband's surprised expression before Josie squealed and said, "I think she agrees with you love."

"I guess so," Castle said slightly laughingly. They walked together over to the stall and he got them teas which they carried over to the nearest bench along the side of the pier so they could watch the water.

Leaning over, as soon as they were settled, Beckett pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek and said, "Though I wonder how the others are doing… I'm enjoying this."

"Already?" Castle said with a smile. He watched her nod; carefully as she was sipping her tea; and he said, "So am I." Looking down at Josie he wasn't surprised when the baby seemed to sigh and he leaned over, taking her hand with his free one before he gently squeezed it. "Are you having fun _ceann beag_?" he asked her as she stared at him with her eyes wide. "I'm taking that as a yes," he told his wife when the baby was smiling.

"I would too," Beckett said, smiling while she watched him lean over to kiss Josie's tiny hand. She looked at the water as her husband wrapped his arm around her and they stayed like that for some time, watching the sky growing darker and darker until she shook herself.

"We need to go?" Castle asked as he noticed her shifting next to him.

"Yeah, they've had enough time on the rides," Beckett replied. "And they'll need to go to bed soon." They looked down at Josie and seeing her yawn she smiled and said, "And her especially."

"Definitely," Castle said as he nodded in agreement. They stood and started to walk back inside the park, staying close together the entire time they searched for their family to head back to the McDouglas home.

* * *

 _November 12_ _th_ _, 2020_

 _Okay, I guess I was wrong diary (not lying because I really didn't know that I would be able to write again) and I'm back but I was pretty busy today. And the last few days, but I have some things to write about._

 _On the 6_ _th_ _I went to see Skye, Mary and the band rehearse with Paul. We had lunch with him and Nancy AND_

 _Lol, sorry, I'm so excited to get to write this. But while they were practicing a song of George's they were going to sing that night (_ It's What You Value _) two people came in and it was Olivia and Dhani! I got to meet them both and they were sooo nice. They talked to me about dancing to George's songs and I think I was able to say how much I love to dance to his songs… Hmm, I'll stop repeating the words dance and songs now. But it was so cool. The concert was that night and man… it was so fun. I realized afterwards that it was very different since I don't think Paul's performed with women in concert besides Linda of course, but it was nice. And Dad said most people were okay with that, and they loved Skye and Mary. There's going to be a movie about the concert and Paul's gonna make sure we get copies (Mari, Peter and Clive too). I can't wait to see the behind the scenes stuff since the band had to practice a lot with Paul._

 _So that was last week, and this week's been busy. First was Monday of course and Skye's in the semifinals! Of course… everyone made it to the semifinals but still, we didn't know that was going to happen. She and Derek are gonna dance the Contemporary and the Cha-Cha-Cha, and Peter and I are dancing the Contemporary too. Well, actually Mari and Clive are going to dance too, I told Derek to find a place for them if he could. Oh, and he picked the song_ Tiny Dancer _for us…_

Glancing at the bed, Julia saw that Mari was scribbling in her diary; they had to be careful since they'd been put to bed ten minutes before and didn't want to be caught. She'd suddenly had the urge to talk to her diary, though she had spoken to her best friend already about what she was going to write, and she turned back to it, starting another paragraph.

 _It's going to be a special dance for me, it's kinda going to be for my parents… well, for me anyways. And I'm trying the hardest I can to do the best I can with the steps with this one as I do like Contemporary. I just hope that I can make Mom and Dad proud of me._

 _I have to be really fast now, we're supposed to be asleep, me and Mari, so today we went to the Huntington Library and Gardens. It's where Skye and Mary got engaged and also married and it was so pretty, since it was fall. The colors were beautiful and I was so surprised there were still flowers, but that was a really good thing. And then tonight we went to the Pier, just my family and Mari and the boys- the McDouglases went to Old Pasadena I think, oh, Liam too, he went with them- and it was fun. I saw where Mom jumped off the Pier; now I know that story; and got the suspect who killed her… I think it's training officer, who was her friend. She used to think she loved him, but she said it was a schoolgirl crush. Luckily my crush isn't that, not really liking or love, just thinking I should feel that way, like Mom did about the guy. Okay, I have to go now, I really do, I just get upset about Mom back then thinking that… though she didn't know Dad so I guess that would happen. I'm just really happy she loves Dad now! So when I'll write again I don't know, either while I'm still here or back home in the Hamptons, you'll see next time I put a date. Night Diary!_

Taking her book to the dresser, Julia put it away hurriedly and then went to the bed while Mari was doing the same with her diary. They got into bed; having closed the lights they'd used already; and she whispered, "I'm glad we didn't get caught."

"I know," Mari said in agreement, wrapping her arms around her friend. "I just hope I can read my writing later; I was writing so fast."

"Yeah," Julia said. "But hopefully we can do that again soon."

"I hope too," Mari said with a soft laugh before they were yawning. "Night Julia."

"Night Mari," the girl said, smiling at her friend. Julia then let herself relax and closed her eyes, thinking it would take her a long time to go to sleep. But she was soon nodding off, eager for her next dance to show her family and friends.

At that moment, Beckett was heading down the stairs and she said to her husband and their friends, "They went to sleep."

"Diaries?" Skye asked.

"Of course," Beckett said.

"I'm surprised she didn't try to write about the concert closer to it," Mary commented.

"You're so sure she was writing about that?" Castle asked. Not surprised at the look that the doctor gave him he shrugged and then looked at his wife.

"I think that's our cue to head to the guest house," Beckett said wryly. She went to her friend and hugged her saying, "Practice?"

"Yes, but Derek wants us to be there at one-thirty," Skye explained. "I'll teach them some Spanish after lunch."

"We're not allowed to go again?" Castle asked as he hugged the two women goodnight quickly.

"It's not so much that but your daughter wants to surprise you," Skye told him.

"I don't think we're really going to like it until we're on Monday and can see it," Beckett pointed out.

"I don't blame you," Mary said. "We'd be the same if it were one of our girls."

"We'll see you at breakfast," Skye said.

After they'd said goodnight to the women, Castle took his wife's hand and they walked across the yard and to the guest house. When they were inside he asked, "Want another cup of tea?"

"No, I just want to get ready," Beckett told him. She went to him and brushed her lips to his saying, "I need to take a shower."

"I'm good," Castle said. "And I'll wait for you."

Beckett nodded before they went together up the stairs and she grabbed her pajamas before she went into the bathroom. Though she had wanted her husband to join her she needed the shower on her own and since she was dissatisfied with that she rushed through cleaning herself until she was dressed in her pajamas. She opened the door at that point and said, "You can come in Rick."

Joining her at the sinks Castle asked, "How are you?"

"Good," Beckett said reassuringly, not surprised he'd asked. "It should be stopping Sunday."

"I'm glad to hear that," Castle said, getting toothpaste onto his toothbrush. When she glanced at him he said, "I hate you having to go through it."

Nodding, as it wasn't the first time he'd said that, Beckett started to brush her teeth before she was moving to brush out her hair. She had just barely started when her husband appeared behind her and she smiled at his reflection in the mirror, allowing him to take over. "Do you have something Rick?" she eventually said to him.

"To be honest I do," Castle replied. "I just recalled it while I was waiting for you. When he'd finished with her hair he pulled her to him and said, "It's nothing sexual, or will be. We spent the day with the girls and were exhausted that night."

"Hmm, sounds familiar," Beckett said, smiling at him in the mirror. She felt him nuzzling the back of her head and she then turned to him saying, "But it'll be better if you remind me while we're in bed."

"Good," Castle said. And with that he scooped his wife up into his arms, carrying her over to the bed to her laughter. He set her down and climbed in once she was sitting on the mattress, laying down and taking her into his hold while she pressed against his side. "It was December fourth, a Saturday," he began, doing so quickly as he knew she wanted him to start. "And in 1937. Since it was Saturday all four girls were home from school…"

"Go ahead," Beckett said in amusement, knowing what he wanted to say. "It sets things up."

"Yes, but I should mention our ages," Castle said.

"I know Rick, thirty-eight and thirty-seven," Beckett told him. "But what does this have to do with the memory?"

"No, just, their ages," Castle said. "Fifteen, ten, nine and seven."

"That's how things were back then, they had kids young," Beckett said, giving him a look.

"Yes, but…" Castle started to say before his wife was kissing him to cut him off.

When they pulled away Beckett said, "Start love."

"Okay, I'll start with lunch since we let them read after breakfast before they made Christmas gifts," Castle said. "And then we were in the kitchen all together."

* * *

 _"Easy girls," Kate said with a smile to her two youngest daughters._

 _"We are Ma," Alexandra said. "But Josephine is letting the peel go all over."_

 _"Here," Rick told the youngest, taking the potato and peeler from her._

 _"How do you do that so fast Da?" Josephine asked while they watched him._

 _"I had to learn in the Army," Rick replied, taking care of the potato rapidly. It was the last one his wife needed, and he said, "Kate? I'll take care of the potatoes," he told her, going to the cutting board so he could start though he wasn't surprised when his wife was turning from the stove to him immediately._

 _"You don't need to," she said, watching him begin to slice the potatoes as thinly as he could._

 _"I should help, we need to go before it gets dark," Rick told her, not taking his eyes off the knife in his hand._

 _Though she wanted to protest, Kate merely nodded and allowed him to continue while she focused on the fish that she was cooking in a skillet. "Girls," she then called to their daughters. "Wash up and set the table, it shouldn't take us very long to finish."_

 _Since he'd finished by then, Rick watched their daughters leaving for the bathroom and he said, "I thought Julia-"_

 _"She will when she comes back," Kate assured him. "Her sisters can set the table."_

 _Nodding, Rick went back to cutting the rest of the potatoes and he went to the skillet his wife had prepared._

 _"Are you starting Da?" Elizabeth asked, coming into the kitchen then._

 _"Yes, stay back," Rick told the girls as he could see the rest of them had walked in. "Kate-"_

 _"I'll be fine," she told him simply. Her tone was a bit absent as she was watching their three youngest behind them getting the plates and utensils while Julia was preparing a salad on the kitchen table._

 _When everything was ready the family gathered at the dining room table and they began eating before the two youngest were asking when they would be able to go into the city._

 _"Do you have a reason to go?" Rick asked the pair jokingly._

 _"Da," Alexandra and Josephine groaned at the same time before they giggled together._

 _"I think they want to go shopping," Julia said with a smile._

 _"And you don't?" Rick asked._

 _"Don't shrug your shoulders honey," Kate told her oldest. "We will go to the city again, not just for that but to see the decorations. I think next weekend…"_

 _"I'm fine," Rick said as his wife was looking at him. "I've finished writing all I need to until after the holidays."_

 _"Really?" Elizabeth asked. "That's swell then we can play after school."_

 _"After you've done your homework," Rick said slightly sternly. "And you'll need to finish your gifts you're making. Unless you already did."_

 _"We're not going to tell you what we're making Da," Julia said._

 _"I had to try," Rick said, looking at his wife._

 _"Sap," Kate said jokingly._

 _When they had finished, Julia had her sisters help her clear the table so they could clean up. She smiled at her mother as she was following the three and then disappeared into the kitchen._

 _Turning to her husband Kate said, "What do you have up your sleeve?"_

 _"Would you like to go into town?" Rick asked. "_ For them _," he said in Irish._

 _Glancing at the doorway, Kate smiled and said, "We should, and I'd love to." She frowned for a moment and then asked, in Irish, "_ But why would they allow us to go if they know we're Christmas shopping _?"_

 _"_ They don't _," Rick replied, speaking in Irish again. "_ All they know is we're taking a stroll together, and I told them I'd see what you liked in the window shops _."_

 _Smiling, Kate squeezed her husband's hand before she stood and said, "Just let me change," speaking in English as their daughters were walking into the room._

 _"Aren't you going to get ready too Da?" Alexandra asked him._

 _"I don't need to do much," Rick replied, unrolling his sleeves and starting to button his cuffs when Julia stopped him._

 _"Make sure you get something swell for Ma," the young woman told him firmly._

 _"I will," Rick said, trying not to smile as he'd done that the month before. But he would be paying attention to her at the hat shop they'd walk by, knowing his wife needed a new one for the spring. He put on his jacket and went over to the entry, grabbing his and his wife's coats before he waited with the girls._

 _"Girls," Kate said as she was coming down the stairs. "Stay in the house and do not play with the stove here or in the kitchen. And don't go snooping around for your gifts, they're well hidden."_

 _"We'll be good," the three youngest said together as they knew that was mostly directed to them._

 _"I won't answer the phone or open the door to anyone but you and Da… or our aunts and uncle if they come," Julia said, watching her mother pulling on her gloves._

 _"Good," Kate replied, taking her hat that her second oldest was holding. She took a moment to put it on, making sure her hair she'd pulled up into a bun upstairs was neat. She set her pins in place and then told her husband, "Have you told them anything?"_

 _"I knew I wouldn't need to," Rick said. "You have everything in hand love."_

 _Shaking her head, Kate said, "We'll need to stop at the grocers, the girls will need milk. But for now…" She turned to the girls and embraced them in turn, going from youngest to oldest. "Watch them," she said firmly to Julia._

 _"I will Ma," the young woman assured her. She watched as her parents stepped out to the porch while they were putting on their coats, waiting until they were going down the steps to close and lock the door._

 _"I almost thought they'd have snuck out to the porch," Rick commented once he and his wife were walking to the main street._

 _"So did I, but they know I'm listening for them," Kate replied easily. She felt her husband pulling her closer and she glanced him before she said, "What did they say to you?"_

 _"They reminded me to look for something for you. Something swell," Rick replied. "And I told them I would."_

 _"You have already," Kate said, studying him._

 _Rick didn't say anything, merely squeezing her close again as they walked together down the street to continue their shopping for their family._

* * *

"What?" Beckett said, studying her husband as he stopped talking and then seemed to be staring at nothing above them.

"No, your hair," Castle said. When he felt her squeezing his arm he looked at her and then said, "With you keeping it that long you had to work with it constantly."

Sighing Beckett said, "Don't compare it to my hair now."

"I'm not," Castle said quickly. "It just reminded me of that but back then you didn't do all that much to it."

"Which you loved," Beckett commented.

"I did," Castle replied.

Shaking her head as she smiled, Beckett then said, "That was a nice Christmas."  
"For you? It was," Castle said, not surprised she recalled the gift that he'd gotten for her. "But you only wore that lavalier every so often…"

"I didn't have a necklace like I do now," Beckett was quick to point out to him as she knew what he was thinking. "But that was a nice day, luckily they didn't destroy the house while we were gone."

"Their big sister kept them in line," Castle replied. "Also they were looking at the magazines… movie magazines?"

"And fashion," Beckett said, as that had suddenly come to her. "And they pulled me into looking as well." When they were both silent she laid down again, pressing her cheek to his shoulder before she was suddenly telling him about what she had talked with Julia about on the beach.

"I'm not surprised," Castle said. He wasn't either when his wife raised her head and said to her questioning expression, "You say a crush and she has one right now…"

Nodding Beckett said, "I thought telling her that would cause some kind of… panic for her but she seems to be fine."

"Which means one thing-" Castle started to say.

"It's probably not just a crush," Beckett said at the same time as him. She smiled briefly when he looked at her in surprise and told him, "I get the feeling it's not but… she's so young."

"Eleven and her first crush? I had a friend in third grade who had a crush on a classmate… for a while," Castle said. He was going to speak again when he studied his wife and smiled a little saying, "You don't want her to."

With a frustrated sigh, Beckett pressed her face to his shoulder and felt him caressing her hair before she had composed herself enough to talk. Raising her head to look at him she said, "Not really, but I'm not going to tell her to stop feeling that way for whoever it is." She then studied her husband and said, "Alexis?"

"Not exactly," Castle said slowly. "She did like some boys as she got older, but it wasn't really for long since she would focus more on being with her friends and school work."

Beckett nodded and then said, "And I think it's frustration and not being able to watch her practice this dance."

"I know," Castle said, since he sympathized with her about that. "But we don't have that much longer until we get to finally see it."

Smiling, Beckett said, "You're just thinking of Disneyland."

"Hey, it's not my fault Skye and Mary got us rooms that same night for the next day," Castle told her. He laughed when she pretended to sock his chest and was quick to grab her hand, bringing it to his lips. "It'll be a great birthday Kate."

Watching him for a moment Beckett asked, "What did you do?"

"I-" Castle started to say in self-defense though his wife was cutting him off by kissing him deeply. He held her tightly to him, his hands slipping underneath her pajama shirt to caress her back. He allowed himself that only until they parted and fished them out to rest them on top of the t-shirt before he said, "I made a dinner reservation."

"That place in Pirates?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yeah," Castle said, relieved at her reaction. He was overjoyed when she kissed him after he'd answered her, and he was clutching her shirt in his hands to keep from doing anything more than that. Their tongues were stroking at each other for a while before she moved away first and he said, "Go with me alone for a little?"

"Hmm, I knew you'd ask," Beckett said. "I will. But thank you for the restaurant, I'm not getting a big cake am I?"

"No, the girls are upset," Castle replied. "They wanted to get a big… Ravenclaw and horse one which I don't know how that would have worked but I told them you'd want to get dessert somewhere in the park better."

"Which I do," Beckett said, tracing her husband's lower lip with her finger. She then said, "And we'll go on rides with Josie too."

"Definitely," Castle said. He saw she looked thoughtful and he felt compelled to say, "You're stunning Kate, you always have been," not surprised when she looked over at him with a slight frown.

"I don't care about that," Beckett said. She saw he was about to speak so she quickly said, "I know I'm aging-"

"But you still look amazing," Castle interrupted her. When she looked at him he said, "You do," pressing the point. "And you don't look like you're about to turn forty."

Just staring at her husband, Beckett wasn't surprised when he appeared to be worried after a while and leaned down to brush her lips to his. "Thank you, and thank you for the reservations," she told him.

"You're welcome, though I'm planning to take you out to dinner once we're back home," Castle said.

"We'll have to wait until next month," Beckett said with a smile.

"You're okay with that?" Castle asked while he was running his fingers through her hair.

"Of course," Beckett said. "It's hard to get the chance to do that here." They kissed again and when they'd parted she smiled at him and said, "But for now we should focus on the kids."

"Yeah, we can take Josie on a lot this time around," Castle said. "Teacups?" when his wife gave him a look he said, "Just checking." He rubbed her back; through her shirt; and said, "I'm getting excited to go."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett said in amusement. "And I'm also a little glad we don't live here; we'd end up going twice a year or more."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Castle told her in a mock defensive tone. When she gave him a look he shrugged and said, "Skye used to with her dad."

"She's told me, for their birthdays," Beckett replied. "She's lucky they're at opposite ends of the year."

"I… wait," Castle said when he realized something. "I wonder if they'll have anything for Christmas there." Looking at his wife he noticed the slight smile on her face and he asked, "They will?"

"They will, Skye told me they start decorating after Halloween. So by now everything should be up," Beckett said.

"Will it be that crowded?" Castle asked, knowing his wife had asked the investigator about that already.

"She won't be sure until we go," Beckett told him. "But we do have the wristbands."

"I'm glad they brought them here," Castle said. "Kate?" he then asked her.

"What?" Beckett said, surprised at how serious he suddenly was.

"I wonder if we should let Eliza go with them," Castle told her. "With the older kids."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "It'd be unfair, she's the shortest and she can't go on everything. And I don't think Marie and Kath would want their little sisters to go with them."

Nodding his head Castle said, "I'm just wondering how we could go on our own, Skye and Mary too."

"Our parents and Liam will be there," Beckett pointed out. She smiled as he seemed to think that over before he nodded, and she brushed her lips to his. "The youngest will be fine and we'll have our chances to be alone."

"Good," Castle said. He laughed when his wife lightly squeezed his side and they kissed shortly after. It was a calmer one and it allowed them to linger until they were parting for a quick gasp of air. Their second was far more passionate and they pressed their foreheads together before he was letting her lay back down.

"I love you," Beckett murmured after she was settled against his side.

"I love you Kate," Castle said, rubbing her upper arm gently. He lowered his head to her for another kiss, briefly, before he said, "I promise it'll be one of the best birthdays you'll have."

Beckett couldn't help laughing softly before she told him, "I think you manage that every year."

"Even though we're not going to be in T-" Castle started to say. He wasn't all that surprised when she kissed him to cut him off, and they were a lot more sensuous that time until they had to stop. When he was looking down her he said, "I have my answer."

"You do," Beckett said, taking his glasses as he took them off and setting them on her nightstand. The lamp there was the only one left on and she turned it off before getting back into his arms. "Tell me what you want to go on with me," she said.

Since he didn't mind the slight delay to them going to sleep, Castle went along with that and he and Beckett soon began to talk about their upcoming trip to the theme park. They kissed often but spent their time talking until she fell asleep first and he watched her for a bit until he was closing his eyes, both dreaming predictably of Tahiti and each other as they stayed close through their repose.


	45. Things I Do At Night

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _Last Dance with Mary Jane_ by Tom Petty, a single released by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; _Struggle_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _New_ ; _Tiny Dancer_ by Bernie Taupin, from Elton John's album _Madman Across the Water_ and _P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)_ by George Harrison, from his album _Brainwashed_.

A/N #2: I was really happy getting the feedback for the last chapter so I want to get my thank yous set for that! Guest (I was really pleased to see you think it's such a great story. You're welcome for it!),

TORONTOSUN (It was great to see you liked the flashback of Skye and Mary's wedding. And I'm very happy you liked how I described the Gardens since I wanted to do them justice; they're amazing),

Mb (Really happy to see you thought the chapter was fantastic of course. And I'm not surprised you thought it was nice to see them relaxing out at the gardens. The gardens are definitely beautiful and glad you thought the imagery of them were too and I'm not surprised that you mentioned the significance of those gardens for Skye and Mary. I was happy to see that you thought the wedding for Skye and Mary was beautifully written, I wanted to write that well. And it was great to see that you thought their talk about the wedding dresses and suits were sweet, along with remembering the wedding of their past life. I wasn't surprised that you could imagine how the Ellen show went, lol, so could I. No surprise that you loved Eliza taking the opportunities she had to get her parents to spend time alone together. I'm glad in the end I did explain why Beckett had tensed about San Francisco, lol, I was afraid I hadn't since I try not to do that in my writing. I had a feeling you'd like them taking the pictures at the Chinese garden, I enjoyed writing that since I have been to the gardens. I was really glad too that you were happy to hear about the vacation plans that the others had. You're welcome for sharing the first half! And of course I was pleased to see that you thought the second half was wonderfully written too. Yep, the Santa Monica Pier is where she shot Gantz… well I suppose I should say underneath the pier is where that happened. It's fairly famous in the area since it has that amusement park at the end of it, lol, one of my favorite places so I did want to include it. I'm glad that you thought the talk Beckett and Julia had was interesting since I wasn't sure how it'd be received in the end. And I'm not surprised about you thinking after that conversation that Julia's crush is possibly more than fleeting. I was really happy that you thought the flashback was very sweet with them getting ready for Christmas. I'm not surprised that you're jealous and want to go to Disneyland and Tahiti too. I'm just jealous of the Disneyland trip since it's so close to Galaxy's Edge opening… lol, though I can't quite write it out yet since I have yet to see it. Anyways, you're very welcome for sharing the second half as well!),

Emma (It was great to see that you're still reading and loving the story. I was happy that you love how I have the warm family moments with the dancing, definitely had to add that. And I'm glad that you were happy that Skye and Derek made it to the semi-finals, and that you're liking the kids being included as well, had to add that. And I was pleased that you love the fact that the family moments are sweet and funny. And I'm relieved that you think it's true to how kids act with Peter teasing Clive with the kelp and Castle and Beckett's handling of the situation since I do try my best with that!) and

Guest (You made it just in time, lol, so I can reply to you just before I posted this. Happy to see you thought the chapters were great. And yep, the gardens there are awesome year round, that's the beauty of have so many different kinds so I'm not surprised you could see why it's so special for Skye and Mary. And yeah, Ivy needs a bit more time with Skye and Mary to understand why a bench would be so special. I'm glad you thought Skye and Mary's wedding was intimate, I aimed for that since it seemed to fit them. And with Mary's parents I guess I forgot to add that they had passed away by the time of the wedding, which is why I had Liam walking Mary down the aisle, my mistake. And no surprise you can't wait for Disneyland, but I'm very pleased you can't since it's great to see other people excited for Disney like I can get, lol).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them as always and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)_ , the information about it in the A/N above.

Things I Do At Night

"Okay, I'm ready Mom," Julia said, walking out from behind the screen.

Watching her daughter, Beckett smiled and said, "You couldn't even tell me about this?"

"Not really," Julia said simply, laughing softly before her mother grabbed her and hugged her tightly. "I look okay?"

"Yes, I have to admit I was worried about what Derek would have you wear," Beckett admitted. "I remember the outfits they have sometimes for the Contemporary dances."

"Derek wouldn't do that," Julia said quickly.

"What about Derek?" Beckett asked.

"Like the boys; a shirt and pants in white," Julia told her simply. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and then spun around once. For the Contemporary dance that she and her friends were doing that night she was wearing a white sundress and white leggings that were shorter than usual. They were also a little wrinkled and she liked the way they looked though she was glancing down at her feet while her mother brushed her hair.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked, having been watching her reflection.

"Well… I did try to dance barefoot; Peter and I," Julia said quickly. "But it's really hard to do."

"Those aren't too bad," Beckett told her as she was wearing what looked like beige slippers. "And you know how to dance with those already luckily."

"Yeah," Julia said, nodding her head before she waited for her mother to put her hair into a ponytail. "Thanks," she said once her mother had finished. She smiled and turned around to her saying, "Are you ready to go back to dance?"

Playfully narrowing her eyes at her daughter, Beckett said, "Come on," holding her hand out to her. They walked together out of the dressing room, not surprised when Julia called out to Mari who was ahead of them with Rebecca.

"They look so grown up," Mari's mother said with a smile as Beckett caught up with her.

"I know, and with all the secrecy I'm hoping this doesn't take too long," she said wryly.

"Hello," a voice said from behind the two women. Skye smiled at them when they turned to her and then said, "Oh… my wife's right behind me, no checking me out," in a pseudo-American accent.

"We were wondering what you'd wear for this," Rebecca said.

"Where'd you get the t-shirt?" Beckett asked.

"I had it made," Skye replied. "Just for this though," she added quickly, looking down at her shirt that had a picture of the album _Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers_. "I have to make sure they know it's not my song." She then looked past the mothers and said, "You two look great."

"You do too," Mari was first to say as they were walking back to the others.

"Thanks," Skye said. The investigator was wearing the t-shirt and a black blazer with the sleeves pushed up. She glanced at her wife, in a white top that had some iridescent beading, and said, "At least one of us has sequins."

Rolling her eyes Mary said, "Give over _grá_. You guys should head to the dance floor," directing the last to the two mothers. "We'll stay with them until we need to perform."

"Then Derek will watch us," Julia piped up.

"Stay in the Sky Box," Beckett said firmly.

"I will," Julia said, hugging her mother tightly as Mari was doing the same with her mother next to her. She watched them go and then said to Skye and Mary, "Do we need to go to makeup?"

"You do but it won't be that much," the investigator said first.

Out on the dance floor, Castle was sitting where he'd be for the show that night and looking for his wife. He glanced behind him feeling a hand on his shoulder and smiled seeing it was her. "She's ready?" he asked, standing up and taking her hand.

"She is," Beckett said. "Julia too."

"You saw Skye?" Castle asked.

"I did, and Mary," Beckett replied before she started to tug on his hand and they went together to the dance floor where they began to move together to the music playing.

"Oh good," Mari said when they were reaching the railing in the Sky Box when they'd finished with their makeup. "My parents are dancing," she said, looking at Julia and the boys.

"Mine too," Julia said.

"So are ours," Clive said. He breathed out heavily and said, "Should we practice?"

"We can't really unless we go backstage," Peter pointed out to him. "And we don't need to worry, we don't have more steps."

"He's right, why are you so nervous?" Julia asked, not unkindly.

"Since it's a dance we haven't done that much," Mari answered before her partner could say anything.

"You guys will be fine," Peter said.

"So will you," Mari said, squeezing Julia's hand next to her.

Smiling at her friend, Julia looked down at the people dancing and watched her parents until the music stopped. Though Skye and Mary had thought they could stay with her and her friends they'd been called to the stage with the rest of the band and had gone with Derek. But the pro had been called by someone from the show, so they were on their own though others were joining them.

"The show's about to start," Lisa said to the kids.

"Ah, I'd wondered who you were talking to," Eddie said, coming into the box behind her. "The little imps. Are you all ready?"

"Yeah," Peter said first.

"Definitely ready," Julia added. "Even though we're not dancing for ages."

Eddie was laughing just as he and Lisa were called out and they went to go down to where they needed to wait to go with their partners to the dance floor.

"I wonder why they came in," Clive said.

"I think they wanted to try and watch the song," Julia guessed. "From here, it must not be a great view where they need to stand down there." She wasn't surprised when her friends merely nodded, the music stopping at that moment before they all turned their attention to the nearest screen to watch as the show began. She felt excitement rising in her as Tom was talking about how only four couples would make it to the finals before she realized that Mari was tapping her arm.

"Let's go down and watch, we're not going to be able to see here," Peter said.

"But our parents are watching us," Julia reminded them.

"They'll think Derek came to get us," Clive said.

Sharing a look with Mari, Julia left and they rushed together down to where they would be able to see the dance floor from the other end of it, luckily at the bottom of the back stairs from the Sky Box. "Just in time," she said to her friends.

"I just hope we won't get into trouble," Peter said.

"You won't," Derek said, having come up from behind the four. He smiled when they all jumped and told them, "Skye thought you might do this."

"They're starting!" Mari gasped eagerly as she heard the familiar chords to the song since Tom and Erin had introduced the band while Derek had been talking.

Julia turned quickly for the dance floor, seeing it was Mary playing the guitar and the band was on a black couch. She smiled at them all looking very relaxed and nonchalant before Skye stood up just as the first verse began. She walked over to a fake wall and on the other side the pros were dancing together before they fell away to it just being Sharna and Artem.

 _She grew up in an Indiana town  
Had a good lookin' momma who never was around  
But she grew up tall and she grew up right  
With them Indiana boys on an Indiana night_

Raj began playing the harmonica while the rest of the band was vocalizing around Skye before they disappeared and so did the wall and Artem. Singing the next verse, the investigator was watching Sharna as she danced until the third lyric and they danced together for only two lyrics before the band was coming up behind her quickly.

 _Well she moved down here at the age of eighteen  
She blew the boys away; it was more than they'd seen  
I was introduced and we both started groovin'  
She said, "I dig you baby, but I got to keep moving on'  
Keep movin' on_

The entire band sang together for the chorus, Mary leaning her arm on her wife's shoulder as they looked at one another before the rest of the band pulled away and the couch appeared behind them again though it was shadowed since it was dark behind them

 _Last dance with Mary Jane  
One more time to kill the pain  
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm  
Tired of this town again_

At the instrumental, Skye and Mary brought their guitars over their backs to in front of them and they began playing with Jackie. They walked around the couch while Raj and Barry were on it; the latter playing his drumsticks in the air.

Beckett was watching the performance with her hand in her husband's, able to tell the absolute joy she knew her friend was feeling. She was about to speak when he leaned over and started to murmur into her ear while she shivered at his breath tickling her hair.

"They need to do this next week too," Castle was saying. When his wife looked at him he told her, "Only for the fact that you're enjoying it as much as you are."  
Beckett rolled her eyes but didn't say anything, glancing to the opening underneath the Sky Box where they'd all seen the four kids gather as the song was starting. She had to look back at the dance floor as the next verse was beginning, and she wasn't surprised to see that Skye was leaning against a faux wall again, one that had an opening in it and she wondered what that was for while she listened to the lyrics.

 _Well I don't know what I've been told  
You never slow down, you never grow old  
I'm tired of screwing up, I'm tired of goin' down  
I'm tired of myself, I'm tired of this town  
Oh my my, oh hell yes  
Honey put on that party dress  
Buy me a drink, sing me a song  
Take me as I come 'cause I can't stay long_

The rest of the band was singing the chorus with Skye very shortly after that and they were standing against the wall to her right before the instrumental began. Once that began the investigator, Mary and Jackie were all playing their guitars, almost taking turns before Skye was playing on her own.

 _Last dance with Mary Jane  
One more time to kill the pain  
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm  
Tired of this town again_

Skye, standing next to the opening, sang the first four lyrics of the last verse as Sharna was looking out. At the fifth lyric she turned to look into the opening while Mary replaced the dancer and they sang the two lyrics together. On the second to last one the doctor slipped away while the investigator was turning and she sang on her own.

 _There's pigeons down on Market Square  
She's standin' in her underwear  
Lookin' down from a hotel room  
Nightfall will be comin' soon  
Oh my my, oh hell yes  
You've got to put on that party dress  
It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone  
I hit the last number, I walked to the road_

The faux wall was pulled away while Skye and the rest of the band were singing the chorus, walking to the steps to the stage since Barry's drums were there. They managed to reach it in time for him to start playing and they stood; Raj playing his harmonica before he was on one of his keyboards while they played out the song. Right at the very end the other couples and Derek were walking out onto the stage.

 _Last dance with Mary Jane  
One more time to kill the pain  
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm  
Tired of this town again_

As soon as she was finished, Derek walked down next to Skye as the other eight were doing too, standing together while they were listening to Tom introduce them. They looked at each other when it went to Lisa and Keo who would be dancing first and they went off stage before the rehearsal footage played.

"She said they're dancing second to last?" Mari asked the others while they went up to the Sky Box via the back stairs.

"Yep, so she has time to change," Julia said. "Luckily our parents could see us."

"How do you know that?" Clive asked.

"I looked over at my mom when they weren't singing," Julia said with a smile. "She glanced over at us."

"Oh," the boy said before they walked into the box and saw they were coming in at the same time the other three pairs were.

"Thought you'd scarpered," Eddie said when he saw them.

"Why would we leave?" Julia asked. She smiled when the actor laughed, and she then went over to the railing so they could look over and watch the pair on the dance floor getting ready for their Jive.

* * *

Watching Skye pacing back and forth Julia said, "You know you'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say," the investigator told her jokingly. Skye then frowned slightly and asked, "How are you doing?"

"Okay," Julia said slowly. "That one flip is scaring me," she then admitted. "And I hate not telling my mom what's going on." She opened her mouth before she paused and then said, "Well… my dad too but…"

"It's not a surprise," Skye told her reassuringly. She squeezed her shoulder and said, "It was just you and your mum at first."

Julia nodded and was going to tell her that she was ready when Derek came to where they were standing, off stage to watch Eddie and Emma getting their scores. She smiled at the investigator and said, "Break a leg."

"Thanks," Skye replied, going with Derek to the side of the stage where they would stand while Tom introduced them.

Julia ran over to the stairs to the Sky Box, making it just as the co-host was speaking. "Whew, I wanted to see their footage," she said, smiling as Mari looked at her. Her friend didn't have a chance to reply to that as it was starting, and they were looking at the screen.

"Contemporary," Skye was saying, walking across the dance floor in the footage to where Derek was standing and obviously thinking. " _Any time you want me, I'm not hard to find_ ," she sang before her partner looked at her. " _I can't get your loving, I can't get you off my mind_."

"We're dancing to _Struggle_ by Paul McCartney this week," Derek was saying in a voice over as it then showed him choreographing with the investigator. "And Skye seems to really be eager this time around to help."

"I have a dance step," she was saying as it showed the two standing in front of a mirror.

"Oh yeah?" Derek asked.

"The music where the beat's a little heavier, I think we should move our bodies to it," Skye told him. She then showed him, her body jerking in time to the music before she stopped and looked at him.

"Perfect, let's work on it and get things right," Derek said before they were walking off camera.

"I'm taking this song a little more personally this week," Skye said as it switched to her and Derek practicing the movement that she had come up with. It then went to the two of them sitting on the top of steps and she was telling her partner, "I wanted this to signify my own struggles."

"With your sexuality," Derek stated.

Nodding Skye then said, "It's not easy finding out and accepting who you are." She took a drink of water from her water bottle and said, "Especially when society tells you how you should be according to them; at least when I was growing up."

"I found out who I was when I was about eighteen," Skye said, the footage going to her sitting in a chair. "And I realized I wasn't dating guys my age because I didn't want to do much past being friends with guys my age. But with that came the fact that it was a part of my life. My family and friends would know, my employers would know because I wasn't going to keep myself in the closet."

"Skye came out to me," Liam said, sitting in the same chair his daughter had been but on his own in the room. "She was terrified of what I'd think, even though I'm gay myself. I assured her I was proud of her for accepting herself and her bravery in coming out. What she was worried about the most though was what her parents would think. But I knew them both and they knew me, and they would still love their daughter."

"With this dance," Skye was saying to Derek as the footage went back to them sitting on the top of the steps. "I want to portray that struggle that people like me can have. To show that you can stay strong even when it seems like everyone else is against who you are. And that you're never alone."

Julia smiled as Derek looked at the camera and pointed to his partner saying, "She's right," before the music played and the logo went across the screen. And she looked down at Skye, standing blindfolded in between Sharna and Lindsay who weren't.

Trying to keep her breathing even, Skye tried to remember the kiss that her wife had given her once she had blindfolded her while the footage was playing. She could hear the announcer saying, "Dancing Contemporary, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough," and she did her best to remain calm as the music was beginning.

Since they hadn't gone to see the practices as they usually had, Castle and Beckett exchanged a look while Derek walked out onto the dance floor. He was dressed in an all black military style jacket that was buttoned up and with black trousers as he walked in front of the three women, watching them. The three were dressed alike, in black coats that had high collars and were military in design like Derek's though theirs were much longer. Skye was wearing her Windsor boots, so she was a lot taller than the two dancers with her.

Spinning around, Derek stopped across from the three and stared at them until the first lyric was sung and he reached for Skye, pulling her away from the others. He spun her twice before he helped her into the splits. When she came up he picked her up, spinning her until he set her down and on the last lyric he they danced slowly forward together until the verse ended. When the next one started immediately after, Derek spun Skye around hard before he was staring at the blindfold on her. He then tried cupping her face while she was doing the same though they made their hands shake before she pretended to collapse in front of him.

 _Want to get you in my heart again  
Want to love you once more  
Want to have you in my heart again  
Want to get you once more_

 _If you wanna love, if you wanna fight  
It doesn't really matter, I want you tonight_

With the vocalization that Paul was doing at that point Derek leaned down while Skye wrapped her legs around his neck. Once he stood he had lifted her up and spun her around a couple times while she was taking off her blindfold. He stopped and set her down so she could set her hands on the floor and flip around to stand, he grabbed her while she was jumping up on the first lyric of the next verse. He spun her around and when he set her down on the second they leapt forward together before spinning at the same time. As Skye stepped away on the third lyric he reached for her hand while she was reaching out to Mary who had stepped onto the edge of the dance floor opposite the judges table. She kicked her leg up before she fell back into his hold and he dragged her back through the last lyric.

 _When I get you home, what I wanna do  
Babe, I wanna sample everything with you  
Yes, I wanna love you, I don't wanna fight  
I can think of something when I get you home tonight_

The next verse Skye stood with Derek's help and she started to stride down to Mary again before he was coming up right behind her at the end of the first lyric. They started moving forward together, pressed together, and were going slowly before Skye took one step forward before she could spin around to him at the end of the second lyric. While he rushed backwards he caught Skye when she went back to him and he swung her before she let go of him and they were dancing side by side and close until the end of the verse.

 _If you wanna love, if you wanna fight  
It doesn't really matter, I want you tonight  
All I want is love, anything will do  
I'm your glass of poison and I'm acting up on you_

At the next verse Paul's vocals changed and Skye spun on the first lyric before she started to walk towards Mary. Derek was following her, striding, before he grabbed her hand again and during the second lyric they extended their free hands in opposite directions as their hands were holding onto each other while they slid their legs forward. At the third lyric the two stopped and they raised their arms with their fingers spread and Derek wrapped his arm around the investigator's waist, spinning her around as she jumped up before she stood in front of him and Mary came over as the last lyric was ending so they stood in a row.

 _It's the same old song  
Being sung in the background, being sung up front  
But if you wanna get it right, you gotta listen  
Heed my words, listen to me!_

Between that and the last four lyrics of the song was the music where Skye had made up the jerking, stepping move. She did it with her partner and wife, all of them in a row while they moved their arms and legs until they were at the judges table. At the first lyric of the end of the song, Mary and Skye stepped forward from Derek before he slid on the ground between them. Skye went to him as he was standing and she went into his hold so they could move their feet back and forth together before they spun back to back. With the last two lyrics Skye was spinning one more time before she and Derek were dancing together over to Mary. When she was close she did a slide to her wife and they embraced, Derek falling backwards on the last word of the song.

 _It's the same old story, it's happening again  
Life's eternal struggle, the destiny of man_

 _It's the same old story, it's happening again  
Life's eternal struggle_

Julia was jumping up and down, applauding and crying out with her friends when the dance and song ended there she said, "They'll get perfect scores definitely."

"Yeah, that was great," Mari said. "And Skye was so worried."

"I know," Julia said while they watched Skye, Mary and Derek walk to the table after the two women had helped the dancer up.

"I think," Carrie-Ann was saying slowly as Tom had called on her first. "That that was awesome!" she finished in a sort of sing-song voice. "I think you had some great moves with it and you really put your heart into it. But I will say I wasn't sure about the move that you came up with Skye, in that footage. Seeing it here on the dance floor you know music." She laughed and said, "Great job."

"Let's hear from you next Len," Tom said.

"I was afraid this would be a little too… hectic, or you wouldn't dance that much trying to get to your wife," the British judge said. "But you managed to actually dance, and I have to say your lines were well done, you've improved on your posture since night one and it shows."

"And Bruno," Tom said while Skye was hugging her wife and partner.

"I can understand why you would want to dance as you did," the last judge said. "And it showed well in each step. Those you had in unison with both Derek and your wife were very precise and I can only imagine how much time that took."

"A while," Skye said, nodding her head.

"But it was beautifully danced and I loved the sentiment you had and appreciate the stand you took with it," Bruno said.

While Tom was sending the show to commercial, Skye hurried up to the table and she hugged the Italian judge quickly saying, "I thought you might understand the dance."

"I did," Bruno said before the investigator hurried away to go up to the Sky Box.

Skye told her wife about what the judge had said quickly before they were at the top of the staircase and they turned their attention to the kids as they were clamoring in front of them. "Thank you," she told them with a smile when they'd calmed down. "I was hoping you would like it, especially you two."

"It was good, you had great steps and lifts," Julia said first.

"Yeah, especially that step you made up," Clive said, nodding.

"And tell him he did a great job getting that step cleaned up," Skye said with a smile, nodding to her partner.

Laughing slightly Derek said, "It had to start somewhere."

The show was coming back from commercial and they hurried to stand where they needed to be, Skye and Mary with Derek.

Once Tom had sent it up to her in the Sky Box Erin said, "Skye you mentioned how important this dance was to you, and how you wanted this to help people who had been like you."

"I just wanted people to know they're not alone as I'd said," the investigator replied. "There are others like you and who you find out you are is never something evil or wrong."

"Derek, you seemed to have a lot of fun with this step that Skye made up," the co-host said to him. "How expected was it?"

"Not at all," the pro said quickly. "But the thing I learned about Skye is that she does love music. So it's been fun seeing her take on things."

"Oh good, I was afraid I was getting too uppity," Skye commented before she laughed with the others.

"No, keep trying to do that if you can," Derek said, hugging her quickly.

"Alright, let's get your scores," Erin said.

Beckett looked over at the table as the dramatic music played, not surprised her husband squeezed her hand. She didn't need to, but she looked up at Sky Box anyways and saw Julia almost leaning over the railing before the announcer was saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Ten," the judge said.

"Len Goodman," the announcer said next while Skye, Mary and Derek were hugging each other at the same time.

"Ten," Len called, holding up his paddle.

"Bruno Tonioli," the announcer said while the three were embracing again.

"Ten!" Bruno said, standing up at the same time he held his paddle.

Julia looked at her friends in relief as Erin was talking about voting, and she then gulped when she realized that they would need to dance themselves soon. She glanced over the railing, seeing her parents talking to her grandparents, and then turned back to her friends so she could speak with them until the next dance began.

* * *

"She's over here down this hall," the crew member said after leading Castle and Beckett to it.

"Thank you," the former said quickly before he and his wife rounded the corner.

"Mom! Dad!" Julia said once she saw them, taking off towards them.

Though she wanted to tell the girl not to run, Beckett decided not to and held her arms out for Julia to run into them. She squeezed her tightly against her once they'd met and she leaned down, kissing at the top of her head. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Julia said rapidly, squeezing her mother one last time before she went to her father. Hugging him tightly while he did the same to her, caressing her hair, she then said, "We're gonna dance soon but I needed to tell you something before that." She then grew hesitant and wondered how she could start before her father was doing that before her.

"What happened?" Castle asked, he and his wife sharing a look when their daughter started biting at her lower lip.

"They're going to show us practicing," Julia said. "Before the dance starts."

"And…" Beckett started to say before she trailed off seeing she was removing her slipper. "Julia," she breathed in slight horror seeing the way her toes and part of the rest of the foot were bruised. "What happened?"

"It's just from practicing," Julia said, trying her best not to cry at how her parents looked. "You'll see when I dance."

"Are you hurt?" Castle asked.

"No," Julia said firmly, shaking her head. "But don't get mad at Derek, it was my idea."

"What do you mean?" Beckett asked with a frown.

"You'll see," Julia said softly while she put her slipper back on.

Since she knew her daughter hadn't been seriously hurt, Beckett pulled her into another hug and said, "Don't do this again."

"I won't," Julia said before they looked down the hall where a crew member was calling for her. "I'll dance with Peter next week."

"Wait-" Castle started to say before they were left to watch the girl running down to the woman. "Is she dancing with Derek?" he asked his wife.

"Yeah, remember that waiver we signed? It did say that if we signed we were saying it was alright for Julia to dance with him," Beckett said as she took his hand and they walked together back to their seats. "Are you changing your mind?"

"No, I just forgot that was there," Castle said. "We signed it a while ago," he reminded her.

"I know, but… if it's just them…" Beckett said.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Castle asked her.

"No, I… it's what she's always wanted to do," Beckett replied, smiling at him. They paused before they stepped out into the ballroom and they embraced tightly while she murmured, "I don't want to ruin it for her worrying how badly she's bruised."

"Yeah…" Castle said slowly. He then sighed as they let go of each other and said, "But she's okay, Skye and Mary were with her every time."

Nodding, since there wasn't much she could say as she agreed with her husband, Beckett let him lead the way back to their chairs. Once they were sitting she wasn't surprised when she felt her father touching her shoulder and she turned saying, "She's alright, she just wanted to talk to us."

Jim wasn't really satisfied with that answer, knowing there was more to it than that, but he couldn't question her again as the show was returning from commercial and Tom was speaking.

"Tonight," the co-host said once he'd welcomed the viewers back. "We have a special dance from the Hamptons troupe featuring Derek Hough with dancer Julia Castle."

"Why just my last name?" Castle murmured to his wife.

Squeezing his arm to stop him, Beckett wasn't surprised at him pointing that out. The show had talked to her about it and she had allowed them to use just her husband's name since it was easier and faster to say. Looking back to the dance floor, she smiled as she watched Tom saying, "And due to popular demand from fans on social media, we have a rehearsal package for you to see." She looked at the screen, losing her smile as she recalled her daughter's bruises, wondering what exactly they would end up seeing as Derek appeared first.

"This week I requested the song _Tiny Dancer_ for the four," the pro said while the footage showed the four kids stretching together in a dance studio. "I've been wanting to do something specifically with Julia as you can see her dedication to dancing."

The footage then changed to Derek choreographing with the kids while the song was playing before she stopped moving. "I'm having some trouble with this dance," he said in a voice over. "I have something in mind, but I have to talk to them to see if they're okay with it."

"What I was thinking of doing," the pro was saying to the four as they were sitting on the steps next to Skye and Mary. "Is having you dance with me."

"Just me?" Julia asked with a frown.

Glancing at her daughter on the dance floor, Beckett smiled as Julia's cheeks turned red before she looked away, not surprised that she was embarrassed. Looking back to the screen she saw the pro was talking to the four seriously.

"This would only be for the first dance, and we'll be at the beginning all together and then at the end," Derek said. "But we need to vote, who's okay with Julia dancing the majority of the song?"

The girl frowned at her friends when they all raised their hands and Julia sighed when she spotted even Skye and Mary with their hands up. "Okay, but next week if we dance again we're doing it all together right?" she said, looking at Derek as she asked.

"Yes," the pro replied. He then smiled and said, "Let's get started."

"I have some ideas in mind for this dance," Derek was saying in a voice over as he was practicing with the kids. "But so does Julia apparently."  
"I'm a bit unsure your parents would be so eager for this," Skye was saying as the footage then went to gym mats that were being slid across the floor in the dance studio they were in.

"I just want to try it," Julia said. "If it works I think it'll look really neat."

The footage then showed Derek and Julia standing barefoot on the mats and the dancer was trying to help her flip around. The first time she managed to do that Julia's feet were slamming down on the mat to her audible groan.

"Ow," she said painfully as she fell onto the mat once she was trying to stand fully.

Beckett looked at her daughter, trying her best not to glare at her as Derek and then Skye ran to her to check on her in the footage. But she could see that Julia was contrite, so she merely turned back to the screen before Derek was speaking.

As the pair were practicing the flip repeatedly the pro said in a voice over, "I don't know if I've met anyone this determined, but since Julia wants to prove she can do it, this dance will be amazing one way or the other."

The logo went over the screen and while the music was playing Julia was standing in the middle of the dance floor with her friends and Derek, tossing around a ball. She was startled when Tom spoke then saying, "Performing the song _Tiny Dancer_ , Elton John featuring Skye and Mary McDouglas." She glanced at the stage and saw the singer was there, looking at her friends with wide eyes as they hadn't been told he would be singing, only thinking it'd be Skye and Mary. But he was playing the piano and she focused on where she would need to begin with the others as they were continuing to 'play'.

When the first lyric was sung the kids and Derek all spun before leaping away from the circle they made and then did that in an arc so they were meeting each other again. Julia leapt to each of her friends, being spun by the three on the second lyric before she was at Peter last. He held her hand while she turned on her toes, though she didn't do that for very long because of the bruising and she wasn't used to dancing _en pointe_ for long yet. On the last lyric she took Peter's hand and then Mari's before they skipped and slid their feet forward in a row to the end of the steps.

 _Blue jean baby  
L.A. lady, seamstress for the band  
Pretty eyed, pirate smile  
You'll marry a music man_

At the beginning of the next verse Julia and Mari were spun by their partners before the girls were pirouetting at the same time across the dance floor to Derek. He was standing in the middle of the dance floor and once they'd reached him Mari let him pick her up first before she ran to where her parents were sitting in the front row to wait for her chance to regroup with the two boys at the stage. Julia, with the pro, was dancing in unison with him as they extended their legs and then spun into the last lyric. With that she put her hand into Derek's and he helped her into the splits to finish the verse.

 _Ballerina, you must have seen her  
Dancing in the sand  
Now she's in me, always with me  
Tiny dancer in my hand_

With the short instrumental there, Julia was brought back to standing by Derek and she let go of him to start her leaping and spinning to the stage where the other three were waiting for them. She managed to reach them in time for the first lyric of the verse they'd come to and they were all moving their legs so their knees came up high while they went down the dance floor. They weren't skipping but she knew it would look like it was exaggerated while they went in a sort of zig zag pattern. That went on for the first two lyrics and at the start of the third they all did a cartwheel at the same time, leaping as soon as they'd come back to their feet which took them to the end of the last lyric.

 _Jesus freaks, out in the street  
Handing tickets out for God  
Turning back, she just laughs  
The boulevard is not that bad_

On the first lyric of the verse after that the two pairs danced together, differing steps that alternated between the boys slightly lifting the girls and then sliding steps forward. At the third lyric Peter, Mari and Clive started to run in a circle around Julia as she was turning back and forth watching them. On the last lyric, the three pulled away from her and Julia started to walk forward as she waited for Derek to come up behind her before they were dancing forward again.

 _Piano man he makes his stand  
In the auditorium  
Looking on, she sings the songs  
The words she knows, tune she hums_

With the music still slow Derek and Julia walked together until they reached the halfway point. There the music began to grow more intense and they spun in place together before Julia was walking on her toes for a short amount of time while the pro held her hand. On the third lyric she straightened her feet and slid them forward before she was going ahead of Derek, dancing ahead to get enough away. At the last lyric she sprung once before she looked towards the pro and started running.

 _But, oh, how it feels so real  
Lying here, with no one near  
Only you and you can hear me  
When I say softly, slowly_

Julia was jumping into Derek's arms at the first lyric and he spun around with her legs out in the air until the second lyric and he set her down. "Here we go," he murmured to her.

Not responding, Julia braced herself and with the pro's help was able to do a flip around his arm that supported her back. She barely noticed her feet on the ground, merely moving forward into the last lyric before the verse was starting over again.

 _Hold me closer tiny dancer  
Count the headlights on the highway  
Lay me down in sheets of linen  
You had a busy day today_

That same verse repeated, and that time Derek picked up Julia while she was pirouetting a few times. At the end of the second lyric he held her hand as she spun and in the third he helped her do a flip before they walked to the steps at the bottom of the stage.

 _Hold me closer tiny dancer  
Count the headlights on the highway  
Lay me down in sheets of linen  
You had a busy day today_

At the instrumental then, Beckett was startled when Julia was dancing with Peter though she had danced for so long already. She started to frown when her husband squeezed her hand a little firmly.

"She's resting in between," Castle murmured into her ear as the two pairs were taking turns in spot lights that would come on in turns.

Though she didn't like their second oldest dancing still, Beckett lost her protest especially when she could tell how much Julia was enjoying it. She settled back, knowing that the singing was going to start up again, and watched as the four were going over to where Derek was standing in front of the steps.

Since the same lyrics were playing again for the last four verses of the song, Derek and the kids were doing the same steps they had done before. Julia hadn't been sure about that, but the pro had told her and her friends it was better for them if they did that since it was a lot for him to choreograph. So she enjoyed the dance with both her friends and Derek until they reached the instrumental at the very end of the song. After Julia had done a flip with the pro's help, they didn't walk to the steps, instead she went with Peter and danced around as they'd done during the longer instrumental until they ended in a circle as they'd been at the start. They sat on the floor and bent their knees, pressing their cheeks to them as the music finished and the song was over.

 _Blue jean baby  
L.A. lady, seamstress for the band  
Pretty eyed, pirate smile  
You'll marry a music man_

 _Ballerina, you must have seen her  
Dancing in the sand  
Now she's in me, always with me  
Tiny dancer in my hand_

 _But oh, how it feels so real  
Lying here, with no one near  
Only you and you can hear me  
When I saw softly, slowly_

 _Hold me closer, tiny dancer  
Count the headlights on the highway  
Lay me down in sheets of linen  
You had a busy day today_

 _Hold me closer, tiny dancer  
Count the headlights on the highway  
Lay me down in sheets of linen  
You had a busy day today_

Beckett stood up and applauded with the others though she was concerned for her daughter's feet with her having to do the flip so many times. But Julia seemed to be okay walking over to the judges table where they gathered as Tom was thanking Elton John, Skye and Mary while he walked over to the stage.

"What did you think of the dance?" the co-host said to the singer.

"I thought it was fantastic," he replied. "You have a lot of talent, all of you."

The kids thanked him quickly before Tom was directing the judges to tell the four and Derek what they'd thought.

"I have two things to ask," Carrie-Ann said as her fellow judges allowed her to talk first. "First is how are you dancing for that long?" When the kids all said they were fine, though the three looked at Julia eventually, she then asked the girl directly, "And how are your feet?"

"They're fine," Julia said, unable to help smiling at the concern of the judge.

"So I see here how you four are dedicated," Carrie-Ann continued with. "And I'm glad fans of the show wanted you to dance again. Great job."

"I thought it was very nicely done," Len said. "Seeing the choreography you had for Julia, I wasn't sure she'd be able to do it but you did, very admirably," he was then telling Derek and the girl herself.

Saying a soft thank you, Julia could feel her cheeks were almost on fire and she then turned to Bruno after Len had told them they'd done a good job.

"Oh, I do love that song," the Italian judge said. "You made a good decision in choosing it Derek. And focusing things on Julia, she does make sure she can accomplish each step." When the little girl bowed her head, he said to the other kids, "And you were all fantastic as well. Very well done and I hope you'll be dancing next week."

While the audience was clapping Tom then said, "I heard that you were planning on dedicating your dance to someone special. To some special people," speaking to the kids.

"Our parents," all four said at the same time before they laughed.

Since Tom was sending the show to commercial, Julia was able to rush to her mother while her friends were going to their parents. She hugged Beckett tightly and whispered, "I'm okay Mom."

"I can tell," she said, caressing her daughter's hair. Beckett pulled away and squeezed her shoulders saying, "You did an amazing job. And I don't think I've ever been prouder of you."

Julia's response to that was to hug her mother again and she whispered, "Thank you for letting me do this."

Beckett smiled as she kissed the side of her daughter's head and said, "I couldn't stop you; I wouldn't have." She had the girl pull away before she said, "But I want you to ice your feet; right now."

Smiling, as she wasn't surprised her mother had said that, Julia nodded and then said, "After I hug everybody."

"Go ahead," Beckett said, watching her daughter doing that. She stood and then wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulder when she was finished, and they were walking backstage with the other kids.


	46. Things I Do At Night (Part 2)

"Are you really okay?" Mari asked her friend worriedly.

"Yeah, just my toes are frozen," Julia grumbled.

"Don't complain, they're not aching so much now are they?" Beckett asked her.

"No," Julia said. She sighed and then looked at her toes saying, "I was surprised when they started to do that."

"She was okay wasn't she?" Beckett asked Mari.

"Yeah," the girl said with a smile. "That first time they did the same thing with her toes. But Julia made us all swear we wouldn't tell you or Rick."

"Even Skye and Derek," the girl herself said. Julia smiled at her mother when she glanced at her and then said seriously, "I thought you would stop me."

"I told you I wouldn't have," Beckett said, watching Julia put her slippers back on and got off the couch that was in the dressing room. She had just taken her hands so they could go out to see Skye's last dance for the night when there was a knock on the door.

"Oh good, you're all ready to go," the investigator said as she had been on the other side. She stepped aside for them to go and said, "What?"

"Nothing, just admiring your costume," Beckett said with a smile. For her Cha-Cha-Cha, Skye was wearing an outfit like her Jive outfit the first week. But that time instead of black trousers she was wearing navy blue ones with sequins on the strips on the outside of them. She was wearing suspenders again and asked, "Your wife?" indicating Mary wanting the investigator to wear those.

"Of course," Skye replied easily. "Okay, girls you're up in the Sky Box…" she said, looking down at Julia's feet.

"I'm fine," the girl said hurriedly.

"Then head up there for the rest of the show, the boys are still there," Skye told them. "I'll see you after," she told her friend.

"Stay in the box," Beckett told her daughter. "And I know your mom would say the same," she said to Mari.

"We will Mom, don't worry," Julia assured her. "See you at the end!" She waved to her mother and then went with her friend to the stairs and they went to the box where the boys already were. "Hey," she said when the two turned to her.

"Good thing you got here," Clive said. "The show will be back soon."

"Skye just walked out… she's wearing sequins again," Peter commented as the four of them stood together at the railing looking out at the dance floor.

"Yeah, but at least she's wearing trousers," Mari said.

"She's right, I don't think she cares about those anymore," Julia said. Their conversation was stopped when the countdown began and they looked as Tom was speaking.

"Welcome back," the co-host started with. "Next tonight is our NTSB investigator, can she and Derek achieve perfection tonight with her Cha-Cha-Cha?"

As the footage started Skye and Derek were dancing together, the pro teaching her the steps of the dance before he was speaking in a voice over. "We have the Cha-Cha and we had a little correction with our dance."

"Yeah, that'll be direct from Olivia and Dhani Harrison themselves," Skye said as the footage was showing them leaning against a mirror in a studio. "And we'll be dancing to George's song _P2 Vatican Blues_ … with _Last Saturday Night_ in parenthesis."

"The music is great but I'm a little afraid," Skye was saying as the footage went to the two practicing.

"Argh, Skye. You keep doing that," Derek was groaning in frustration as she missed a step. "You have to go to the left, not the right, we're going in opposite directions."

"I know, I know," the investigator said, her own tone becoming irritated.

"Do you want to try again?" Derek said, studying her.

"No," Skye said simply, going to a chair by the door and putting her hand to her forehead. When her partner sat next to her she said, "I hate to admit it, I'm tired."

"Of course, we all are," Derek replied.

"Ah, but you're younger than I am," Skye said. She was startled when her partner suddenly stood up and she said, "What is it?"

"You need to relax don't you?" Derek said. "What's the one thing that would help you?"

Jumping up Skye said, "Flying," before the footage changed to the pair at the Santa Monica airport.

Up in the Sky Box, Julia looked at her friends in shock and she was about to speak when Peter was doing so first, which wasn't a surprise as she knew they were all thinking it.

"When did they film this?" the boy said.

"Probably when we didn't go in the mornings," Mari told them.

Looking back at the screen Julia saw that the pair were flying in what she thought was a jet but it soon showed it was a stunt plane. She smiled, as at one point Derek was crying out in mock terror, and then looked at her friends as they were all laughing.

"Oh, thank you, thank you," Derek was saying as it showed him getting off the plane and pretending to kiss the ground.

"Come 'ead," Skye said, tugging on the shoulder of his jump suit he was wearing. "Are we going to go back to practice or not?"

"After that break," Skye said in a voice over as it went to her and Derek practicing in a hangar at the airport. "I think we're ready to go." The footage then showed the investigator sitting in a room as she said, "And I'm ready to get this Cha-Cha started."

After music played with the logo on the screen, the announcer said, "Dancing the Cha-Cha-Cha, Skye McDouglas and her partner, Derek Hough."

Skye took a deep breath before the music began and she and Derek walked to each other until the first lyric was sung. They met in the middle of the dance floor and they were holding onto each other's waists, spinning around before they stood side by side and were moving their feet back and forth. On the last lyric Skye turned to her partner and she moved her legs back and forth until the music sped up to go to the verse after that one.

 _Gazed at the ceiling from below  
A splendid Michelangelo  
Filled my heart with delight  
Last Saturday night_

On the first lyric after the music played, Skye and Derek started to move their hips towards each other through the second lyric. On the third they were letting go of one hand while he held onto his partner and they started to move forward as Skye was extending her arm and that took them through the rest of the verse.

 _Now how come nobody really noticed  
Puff of white smoke knocked me out?  
The truth is hiding, lurking, banking  
Things I do at night_

When they had reached the chorus, Derek was spinning Skye back to him and they were moving their hips again but only briefly. They spent the next three lyrics moving together around the dance floor, different steps that the investigator had had problems with. But she had been working with them long enough that she was able to complete them until the last lyric and her partner was holding her while she did the splits.

 _It's quite suspicious to say the least  
Even mentioned it to my local priest  
One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night_

Since there was an instrumental at that moment Skye and Derek were doing different Cha-Cha steps again until they reached second to last verse they'd be dancing to. They stopped and moved their hips together before Derek was spinning Skye, holding her against him as they danced forward until they were on the second to last lyric. He spun the investigator again and they stopped, extending their arms out that weren't holding each other before Skye was doing the splits again on the last lyric.

 _It's quite suspicious to say the least  
While mentioning it to my priest  
One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night_

The last lyrics of the song, Skye and Derek were dancing as they'd been during the instrumental until they came to the very end which was the music playing out. There the pro dipped his partner and held her for a moment until they could finally move while the audience was applauding.

 _One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night  
One Our Father, three Hail Marys  
Each Saturday night_

Clapping as hard as she could, Julia was glad to see the smile on Skye's face since they'd all known her trouble with the dance though the investigator had played it down. She then breathed out while the pair; exchanging a high five once Derek had helped her up; went to the table and said, "Now we have to wait for the end."

"And their scores too," Mari said, talking quickly since Len was beginning to speak.

"I was worried," the British judge began with. "That you were going to fiddle about with the music at the start."

"Fiddle…" Tom said before Skye was laughing and shaking her head at him.

"But you luckily could start," Len continued with. "And you did very well. You had some trouble with your lines in that video, but I can see Derek helped straighten you out. I really enjoyed your extensions, both your legs and arms. You've been working on that."

"A lot," Skye said with a nod before Bruno was speaking next.

"I wonder how you were able to practice after flying Derek around in that plane," he said. "But it looks like it helped you. I'm not so sure flying helped you."

Laughing, as the judge was addressing him, Derek said, "Not at that moment, no."

"But beautiful extensions, your foot placement was spot on and I hope to see more from you," Bruno finished with.

"Alright, quickly we'll go to you Carrie-Ann," Tom said to her.

"Fast, okay so I agree with Bruno and Len. And I loved how you moved your hips; you've turned that into an art. Well done," she said hurriedly.

Telling them a quick thank you, Skye went with her partner up to the Sky Box where she stood with him as Erin was talking.

"You seem to have had a little more difficulty with one dance over the other tonight," the co-host was saying. "Is it because what the other song meant to you?"

"Partially," Skye replied. "The other half was I just had more difficulty with the steps."

"And it wasn't just me that helped her with that," Derek was saying rapidly. "Julia helped out too."

"All of us," the girl said.

"Actually…" Skye started to say before she was grabbing Julia and Mari and bringing them in front of her and Derek after she'd motioned to the four to follow her. "They all did since I had great examples of how this was supposed to look."

"Have you thought about the Freestyle and if you might include the kids if you make it to the finals?" Erin then asked Skye.

"I have, I can't lie and I don't know which one of us wouldn't have," the investigator said honestly. "But whether or not I'll be able to dance it… I'll need to see."

"Okay, then let's get your scores," Erin said before the music started to play.

"Carrie-Ann Inaba," the announcer said.

"Ten," the judge said, smiling as she held up her paddle.

Julia was turning and hugging the investigator at the same time Mari was before they stopped to see what Len would give for his score.

"Ten," the British judge said.

"Bruno Tonioli," the announcer said.

"Ten!" the judge said as he held up his paddle.

Hearing Erin talk about how Skye had gotten a perfect score, Julia was squeezing the investigator and hoping that when they reached the end of the show the pair would be going to the finals the next week.

* * *

"The first couple tonight that is safe," Tom was saying at the very end of the show. "And moving on to next week's finals is…"

Castle grumbled under his breath at the music and he felt his wife press her face against his arm, realizing she was laughing before they turned to the dance floor as the co-host was finally saying which couple.

"Skye and Derek," Tom said.

Sagging slightly, Skye was relieved when her partner was quick to help her stand and she smiled at Eddie as he reached out to her to squeeze her shoulder. She was able to recover in time when Tom announced that Eddie and Emma made it to the next week and she was hugging the actor tightly. "I knew it," she told him.

"Oh, you didn't," Eddie said jokingly before they were standing normally as Tom was continuing.

Nearly holding her breath, Skye was relieved when Daisy and Sasha were called safe though they'd scored a little lower that night after the photojournalist had slipped during her second dance. She glanced at Derek when the last two couples, Lisa and Keo and Jonathan and Whitney, were left and watched as the intense music played. "Get on with it," she whispered under her breath as Tom was talking about both.

"Lisa and Keo," the co-host finally said after letting the music go on for a while.

"Oh no," Skye sighed.

"Look," Julia; in the Sky Box still with her friends; told them as they could see the investigator whispering into Derek's ear.

"If it's for next week we'll hear about it soon," Mari said.

Julia nodded before they looked down, watching as the four couples going to the finals went down to hug the pair going home. She felt a shiver of anticipation go through her suddenly, having recalled that Skye would be making up a Freestyle for the next week. She tried not to think of the mirror ball trophy; though it was near where they were standing against the railing; and went down the back stairs of the box so they could go to their families as soon as the show was over.

* * *

"How come our parents aren't here?" Peter said as soon as Derek was walking into the dance studio where they were going to get their next dance.

"I told them to head over to Disney," Skye said, walking in a little bit after her partner. She smiled when the kids looked at her and told them, "I just heard from Mary, you're all checked into your rooms at the Grand Californian and they're waiting for us. As soon as we get the songs and dances we can go."

Derek looked at his partner when the four kids were clamoring, not able to understand what they were saying exactly. He finally whistled and said once they'd calmed down, "One at a time. Mari?"

"We aren't practicing?" the girl asked, wondering why the pro had talked to her first but guessing that it was because she was the youngest.

"Not here," Derek said. "At the hotel."

"Are you going too?" Julia asked. "I mean staying there."

"Yeah, it's easier for me to since my home is a little far and I would have to go through morning traffic too," Derek said. "I'd never get there."

"Are we being filmed?" Peter asked.

"While we're at the park," Clive hurriedly added.

"That we are," Skye said, smiling at the younger boy and not surprised when he started to blush. "Tonight where we're going to practice and-"

"Are we doing that at the hotel?" Mari said enthusiastically.

"We are, but not for too long," Derek replied. "And don't you want to find out what we'll be dancing to and what yet?"

"I do," Julia said immediately.

"Good," Derek replied before he picked up the envelope that had his and Skye's name on it. "First off we're doing redemption dances," he said to the others after he'd read the paper that was with the CD.

"The Foxtrot?" the investigator asked. When the pro nodded she then asked, "What song?"

" _New_ ," Derek said, smiling over at Julia when she squealed in joy.

"Perfect, are we going into a story for that one?" Skye asked.

"We'll talk about that at the hotel," Derek said. "Now the Freestyle, since the title is here your choice was approved."

"What was the song?" the kids asked at the same time.

Laughing, Skye had to calm down before she could reply but she finally said, " _Partial to Your Abracadabra_."

"Paul's version?" Julia asked. When Skye nodded she said eagerly, "Awesome! That version is great… you are going to wear your boots, right?"

"Of course," the investigator said. Skye then turned to her partner and said, "I want them to join us."

"Like you told me before," Derek said. He wasn't surprised to see the kids were looking confused and he said, "We had to plan this last week so everything could be ready in time if we made it for sure."

"But we'll show you what we thought of as time goes on," Skye said. "What about the second night?"

"That we won't know until Monday night," Derek said. "24 hour Fusion dances."

"Okay," Skye said. "Not looking forward to that but not much I can do. Now," she said, turning to the kids. "I believe it's your turn next," since Derek had already picked up the other envelope.

"First is your dance for night one," the pro told them. "And it is a Cha-Cha-Cha."

"We knew that already," Peter asked before they were all laughing together.

"To _Unconsciousness Rules_?" Julia inquired. When Derek nodded she sighed and said, "We danced to this already though."

"Yes, but I'll be getting different steps for you and you'll have Mari and Clive with you too," the pro said gently. "You'll be dancing the other night too and it's a Freestyle."

"You were serious about that?" Clive asked in surprise.

"Yeah, and the show agrees," Derek said with a smile at her reaction. "You'll be dancing to _Dance Tonight_."

"It's a good song to dance Freestyle too," Mari said quickly as she and the boys saw Julia blanching; the song her choice.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have been able to think of anything," Peter added.

"And with that one we get to jump around," Clive said.

"So… are you sure we're not starting here?" Julia asked.

"I'm sure," Derek said. "We need to go now," he said, looking at Skye.

"Oh aye," the investigator said, nodding her head. "You lot are likely starving and I'm sure the rest of the kids are."

Julia wanted to add that she wanted to see her family again but kept quiet before they left together to drive out to Anaheim where everyone else was waiting for them at the Disneyland Resort.

* * *

"There they are," Mary said, spotting her wife with the kids and Derek.

"Hi!" Julia said, rushing to where her family was. She threw her arms around her mother first and then did the same to her father. "We didn't take too long did we?" she asked once she'd let him go.

"No," Castle said, taking her hand to keep her from sitting across the table he and Beckett were at with Eliza. "I didn't have the chance to tell you, but I was really proud of you too."  
"Thanks," Julia said. She hugged him again and said, "My feet are fine."

"Good, I was going to ask that next," Castle told her. While the girl was laughing he leaned over and kissed her cheek before telling her, "Go ahead and sit down okay."

Beckett watched Julia hurrying around the table they were sitting at; they were in Downtown Disney and at the _La Brea Bakery Café_. They'd decided to head to that restaurant since it was at the very end of the promenade and next to the World of Disney store. Once she was sure her second oldest was set she asked, "Mary told us you're going to be practicing at the hotel in a little bit."

"Yeah," Julia said, nodding her head. "But I think Skye'll tell you the dances we get once we're there."

"We get to go to the store after!" Eliza was saying when her big sister looked at her.

"Was it a surprise?" Julia asked, looking at their parents as they were laughing.

"No, but we're not really going to visit too many places after this," Beckett said. "Since we need to go to bed very early."

"That's okay, I want to go to the parks more," Julia said. She was about to ask about their room when Josie, in the high chair in between Castle and Beckett, started to fuss before the former took her out of the chair.

"What can I get to eat?" Julia asked as she looked down at the menu that was in front of her.

"Whatever's on the kid's menu," Beckett told her, not looking away from Josie as the baby was trying to stuff her fists in her mouth. "Rick," she said to her husband.

"And help your sister, she didn't pick what she wanted yet," Castle said while she was getting the baby's mitten for his wife.

While Julia was reading the options to her sister, Beckett made sure Josie was alright and distracted from her hands. Once the baby was chewing on the end of the mitten she then said to the girl, "Did you practice at all?"

"No, they said we'll start here," Julia said, looking up. "We're gonna get the chicken fingers and burger sliders," pointing to her sister and herself.

"Okay," Castle said, looking at the waitress who was walking over to the table. After he'd ordered for them all he then said, "Are you sure you two will be able to wake up tomorrow morning?"

"They will," Beckett said quickly before the girls could reply. She smiled at them and said, "You said you would."

"Yeah, we will," Eliza said firmly. "We know that the park is tomorrow."

"Parks," Julia reminded her.

"Yeah," Eliza said again before she squealed with laughter as her big sister pinched her side playfully.

"How are we going to go around tomorrow Mom?" Julia asked.

"We're going to California Adventure first," Beckett said.

"Since they have the extra hour tomorrow," Castle added, looking over at them from where he was playing with Josie a little. He smiled when the baby laughed and said, "And stay there until after lunch."

"Small World?" Eliza asked.

Castle laughed out loud and then said, "I think so, but that'll take us to Disneyland."

"Are we staying in the park after that?" Martha said, sitting at the table behind her son and daughter in law.

"No, we might go back to California Adventure after dinner in Disneyland," Beckett answered, smiling at her mother in law. "And if we are then you should be able to walk right back to the hotel with Josie from there."

"I likely will," Martha said. "Oh, don't worry kiddos," she said to her granddaughters. "I'll go on some rides with you of course."

"Thanks!" Eliza said happily.

Julia watched her sister as the little girl was listing the rides their grandmother could go on with them before she realized something. "Lizzy, some of those rides are at Disney World, not here," she told her.

"Oh…" Eliza said with a frown. Something seemed to come to her and she asked eagerly, "Will I be able to go on more rides?"

"Not all of them," Castle said.

"But a lot more than you did last time," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the little girl opened her mouth to speak before her husband was beating her to it.

"You just made it for the Matterhorn," Castle said, looking at his phone. "For Splash Mountain of course. But that one you don't sit two by two."

"I remember," Eliza said, nodding. "And Jules took a picture of it." When her father nodded she asked, "What else can I go on Daddy?" She was startled when their father looked at their mother and the two then began to murmur to each other in Irish while she looked at her big sister. She wanted to ask them impatiently what was going on when she felt Julia's hand on her arm. Looking at her sister again she pouted but wasn't surprised when the girl just shrugged.

"You can go on Space Mountain now," Beckett said slowly. She couldn't help smiling when the little girl's eyes went wide and before she could continue their food had arrived. She put Josie back into her high chair and then turned her attention to her meal, making sure that Julia was too as she was certain her second oldest would be starving.

"Can I go on Space Mountain?" Eliza asked.

"I think we could let her," Castle said. "But remember what Skye said, we'd need to sit in the middle."

"And you need to go with her," Julia said. She smiled when her parents looked at her and said, "She told me."

"I'll go with you," Castle said, looking at the little girl. "If you want to go."

"I wanna try," Eliza said. "But sit with me Daddy."

"I promise," Castle assured her.

They returned to the meal and when they finished eating the kids were having a hard time staying by the tables while their parents were paying for the meal. When they were finally allowed to go they grouped together and walked back towards the hotel, detouring at the World of Disney store.

"You guys aren't going to get hats?" Peter asked the other kids.

"No, we have them already," Fleur said.

"Not exactly," Marie told her little sister. She smiled when the little girl looked at her in surprise and reminded her, "The original hats."

"Oh! That's right," Iris said eagerly. She then became thoughtful and said, "So that's why Mummy and Mommy said that they packed our hats. But I knew they didn't, I looked in my room before we went to the show."

"And now you're gonna get them," Kathleen said, smiling at hers and Marie's three youngest sisters. "With your names on them."  
"Cool," Ivy said with a smile.

"Stay with an adult everyone," Skye called as they were walking into the story. "Preferably with your family if you're needing to get a hat or anything else."

"Can we get anything?" Julia asked hers and Eliza's parents.

"Maybe, look around and if you see something let us know," Beckett said. "Are you guys staying?" she asked as her dad and Castle's mother had found two chairs by the entrance.

"We are," Martha said. "I'm sure Josie will want to sleep soon."

"Okay, we'll be around," Castle said. "Call us or text us."

"You should start walking," Jim said, smiling as Eliza was tugging on her father's hand.

"What is it?" Castle asked, turning to the little girl to try and pick her up.

"No Daddy," Eliza said, shaking her hand, taking his hand. "Can we get a Mickey hat too?"

"You have yours," Beckett pointed out before her husband could answer.

"I think she means the regular one Mom, not the fancy ones we got at Disney World," Julia let her know as her little sister was biting her lower lip.

"Would you want to wear that instead of your headband?" Beckett asked her.

"Yeah," Eliza whispered, thinking her parents might let her get the hat.

"Why don't you look around," Castle told her. "And if you see a hat then we'll maybe get it for you."

"Kay," Eliza said eagerly. "Thank you, Mommy, Daddy," she said, hugging them both quickly before she was taking Castle's hand again.

"Easy," he said with a slight laugh. "We'll get to the hats soon, don't worry."

"I know, but I wanna wear it now Daddy," Eliza said happily.

"Do you want another hat?" Beckett asked Julia as they were behind the two.

"No, I really love mine," the girl said.

"Are you sure? I'd get you the one in blue I know you looked at when we were in Disney World," Becket told her. "With your name on the back; like your sisters."

"I- wait, sisters?" Julia asked, stopping suddenly. "For Josa?"

"And Alexis," Beckett replied. "Though she won't be able to join us."

"I wish she could," Julia said, knowing her big sister had tried but had to choose between Disneyland and the finale of the show. "But I'm glad she'll be there the last two nights. I can't believe we're there already."

"Me too," Beckett said, gently tugging her hand so they could start walking again. "So what do you say?"

"I'd love that Mom," Julia said, beaming up at her mother.

When they had reached the hats, the girls looked over the options but eventually chose the blue Mickey ear hats before their father went to get them and the other two embroidered with their owners' names. As they were alone with their mother the girls led her around the other merchandise before Castle returned and they put on their hats before their mother took pictures of them from behind so their names were visible.

"Now what do we do?" Eliza asked.

"You didn't see anything did you? That you want to buy?" Castle asked the two as they went back to where they'd come in and would meet everyone.

"No, I want to look inside the park," Julia said, sharing a look with her little sister.

"Me too," Eliza said, nodding her head rapidly.

"Oh, we're the last ones," Beckett said with surprise when she saw that everyone was there. "And looks like you're not the only ones with hats," she said with a smile when she saw that all the kids had new hats on. "What happened?" she said, directing that to the parents who had been to Disney World and Disneyland already.

"We couldn't resist," David said laughingly. "The hats are just too cute and hey, they say something different."

"That was more his idea," Rebecca said with a sigh though she was smiling soon after. Their two daughters had the black Mickey hats and their names were on the back.

"And these two pointed out they had bigger heads," Mary said. "Which is right, they've grown of course."

"Okay," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when Skye looked at her pointedly and said, "Eliza wanted one and we decided to get them for all our girls."

"They are cute," Genevieve said, smiling at her son who had a black Mickey hat with his name on it too.

"What about you guys?" Isaac was asking, watching his son put on his Mickey hat that was like Peter's but with _Clive_ on the back.

"Oh… just letting everyone know we're not ashamed of who we are," Mary said.

"I couldn't be, not after what I danced tonight," Skye said, she and her wife wearing Mickey hats that had rainbow ears, red caps and Mickey gloves making a heart with a rainbow inside that.

"Your own choice?" Castle asked the two women.

"Yeah," Skye said softly, squeezing her wife's hand.

"We better go," Derek said, feeling bad for interrupting the mood. When the others looked at him he shook his head saying, "I have a hat; the black one; and it's in my bag. I promise I'll wear it tomorrow. But it's getting late and we need to start the process for next week."

No one protested that and the group went together out to walk back to the hotel.

Once they were, Beckett walked ahead saying, "Thank you for letting them come."

"I'd feel bad making Julia miss her mother's birthday. Especially since it's at Disneyland," Derek said.

Studying him, Beckett said with a smile, "You wanted to tag along too."

"Of course, who wouldn't?" Derek said before they laughed together.

"You make a good point," Beckett said with a nod before she went over to her husband. Since he was alone she took his hand and she said softly, "Thank you for not wanting matching hats."

"No, I prefer the one you have already," Castle said.

"And yours," Beckett was quick to say.

"That too," Castle replied, not surprised when his wife nudged his side gently. He laughed and then squeezed her hand as they were entering the hotel, walking to the lobby.

"You guys can come in," Derek said. "We won't be doing this for long, but we'll likely be planning most of the time."

At that, Beckett called to the girls and then turned to her father and mother in law saying, "Can you watch her while we're in the room?" When they both nodded she was about to talk to the girls when Julia was suddenly speaking.

"We don't need to change so we can go right in," the girl said.

"Great, we don't have that much time," Castle said in amusement as she'd been talking rapidly.

"Come on," Derek said, opening the door to a conference room.

Beckett, watching Skye go inside first, was startled when she disappeared and shortly after they could hear her speaking in another language just as they went in.

" _Chaíromaí pou to kataférate_ ," the investigator said as she was embracing a woman that was near some chairs that were in the otherwise empty room.

" _Mólis eída tin ekpompí. Éprepe_ ," the woman replied before they parted.

Seeing the woman Julia suddenly gasped and then looked at her sister as they stared at one another with wide eyes.

"Okay," Skye said, turning to them. "You see we have some guests here but they're actually joining us for the Freestyle. Keo you know already-"

"I think we all know Maria," Mary commented, smiling at her wife.

"Okay, then Maria, welcome to the group," Skye said, turning to her.

"Thanks for having me here," she replied. "Why?"

Shaking her head, knowing the explanation was for the others, Skye said, "I guess it's time to tell you all the last dances we have."

"Oh sure," Derek said jokingly before he told the others who hadn't been with the at the studio about the dances they knew they had so far.

"I nearly forgot," Skye said to her partner, "Will the judges be going in to see us for the redemption dances?"

"Yeah, I got a text that it'll be Bruno," Derek said.

"Great, I'll talk in Italian to him and Greek with you," Skye said, saying the last to Maria Menunous who was still next to her. "Keep me in shape with that last one."

"I think we need to talk about the Freestyle," Derek said.

"Some of the kids are yawning," Maria pointed out.

The group went together over to the free space in the middle of the room and Skye soon said, "I want us to start, the four of us," pointing to Julia and Mari as well. "To be standing together and hopefully wearing Sgt. Pepper's outfits."

"Oh, will Stella be making them?" Mari asked hopefully.

"She will," Skye said. "I've talked to her already. But you four," she then directed to Derek, the boys and Keo. "Will be dressed as the band from their early days."

Laughing as the boys immediately groaned Derek said, "Hey, suits aren't that bad. You wouldn't want to wear sweater vests and bow ties again would you?"

"No," the two said, reluctantly agreeing.

Shaking her head Skye said to her partner, "We're like a tableau until the music starts and we walk to you and… that's where you come in."

"Thanks," Derek said.

"Wait," Maria said quickly. When the others looked at her she asked, "How are your feet?"

Since the woman was looking at her Julia was blushing deeply and she said, "I'm fine. Did… did you see the dance we had?"

"I did, not too long ago," Maria replied. "But I didn't catch your second dance," she directed to Skye.

"You will be able to later," the investigator said.

"Yeah, we'll start right now," Derek said.

While the group was working on the Freestyle, Beckett watched her daughter as Skye was dancing with her, Mari and Maria as well as she'd asked Derek to choreograph. She was relieved when Julia eventually relaxed and when they neared the end of their practice session she wasn't surprised when the girl went over to the star.

"Hi," Julia said, trying not to sound too shy.

"Hey, how're you doing? Derek's not asking too much of you kids, is he?" Maria said, smiling at her.

"No, but are you okay?" Julia asked.

"Yeah," Maria said reassuringly. "It's been a while since I've danced so I have to get back into it."

Nodding Julia then asked, "What did you and Skye say to each other when you were talking in Greek?"

"I told her that I was glad she'd made it," Skye commented, walking over to them and having heard that.

"And I told her I'd just seen the show and I had to come," Maria said with a smile.

"Are you going to come to Disneyland too?" Eliza asked, hurrying over to them.

"I can't," Maria said apologetically. "But I'll probably see you at the show next Monday."

"Come for dinner after?" Skye said to her.

"I'll see," Maria replied. "But have a great time going around the parks," she said to the girls.

After Keo and Maria had said goodbye to everyone Derek said, "I'll meet you guys where we go over to the park?"

"Yeah, at seven," Mary told him. "And now we need to start saying goodnight."

To their laughter, the group was saying goodnight to each other before they went to their rooms, splitting up as their rooms were spread out inside the hotel.

* * *

"Girls," Beckett said, walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. "Please don't dance in the shower."

"We're just tapping Mom," Julia said. "Turn off the water?"

"Please," Beckett said. When her second oldest had she said to Eliza, "Come on sweetie, you're first."

Sighing the little girl said, "Why me?"

"Because I need to help you," Beckett said simply. She wrapped the little girl's towel around her body to start drying her off. "You both cleaned up with soap, right?" she then asked while Julia had begun drying herself off as well.

"And washed our hair, we weren't just tapping Mom," the girl said wryly.

"Alright," Beckett replied. "But right after this you're going to bed," she commented, watching Eliza yawning. She smiled and then told the girls, "It was a big day today."

"Don't look at my feet Mom," Julia protested though she was soon smiling.

"It's hard not to," Beckett commented. She then said, "How was it getting to meet Maria?"

"Weird," Julia said honestly as she was getting dressed by then. "Really weird, I've watched her so many times on YouTube… but then I watched Derek a lot too."

"She was nice," Eliza said, though her voice was muffled as her mother was pulling her pajama shirt over her head.

"Yeah… I get to dance with her too," Julia said in amazement. "Well… not with her but-"

"Don't worry," Beckett interrupted her with a smile. "We got it. Brush your teeth now girls."

"But my hair," Eliza said since hers was mussed from her mother drying it.

"After you brush your teeth," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when Julia said, "To keep Dad company," but didn't say anything as she wanted them to get their teeth cleaned. She watched them until they finished and followed them out into the suite. It was two rooms; living room and bedroom; and the girls were sleeping in the former on the bed that came out from the couch. Josie was in a crib in the bedroom with her and Castle and she wasn't surprised to find her husband turning from the baby inside to them.

"Hey, how was your shower?" he asked his daughters as they went over to the crib to look in on their baby sister.

"Good," Julia replied. Seeing Josie was asleep she said, "I hope you take her on as many rides as you can."

"Don't worry, we will," Beckett said.

"Yeah, 'cause it's her birthday," Eliza said firmly.

"Okay," Castle said, slightly laughingly. "Let's get you two out to your bed."

"Mom?" Julia asked then. "Could we look out, just for a little bit."

"Come on," Beckett replied. She smiled as both her daughters looked at her in surprise but ushered them over to the window they had in that room that looked out on California Adventure.

"I can't wait to go see it," Eliza said.

"Do you remember it at all?" Julia asked her.

"Little bit," Eliza said after she'd obviously thought that over. "But I wanna go on the cars ride."

"That's first," Beckett said.

"It's not just me saying that," Castle said in amusement as the girls immediately looked back at him. "Skye and Mary were the first, which makes sense since they know the good rides."

"I can't wait," Julia said before she felt her sister moving. She looked at her and laughed at Eliza jumping up and down and said, "Are you sure she's gonna sleep Mom?"

"She will," Beckett said, picking the little girl then. "Right now."

"Ooh, but Mommy," Eliza whined.

"We're tucking you in right now," Castle commented, following her with Julia over to the bed. "But we're making some tea for us so we'll talk a little and then you need to sleep."

"I hope that takes for…e…ver," Eliza said, the last word drawn out as she was yawning.

"Good night sweetie," Beckett told her, kissing her temple. "I love you."

"Love you too Mommy," Eliza said sleepily though she was smiling. She shared a kiss with her and then did the same with her father. "Love you Daddy."

"I love you too sweetheart," Castle said, kissing her. "Go with your mom on some rides too tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah," Eliza said, smiling widely at him though she was yawning soon after. She looked down at the bed as her mother set her down and she hugged her big sister once she was close. "Night Jules," she told her.

"Night Lizzy," Julia told her with a smile. "We'll wake up Mom and Dad."

"Yeah," Eliza said again as she was having a hard time fighting her fatigue.

"Come here," Beckett said, helping the little girl lay down. She tucked her in and then kissed her forehead before she took Julia's hand, smiling when the girl sighed heavily.

"Mom," Julia said, slightly laughing when her mother suddenly pulled her onto her lap after she'd sat on the other side of the sleeper bed. "I'm too big to sit here now… aren't I?"

"Do you want to move?" Beckett asked her.

Shaking her head, Julia watched her mother lift her leg and she said, "Don't Mom, please."

"No," Beckett replied. "I just wish you would have told us."

"Your mom's right," Castle said, sitting next to her. "We wouldn't have made you stop but… we would have wanted to go to your practices. I'm guessing that's why you didn't tell us?"

"Yeah, we all wanted to surprise our parents," Julia said, giggling softly when her father lightly tickled the bottom of her foot.

"You did," Beckett said, smiling at her husband's action. "But don't do that again."

"I won't, not for our last two dances," Julia said. "But it was one of the best moments of my life."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett told her with a smile, kissing her cheek.

"Now I think you need to go to bed," Castle said, watching his wife hugging their daughter. He took her on his lap as she went over to him and shared a kiss with her saying, "I love you Julia. And you made me very proud of you; you're a wonderful dancer."

"Thanks Dad," Julia said, blushing deeply. "I love you too," she told him, hugging him tightly one last time before she got off the bed and stood in front of her mother.

"I love you Julia," Beckett told her seriously, embracing her.

"Love you Mom," the girl replied, hugging her back as hard. She then smiled and said, "I can't wait for your birthday."

Beckett laughed softly and told her, "Neither can I," before they shared a quick kiss. She stood up and held up the sheets for the girl to slide under telling her, "Sweet dreams and we'll wake you up in the morning."

"Night Mom," Julia said, speaking laughingly again as she knew her mother was trying to tell her not to wake up so early she and her sister would be waking them up. She watched them; after her parents had said goodnight to her; make two mugs of tea before disappearing into the bedroom, closing the door slightly behind them but not all the way. She turned on her side then, closing her eyes and trying her best to go to sleep while she knew that one of the two theme parks was so close outside.

"She's fine," Castle said, watching his wife with a smile as she was looking down at Josie once they were in the bedroom.

"I know, I just wanted to check on her," Beckett said simply. She then went over to the window in their room and looked out on the park saying, "I am glad she had such a great time with the dance."

"So am I," Castle said reassuringly. He then smiled at her and said, "And we're moving on to next week."

"Skye is," Beckett said simply. When her husband took her hand she set her empty mug on the table near them and did the same with his before he sat down in the armchair, pulling her onto his lap. As soon as she was settled, he was kissing her and deeply while she was wrapping her arms around his neck. She had expected that and she would have done the same to her husband if he hadn't done it first. She gently rubbed her tongue against his before they slowly parted and she said with a smile, "Is this for tomorrow?"

"It's not like we couldn't still do this in either park," Castle said, rubbing his wife's upper arm through her robe. "But I still want to make sure."

Shaking her head, Beckett leaned down and kissed her husband deeply, pleased when he responded to her. Though she knew they couldn't do that much with their daughters in the suite with them she slipped her tongue past her husband's lips, curling it around his tongue before they were rubbing together a little frantically until they needed to stop. Smiling at him when she could look him in the eye she told him, "We should go to bed."

"We should," Castle said, though he was speaking reluctantly. He let her go and watched her walk over to the bed, staying on the side the armchair was on. He took off his robe while she was doing the same with hers and they went to the crib to make one last check on their youngest. "She really is fine," he told Beckett, kissing the side of her head.

"Hmm, I know," she replied, turning to him. She wrapped her arms around him murmuring, " _Ní féidir liom a choinneáil ar shiúil uait_ ," which meant she couldn't keep away from him.

" _Neither do I_ ," Castle told her, speaking in Irish as well. They kissed each other tenderly before he could tell her, " _Chaill mé tú_ ," which meant he'd missed her. " _Ach ba mhaith liom fanacht… aois má theastaigh uaim dom_ ," he told her which meant he'd wait ages if she wanted him too.

Beckett smiled at that and brushed her lips against his before he held her more firmly, pulling her close. Though they had the parks the next day she knew they weren't going to be able to stop just yet. Parting they went hand in hand to the bed, laying down so they could kiss again, taking the chance they had for some intimacy before they got their rest for her birthday the next day.


	47. One Lucky Day

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: To anyone who hasn't seen the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie I would recommend searching 'Paul McCartney Pirates of the Caribbean' on YouTube as the scene where he's in the movie is there and he's adorable, lol, it's a funny scene and I love it and Paul of course.

A/N #2: It was great to get the feedback I did for the last chapter, so I'll start on that right away. MsNYC (I was really happy to see that you think Julia is getting to be a beautiful young lady, inside and out as you put it, since I do try to write her like that. And I was really glad that you enjoyed how I had details with the dances, I did try my best with that. I'm not surprised that you were glad they got to have fun in the chapter. Or that you're happy that Julia's feet were okay in the end. Really pleased you enjoy Beckett and Skye together, always happy to read that since I love writing that. And about the birthday celebration it will be there, since it's Disneyland it will be there, lol, I can't resist writing about Disney! And it was nice to see you thought it was great writing as usual!),

TORONTOSUN (It was great to read you liked the songs I picked since I did want those to be good. And I wasn't surprised you thought it's very good for the kids in the chapter),

Mb (I was very happy seeing that you thought the first half was a fantastic update. Really pleased you loved the interactions between Beckett and Julia since I enjoyed writing that bit. Not surprised you could understand Julia not wanting to know about her bruises at first if you went through something similar. But great your mom let you continue to play, I figured Beckett would do the same for Julia since she knows how much Julia loves to dance. I was glad that you were impressed with my choice of songs, after I started watching the show and saw how little they used songs of bands and singers that I like I always started to imagine them as being on the show and thought of which ones they'd be best for. The same with the steps and visuals so I'm really happy that you were impressed by those too. And great you liked that first dance Skye and Derek had. And of course, it was nice to see you thought the meaning behind the dance for Skye was beautifully written, I did do my best with that! Not surprised you were happy with Julia dancing with Derek and seeing what she could do. And of course her doing what she wanted to do; it was why I gave her some of the dance on her own since the song fit her really, lol. Also you're right, she'll be supported by her family and friends definitely. I wasn't surprised reading your reaction at Elton John being there, I did have to include him since I do love his music and you made me laugh about not having it be Paul get all the feels as you said, lol. Not surprised you're loving the kids getting to dance and have the chance to learn and have fun too. And I had to have the families there, it wasn't going to work since I saw them as being proud of their kids along with happy for them along with loving their kids of course. Great you thought the first half was wonderfully written. And you're welcome for the first half! It was nice seeing first off that you thought the second half was beautifully written too. I wasn't surprised that you thought it was nice seeing them make it to the finals. And great you liked seeing them getting the dances and the kids getting the free dance. The inclusion of Maria Menunous was also because I thought she got robbed the season she was on. It was funny to see I had you laughing with the hats, but glad you thought the same as me since some of those hats say the park, figured it be nice for the kids to have a Disneyland hat. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!) and

Emma (It was nice to see that you're still enjoying the story. And it was great that you love how I've been showing the kids getting confidence in both dancing and themselves I'm also really glad that you love how Julia's been growing up from the scared little girl at the start to as you said a confident young girl/woman that she's becoming now since that is what I was aiming for. Also pleased to see you love the family they've made here. You're welcome for the chapter!).

Thanks for the reviews, as always I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them to me!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _New_ by Paul McCartney, from his album of the same name.

One Lucky Day

Looking at her sister next to her, Julia smiled as they were leaving the loading station and heading down the track. It was the day after the episode and their mother's birthday and that made her look at her next to them. They were on the Radiator Springs Racers ride at California Adventure and they were in the front of the car with Castle, Jim and Derek behind them. She glanced back and smiled at the dancer before they were going a little faster though they soon slowed down going through the scenery.

"When do we get to the race!" Eliza cried.

"Soon," Beckett assured her, leaning over. They were soon going inside, and she smiled as the little girl pretended to squeal at the semi-truck that appeared in front of them. While they were going by the other characters, she smiled as both her daughters were laughing and pretending to cry out in fear together before they were entering the town.

"Hey!" Julia cried as they came to the start for the race at the end and were next to the car with six of the McDouglases in it.

"You're gonna loose!" Kathleen cried out to them.

"No way!" Eliza said before they were looking forward again as they laughed. The cars took off and she cried out as they were going around a curve and then reaching the dips. When it had finally stopped she clapped and said, "Let's go again!"

"We will," Beckett said with a laugh before they were getting out of the car. She took Julia's hand and wasn't surprised when Eliza rushed to her, taking her other one and they walked together through the exit so they could go back in line. While they were walking she couldn't help but recall earlier that morning when she had been woken up by both her husband and their daughters.

* * *

 _Rolling onto her back, Beckett finally opened her eyes and realized quickly that it was absolutely silent in the room. She knew her husband wasn't next to her and sat up, seeing the crib was empty and the door to the living room was closed. She got out of bed hurriedly and grabbed her robe, tossing it on as she was hurrying to the door._

 _"Happy Birthday!" Julia and Eliza said at the same time as soon as their mother stepped through the doorway._

 _"Happy Birthday love," Castle told his wife with a smile, walking after their two middle daughters._

 _"Thank you," Beckett said with a smile as she hugged the girls. "How did you stay so quiet?"_

 _Eliza looked at her father and sister before she giggled and said, "I had to be really careful."_

 _"I can imagine," Beckett said before she stepped up to her husband after their daughters had let her go. She leaned down and then kissed the top of Josie's head and was about to go to her husband when he called to Julia._

 _"Thank you," he told the girl as she was taking the baby._

 _"You're welcome," Julia said with a smile. She then took Eliza's hand and pulled her to the bedroom, leaving their parents alone as they were wrapping their arms around each other._

 _"You look amazing Kate," Castle told his wife after they watched the three disappear._

 _"Come here," Beckett said, cupping his face and pulling him to her before they kissed. She kept that short and said, "We need to go."_

 _"Yeah… after we get ready?" Castle asked her. When she nodded he brushed his lips against hers before they parted, and she took his hand to take him to the bedroom._

 _Castle and Beckett got their daughters ready before they were getting dressed themselves while the three were looking out on the park outside the living room window._

 _"Kate?" Castle asked her when he saw that she appeared to be ready. When she looked to him he pulled her close and then kissed her deeply on the lips before she could react to that. Luckily, she was responding to him and they were soon tangling their tongues together before they calmed down and gently rubbed against one another._

 _When they parted Beckett smiled and asked, "My birthday gift?"_

 _"Not really," Castle said. "More because I wanted to."_

 _Shaking her head, Beckett was about to pull her husband to her for another kiss when there was a knock on the door. They stopped and she watched her husband hurrying over to it and opening it for their breakfast. She was distracted from what the worker was bringing in and looked down at her second oldest saying, "Are you hungry sweetie?"_

 _"Yeah," Eliza said. "But are you having a good birthday Mommy?"_

 _"I am," Beckett told her. "And I'm eager to go to the parks too but first we need to eat." She watched the little girl go to the small balcony they had before they were either sitting or standing and looking at the park in front of them._

 _"Mom?" Julia asked._

 _"Yeah?" Beckett said, looking over at her from Josie who was sitting on her lap._

 _"We told Josa Happy Birthday first," Julia explained._

 _"I'm glad you did," Beckett said. "It is her birthday too though it isn't a year." She was surprised when the girls started to giggle, and she said, "What?"_

 _"We knew you would say it was Josa's birthday," Julia said._

 _"It's your birthday Mommy," Eliza then said. "Just you."_

 _"Don't," Castle said, trying to be serious though he couldn't help smiling at the way his wife had looked at him. "I didn't say anything to them."_

 _Though she wanted to tease him, Beckett merely squeezed her husband's arm since they were next to each other and said, "Alright, it is my birthday. And because it is I'd like you to finish your breakfasts."_

 _The girls quickly agreed to that and once they had finished they hurried inside to get their Mickey ear hats before they waited for their parents at the door._

 _"I think they're ready," Castle said in amusement to his wife._

 _"Probably," Beckett said, smiling when the girls laughed. She then hurried to get her purse while her husband was getting Josie's bag and she placed the baby in her carrier on the stroller._

 _"Are we ready to go? Are we ready to go?" Eliza asked eagerly, jumping._

 _"Yes, take it easy," Beckett said laughingly. She took the little girl's hand and walked with the girls out into the hallway; Castle following with Josie. Once they had reached the lobby she saw her father and Martha were there._

 _"Happy Birthday Katie," Jim said once he was close to his daughter._

 _"Thanks Dad," Beckett replied, hugging him back._

 _"Happy Birthday Kate," Martha said, hugging her daughter in law next._

 _Thanking her Beckett asked the two after she had let her mother in law go, "Did you guys sleep alright?"_

 _"We did," Martha replied. She looked down at Eliza as the little girl had grabbed her hand and said, "What is it kiddo?"_

 _"You didn't get to see the park from your room," Eliza told her._

 _"That's alright," Martha assured her. "I'll see the park now."_

 _"Here comes everyone else," Castle commented._

 _Beckett turned and saw their friends coming from the elevators and she watched the girls rush over to the other kids. After they had greeted each other; and everyone else had told her Happy Birthday; they went to the entrance for California Adventure. Listening to the kids talking happily about the rides she couldn't help picking up some of their enthusiasm, smiling back at her husband to see he was feeling the same while they made their way inside the first park._

* * *

"Look at the lamp!" Fleur said eagerly.

"I know," Marie said. "That's from Pixar, the company that makes the movies like _Toy Story_ and _The Incredibles_."

"Ooh, I love those movies," Iris said.

"Me too," Julia commented, looking at her mother.

"I think you'll be able to go," Beckett said, knowing she was talking about the ride. She wasn't surprised when her daughter nodded and then turned her attention to the buildings they were passing, taking pictures before she said to Skye who she was walking to, "We need to come back at night."

"We will," the investigator assured her. "It's absolutely stunning at night," not surprised her friend had noticed all the bulbs that were on the buildings. "First we'll head to the Incredicoaster," she said as they passed some food stalls. "But for those of you who aren't tall enough and don't want to go on…"

"There's Jessie's Critter Carousel," Mary said, speaking wryly as her wife had been looking at her while she'd spoken.

"Dad," Beckett said, searching out her father. "Don't take Josie, I want Rick and I to take her on that later."

"Alright," Jim said. "Do you mind if we walk down this part?" he then asked her, nodding to the midway and the _Toy Story_ ride ahead of them.

"No, let her see everything," Castle said, coming up. "Mother's taking Eliza."

"Good," Beckett said. They then hurried to get in line after saying goodbye to those that weren't going on the roller coaster and once they were she asked Julia, "Who do you want to ride with?"

"With Mari," Julia said. "But if we go on it again…"

"We'll figure that out later," Castle said, knowing she wasn't sure if she wanted to go with him or Beckett more. As their daughter was hurrying to where Mari was walking with David and Rebecca, he took her hand saying, "I'm glad we have the chance."

"We'll have others," Beckett said. She then squeezed his hand tightly telling him, "But this was what I wanted… too."

Castle couldn't help laughing before he said, "There are a lot of us to ride with."

Beckett nodded and then said, "It's funny how much they changed this."

"I forgot to ask Skye if they're okay about this," Castle said, looking around.

"It seemed like they were," Genevieve said, walking behind them.

"Wait… Peter is up there," Castle said, looking back at her.

"So is Clive," Isaac commented.

"Where's Paul by the way?" Genevieve asked.

"He's a bit late," Skye said as they were meeting up together since they'd reached the end of the line and were waiting. "But he and Nancy will meet us after lunch for sure."

"I thought their daughter was coming," Isaac said.

"She's decided to stay in New York," Mary said.

Before anything could be said, they were being let onto a train that had pulled up to the loading platform. Beckett got on with her husband, going first, and once they were seated she reached up to Julia in front of them, doing her best to squeeze her shoulder before their daughter was answering her unasked question.

"I'm fine Mom," the girl said, peering back at her mother the best she could though it was a little difficult with the over the shoulder restraints.

"Alright, have fun," Beckett said with a smile to her before she sat back against her seat. She looked at her husband when she squeezed her hand and she asked with a smile, "Scared?"

"No," Castle said, playfully glaring at Julia when he saw that she was looking back at them. He was going to continue when their train was suddenly moving and they left the station to come up to a white building. He wasn't surprised, when they came to some windows looking inside, that the kids were laughing as they saw the character Edna in there and Jack-Jack disappearing and reappearing though it was rapid since they were moving swiftly.

"Now we have to find him," Julia said with a smile to Mari as they could hear Edna saying that the baby was gone.

"Yep, luckily he's on the roller coaster," the girl said with a nod as the train was stopping on the straight part of the track that led to the incline and a red tunnel. She and Julia shared another smile while they were listening to the characters talking before music was playing.

Tightening her grip on the handles, Julia braced herself when the character Dash started to count down rapidly. And at the sound of the character running they were launched, speeding down the track and up to the first incline. Her eyes widened seeing the zig zag lights there and a figurine of Dash before at the other end of the lights was Jack-Jack with lights coming out of his eyes. She laughed before they were coming out of the tunnel into a drop, going up quickly until they slowed down a bit and then curved around to the right and down.

After they'd straightened slightly Beckett laughed while her husband was yelling next to her as they banked to the left. Coming up into another incline after that she listened to Mari saying to Julia that she wondered what character they'd see next before they were in the tunnel. Looking up at the top of it she smiled seeing Elastigirl stretched across until there was the baby character by her hands. Going further down the tunnel she laughed for a moment as the Mr. Incredible character was trying to get the baby with a cookie, having broken through the tunnel.

Going down a drop the train went up into another bank to the right Castle laughed at Julia and Mari ahead of them cheering loudly. They were going into the helix and he was calling out until they got into a straight run though it was short. After they went into a drop they were going into the loop. He could see the girls' hair in front of them moving with that and he laughed again before they went up and into another tunnel.

"There he is!" Julia cried out, seeing the Jack-Jack figurine at the start. She wondered why the tunnel was such a weird fiery color, but they were going through so fast she only briefly caught a glimpse of the character Violet at the end looking inside. They went down into a drop and came back up into a bank to the right before they were going around for a while. When they were out of that she held up her arms as they were banking up and to the left until they were straight and slowing down slightly.

Going over some bunny hills, Beckett noticed the baby character figures they were passing on either side of the track, realizing that the baby had duplicated himself. She laughed at the baby's laughter before they came up into a break run and stopped, hearing the baby laughing and music again. When they started going down she could hear Edna saying that the baby had returned before they were going into a bank to the left and continued going around for a while. Going up into a break run the train slowed down and then went by another white building where they could see inside that the baby was huge and the Edna was tempting it with a cookie. She smiled at her husband at the kids' laughter and they started applauding with Skye and Mary once they'd passed the scene.

"That was so fun," Julia said to Mari as they waited for their restraints to raise up. When they were off the train and then walking off the train she said, "I wish you could see the way this used to look."

"You can," Marie said, her and her sister catching up with them, along with the boys. "On YouTube."

"I'll be able to do that when we get home," Mari said.

"I can't wait for that," Clive said.

"What're we going on next?" Peter asked the twins.

"I think-" Kathleen started to say.

"Excuse me? Are you Skye?" a woman said, walking over to them.

"I am," the investigator said.

"Oh, please, can I take a picture with you?" she asked. "I've been watching you on _Dancing With the Stars_ ; I'm such a huge fan."

"Sure," Skye said with a slight smile. She waited for the woman to get her phone ready and stood with her for the picture.

"I voted for you guys last night," the woman said. "I hope you'll win."

"Thank you so much," Skye replied. She looked for her partner and seeing him in the back, his head slightly bowed she said, "Coward," playfully.

"No, I just wanted you to get the attention," Derek said, walking forward to her. "Dance?" he asked.

"Why not," Skye said, knowing he wanted to take the chance since the area they were in by the carousel wasn't too crowded. She got into hold with him; knowing they were going to practice their Foxtrot.

Beckett, wrapping her arms around Eliza as the little girl had rushed to her with all the others that had gone on the carousel plus her father and Josie, watched with them as the two were practicing their Foxtrot again. They didn't do that for very long and she smiled as the small crowd around them started to applaud with their group before they started to walk down the path.

"There's no cameras Mummy," Ivy said to Skye as she'd hurried over to her.

"I know, but we still need to practice a bit," the investigator said, smiling down at her daughter. She squeezed her hand and said, "Will you ride the next with me?"

"Sure," Ivy said, smiling up at her. She thought of her twin and looked for Iris before she saw she was with Mary, looking forward again before she gasped seeing the name of the ride. "Like the one at Disney World?"

"It is," Skye said. "Still want to go with me?"

"Yeah," Ivy said with a rapid nod.

"Who are you going with?" Beckett asked Eliza as they walked into the line since it was only ten minutes.

"With you Grandpapa," the little girl said, taking his hand before she looked at her big sister.

"Mom?" Julia asked, looking at Beckett.

"You don't want to ride with Mari?" Castle asked in surprise.

"She's going to ride with her dad," Julia explained. "If we come back we're going to ride together."

"We probably will," Beckett commented.

"What about the car ride?" Eliza asked.

"That too," Castle said before they were getting closer to the front.

"Who're you going to ride with Dad?" Julia said suddenly, thinking of their numbers.

"Liam," Castle said.

"Oh… I thought he was going to stay with Gram," Julia said.

"Since he just got here I don't think he's going to sit out the ride," Castle commented before their group was being let onto the ride cars.

Though she had been on the ride many times before, Julia was still having a lot of fun shooting at the targets at each game. When they finished she said to her mother, "I wonder if it's fair that you go on this ride."

"So now you want me to not ride it?" Beckett asked while they were taking off the 3D glasses they'd needed to wear. When her daughter shrugged, fighting a smile she could tell, she hugged her briefly before they needed to get off the ride and head to their next experience.

* * *

"What do you think of the park here?" Eliza asked Fleur and Ivy as she was walking with the two in the middle of their family and friends.

"It's really cool," Ivy said first. "But I want to see Disneyland, that was the first park out of all of them."

"It is," Beckett said, coming up to them.

"What are we gonna go on next Mommy?" Eliza asked, immediately taking her mother's hand.

"Nothing right now," Beckett said. "We've been through everything and it's time for lunch."

"Kay," Eliza said. She looked down at the path they were walking on and then skipped suddenly before her mother was hugging her against her side. "I am hungry Mommy," she said, looking up at her.

"I had a feeling," Beckett said with a nod.

"Where are we eating?" Julia asked, slowing down to walk with them.

"I don't know, we left that up to Skye and Mary," Beckett replied. They had reached the crossroads of two different paths and she was slightly surprised when the two women told their two oldest to go to the left. She felt Eliza squeezing her hand and was about to tell her jokingly that she seemed to be happy when Julia was speaking first.

"Are we eating at the traffic cones?" the girl said.

"No," Skye said, looking back at her with a smile. "Here."

Looking at the name, Julia glanced at her sister as she was squealing and followed her over to an empty table near some gas pumps. "Are we sitting here?" she asked their parents as they approached them.

"I guess we are," Castle said in amusement. He looked over at the other parents and said, "Can you guys see the menu?"

"Yeah, am I getting something from the regular menu?" Julia asked.

"You need to," Beckett said, watching her daughter look at the options before Eliza was tugging her hand.

"What can I get?" the little girl said, swinging their hands.

After she had read the options for the little girl Beckett said, "I'll suggest the chicken fingers sweetie."

"Can't I get the mac and cheese?" Eliza asked.

"Let her," Castle said. When his wife turned to him he told her, "Seriously, let her."

Frowning for a moment, Beckett then said, "Alright, you can but not for dinner too."

"Kay, I'll get something healthy for dinner," Eliza said seriously.

Trying not to laugh at her tone; as his wife was; Castle said, "Let me know what you guys want."

"You can't go on your own," Beckett said with a slight frown.

"I'll go in with him," Jim said.

"I want the sandwich Dad," Julia said quickly.

"The club?" Castle asked in confusion as he looked at the menu and saw there were two.

"I'll have the same," Beckett told him. She watched him go with her father; after getting Martha's order; and she sat while she and her mother in law watched Julia get the baby from her carrier. "Don't let her touch that," she said as the girls took their little sister to the nearest gas pump.

"Why not?" Eliza asked, holding onto Josie's hands.

"It's likely dirty," Martha said. She glanced at her daughter in law when Josie started to fuss since she'd been reaching for the glass on the gas pump, surprised when she didn't get up to help.

"They can take care of her," Beckett said easily, both looking on while Eliza playfully blew on Josie's hands.

"Don't cry Josa," Julia was telling the baby. "You're gonna get to go on another ride soon." She then thought of something and asked her mother, "I thought Dumbo was going to be her first ride in Disneyland."

"Think about what you just said sweetie," Beckett told her simply.

Wrinkling her nose, Julia jerked her head back when Josie hit it lightly said, "Ow, I know already Josa. We're not in Disneyland yet."

"Are you okay?" Eliza asked her in surprise.

"Yeah, she didn't hit me that hard," Julia said, glancing at their mother and grandmother as the two were looking at her questioningly.

"Why don't you give her to me?" Beckett said.

"Oh… Mommy I wanna hold her," Eliza said.

"Mom, why don't we go look at the Roadsters again? Josa liked that ride," Julia said quickly.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Give Josie to your sister."

Reaching for her Eliza held the baby against her chest and gently bounced her, pleased when Josie laughed. She kissed her temple and told her, "See the big sign? I know you don't know how to read but I do. It says _Flo's V8 Café_. Café means a restaurant and that's where we're having lunch. It's supposed to look like the movie _Cars_ 'cause that's where we're at, Cars Land."

Beckett was smiling at the way the baby was gurgling and laughing at her sister's voice and she said, "You should be a tour guide sweetie."

Eliza giggled softly and was about to ask when Josie could go on another ride when she said, "There's Daddy and Grandpapa!"

Seeing the little girl was right, Beckett stood and went to get the drinks off the tray her husband was holding saying, "I could have gone in."

"Sure," Castle said, setting down the tray. When his wife playfully shoved him he laughed and said, "We were fine. Now let's eat so we can get back to rides."

Through the meal the kids were talking together, about the rides they'd gone on so far and which ones they'd enjoyed the most. As they were helping their parents throwing their trash away at the end, they playfully had a vote to see if they could agree on one of them.

"I'm not surprised," Rebecca said when the kids looked at each other in surprise as only two at the most would raise their hands for a ride. "There's a lot to choose from and remember not all of you could go on the Incredicoaster or the Guardians of the Galaxy ride."

"What's next," Derek then said before he glanced at Liam.

Laughing, since they'd eaten at a two-chair table together since there had been no room for them at the others, Skye's dad said, "Oh… my granddaughters should know this already. My oldest."

"The games," Marie said with a sigh.

"What's with that tone?" Mary asked her.

"We want to go to Disneyland," Kathleen said.

"Couldn't we wait to come back?" Marie said.

"I think not sweetling," Skye said, smiling at the look her oldest gave her. "We need to walk, and I'm sure the youngest want to play games."

After leaving the restaurant the group went back to the Pixar Pier section and to the three themed midway games that were there. Though the kids had been a little hesitant about waiting to go to Disneyland, they were soon enthusiastically playing until they had finished the last game.

"Now it's time for Disneyland," Skye said, looking at everyone from her phone.

"Will they be there?" Julia asked, not wanting to mention Paul's name though she knew she could at least say his first.

"Let's go," Skye replied before they walked back to the entrance of the park so they could leave.

When they reached the entry plaza in between both parks, Julia spotted someone pointing up at the Monorail track and she cried out before she was running. She slowed down so she wouldn't barrel into the singer and she hugged him saying, "You're really here!"

"I am," Paul said, laughing. He embraced her back and then pushed her back gently saying, "And ready to go, are you?"

"Yeah, we've all been wanting to come here," Julia said eagerly. She then turned to Nancy and hugged her just as everyone else was joining them.

"Alright," Paul said once they had all greeted each other. "I know you'd like to go to the rides, but I'd like us all to have a big picture together in front of Mickey there."  
After the adults had all agreed with that, the group went into the park and they were gathering together in front of the Mickey made of plants and flowers below the railroad tracks and train station. They had their picture taken and as soon as they were finished Iris was crying out while they walked to the tunnel under the tracks.

"Look at the Christmas ornaments!" the little girl was saying happily.

"Wait until we get to Main Street," Kathleen said, just as they were walking past the posters on either side of the walls of the tunnel.

Though she was smiling at the reactions of the kids, Beckett was impressed by the Christmas tree that was by the main street leading to the other lands. It was extremely tall, and she wanted to tell Julia and Eliza to stop looking up though she was having a hard time not studying it herself.

"Can we go to the tree?" Eliza asked.

"Yes, but don't forget the buildings," Castle said, pointing to the large building they were walking by.

Beckett smiled as the girls were taking numerous pictures and even more when they were at the tree itself. She took her husband's hand and squeezed it tightly at the look of wonder on their daughters' faces looking at the ornaments there. She leaned against him before she stepped away from him slightly as he was getting the baby out of her carrier. "I'm ready," she said when he looked at her. She did her best not to laugh at his obvious surprise on his face and told him, "Hurry."

"Don't worry about her looking at the camera," Castle said. "That way we won't waste time for the rides."

Julia; holding Josie; and Eliza stood together in front of the tree while their parents and grandparents were taking pictures with some type of camera. After they had finished they and the others walked down Main Street, Julia going with Paul as he'd called her over.

"Do you know what we're going later on after dinner?" the singer asked her.

"Yeah," Julia said. "Small World."

"Ah…" Paul said.

Julia couldn't help giggling softly and she asked, "You don't like the song?"

"Oh no, it's alright, the repetitiveness is a bit… off putting," Paul said. "But I don't mind the song."

Julia nodded before her mother was calling to her and said, "I gotta ride with my family."

"As you should," Paul said. "We'll go on a faster ride together once we can again."

Julia nodded and then hurried back to her family, taking her sister's hand as they walked by the Matterhorn and continued down to the ride at the end of the path in front of them.

* * *

"Who's going to control this?" Castle asked his wife. "What?" he asked when she looked at him. "I could," he said jokingly since he was holding Josie.

Shaking her head Beckett told him, "I'll take care of it."

"Oh, so you don't trust me," Castle said, speaking jokingly again. "Take her love," he said quickly. He expected her to just give him a look, but she held her arms out for Josie just as their Dumbo car was starting to move. He grabbed the lever that was in front of him and pulled on it until they were rising. He waved with his wife as their two middle daughters looked back at them from their car ahead of them. He glanced behind them and said, "We took up almost every car," in amusement.

"Of course we did," Beckett said as they had filled thirteen of the cars with all of them. She watched her husband moving the joystick up and down carefully and then smiled, squeezing his arm before he looked at her. "I knew we'd be okay," she told him.

Castle laughed and then looked down at Josie who was laughing in response to him. He paused in moving their car and he leaned over, kissing at the baby's forehead before Josie was grabbing his cheek. He took her hand and was about to turn his attention to his wife when she was giving him the baby.

"Help her fly," Beckett said, smiling at him. She wasn't surprised when he quickly helped the baby hold onto the joystick and move it though it was at his direction. She was taking pictures the rest of the ride, of the two next to her, Julia and Eliza in front of them and their parents in the car behind. When they came down she said, "Let's get the kids at the car they have for pictures," speaking to Skye who was near them.

"Good idea," the investigator said with a nod before they were walking past the gate around the ride. She let her wife take pictures of the kids with their camera while she was using her phone and once they were walking over to the castle she said to Paul, "Now we'll go ahead and start the faster rides."

"I had a feeling," the singer said. "The kids all said you have a method."

"You told the boys?" Beckett asked Julia.

"No, the twins did," the girl replied with a smile. "They couldn't help it and really, I told them before about that."

"What's first then?" Paul asked.

"Jungle Cruise," Skye said. "Don't," she said to hers and Mary's older twins. "You know we need to show this to your sisters, Mari and the boys… that's all of you right?"

"Josa too!" Eliza cried out.

"And you forgot about the ride," Mary said, smiling as the kids that hadn't been to that park before were reacting to the decorations.

"Oh… right," Kathleen said, looking at her twin.

"That's true," Marie replied.

"Mommy, _Maman_!" Fleur cried in complete excitement. "Does that say Jingle?"

"It does," Mary said first.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Skye said, mimicking an announcer. "The Jingle Cruise will depart shortly," she continued, holding her hand over her mouth. "Please keep your hands and arms inside the boat at all times." She laughed when Fleur hugged her as tightly as she could before they were going to their line to get onto the boat.

Though she knew what the ride was, Julia found herself excited to see what they had done for the holidays. When they were on their boat she had her camera ready and once they left the docks she was looking around before they came to some animated toucans, garlands of different colors around them. She wasn't surprised to hear her little sister exclaiming over the decorations, soon passing the tiger and crocodiles with different items like scarves, a Santa hat and stockings strewn about. That was how the other scenes were decorated and she said to her mother once they were off the boat, "That was fun."

"It was," Beckett said with a nod. "It's interesting to see it looking so different."

"Mom?" Julia asked.

"Yes sweetie, we're going there next," Beckett said laughingly.

"Okay, there are a couple of us who can't go on this," Skye said. "Not you two," she said in mock frustration as Paul and Castle turned away from them at the same time. "And I'm not quite sure about you Fleur, we'll need to check," she said to the little girl. "We'll see for sure."

Walking to where an employee was to measure kids for the Indiana Jones ride, Fleur stood at the indicator, trying to look at it though it was difficult to.

"You can go!" Eliza cried, hurrying to her to hug her.

"Oh… but you can't," Fleur said as she saw her friend's height quickly.

"That's kay, we're gonna go somewhere else…" Eliza said.

"Take them to the Tiki Room Dad, Martha," Beckett said to them.

Shaking his head Jim said, "Eliza wants to go through the treehouse with Dani."

"And then wait there," the little girl said, pointing to the exit by the Jungle Cruise.

"She wants to watch the boats," Julia commented.

"And so will Josa," Eliza said firmly.

"Okay, let's head in," Skye said, smiling at her dad. "No?"

"I'll stay here at the exit with Martha," Liam said. "And the kids. Have fun, you'll enjoy the ride," he directed to his granddaughters.

While they were walking through the exit of the Indiana Jones ride Beckett watched her daughter suddenly turn and head back to her and Castle, glancing at her husband before they looked back to their daughter as she spoke to them before she had reached them.

"Can we ride with Paul and Nancy in the front of a jeep?" Julia said.

"Sure, but what about the others?" Castle said as his wife had glanced at him.

"We'll go in our own jeep for their first time," Skye said.

"And us too," David said.

"So will we," Genevieve said. "But the four of us will go in one… jeep."

"You'll see when we get to the end of the line," Skye told her.

Putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder while they were going up a few steps then, Beckett said, "Did Paul ask to go with us?"

"I asked if he would go on a fast ride with me," Julia explained. She smiled when they caught up to the singer and his wife and then said, "He and Nancy said they would go with the other kids too."

"We're feeling a bit left out," Paul said jokingly.

Laughing as they reached the loading platform, the groups split up into three jeeps, sitting in the front of all of them.

"Now you're set to drive aren't you lass?" Paul asked Julia, sitting next to where she was in the 'driver's seat.'

"For this ride yeah," Julia said with a giggle before their jeep moved. After their seatbelts were checked she smiled down their row of seats, the singer next to her, Nancy next to him, her mother next to the singer's wife and her father in the last seat. "Do you think anyone knows?" she asked Paul.

"I doubt it," the singer said with a smile as he knew she meant the fact that he was one of the fifteen on their vehicle. They were moving forward and something to the three doors before they went through the one for Earthly Riches. "I looked into his eyes!" Paul yelled, smiling when he heard his wife and Julia laughing at him, Castle and Beckett joining them.

After they had gone up the incline the ride began, and Beckett was holding onto the bars in front of her. She could hear her daughter crying out in enjoyment as their jeep flew over the track and she was laughing herself. They were going through the room with skeletons after the main room with the bridge and she could hear Julia's squeal of mock fear before they were going into the dark.

"Beetles!" Julia couldn't help crying out, hearing her father saying it too as they appeared when the jeep's lights came on. They passed through the projection and came to the bridge in front of the face of the god Mara, going over it she playfully raised her arms before they were across. She grabbed Paul's arm when the giant snake lunged at her parents and she said, "You should switch," before they were continuing.

Paul looked over at Julia while they were going down and he squeezed her hand that was still on his arm. He smiled at her when they were stopping in the next room; as she looked a little embarrassed; before the jeep was moving again and he could hear the puffs of air being shot towards them as they passed the skeleton warriors on the wall.

They reached a dark section and then stopped before Indiana Jones appeared above them on a rope. Beckett looked at her daughter just before the giant boulder appeared and was surprised to see she had her eyes closed. She had to face forward as the jeep was backing up and they descended to the loading platform before they were coming to the animatronic Indiana Jones in front of the broken boulder. As they were waiting to pull up to where they could get off, she leaned over and said, "Why did you close your eyes at the end sweetie?"

Shaking her head, Julia hoped her mother knew she meant to tell them once they were off the jeep. When they were and were walking through the exit; the others would meet them with the ones that hadn't gone on the ride; before she stopped and made the others do so too. "Marie and Kath told me that the jeep doesn't back up," she said with a smile. "When the boulder comes down to us."

"What?" all four adults said in surprise.

"They're right," a voice said behind them. Skye smiled at the expression on their faces and said, "Hullo there."

"Before we ask about how you enjoyed that," Paul said to the three youngest McDouglases. "What do you mean? The car backs up."

Shaking her head Mary said, "The walls stretch so it looks like it, we don't move."

"Did you notice?" Marie asked Julia.

"Yeah, that was weird," the girl said laughingly. "What's next."

" _Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me_ ," Skye sang, looking at Paul.

"Oh really?" the singer asked in amusement.

"Nothing?" Skye asked, pretending to be dejected.

"Perhaps later," Paul said as they saw the Fosters approaching them.

Once everyone was together outside the group went down the path to New Orleans Square and Pirates of the Caribbean. Martha went to the street by the exit of the ride, promising to be there with the baby as she was going to carry Josie around the shops while they waited. They went together and were able to take up one full boat, the three youngest McDouglas girls sitting together with Eliza in the front row as the bateaux took off into the water from the loading platform.

"Alright, who's bloody snoring?" Skye asked in a mock-exaggerated voice. She looked around and then said, "I knew it. Avast!"

"Time to walk the plank!" Paul called jokingly.

"Guys," Rebecca said, as they'd been talking to her husband. She was laughing so she could only say that before she continued with, "There are people at the restaurant."

"Hullo!"

"Good afternoon!" Paul and then Skye called to the people at the Blue Bayou they were passing.

The kids started waving along with the two before they were paying attention to the ride again and Castle said, "You're so lucky my wife's not a cop."

"I am, why?" Paul commented.

"You're all so high right now," Castle said, speaking in a low voice since the adults were all grouped together towards the back of the bateaux though Dani was among them in a row with her parents.

"Shh," Mary said.

"You're lucky," Skye said then.

"Aye, she's right," Liam in the last row with Derek as the writer looked back at them. "She'd splash you with the water if we wouldn't be called on."

"We're going to be splashed right now," Julia said, sitting in the fourth row with Mari and Marie.

After they'd gone down the drop, Kathleen said to her youngest sisters, "Here we go again!"

"What?" Ivy asked in surprise.

"Look," Eliza said with a wide smile as they came around the curve at the bottom of the drop.

"Another one!" the three youngest McDouglases said in surprise.

When they'd gone down the second, shorter drop, the kids were quiet watching the tableau of skeletons on the beach though some were taking pictures. They made their way through the other scenes until they got to the tunnel to the village.

Looking around, Julia noticed that Marie was shifting next to her and she asked, "What is it?"

Mari, watching them, frowned when Marie merely shook her head before she noticed something they were approaching. "Oh!" she said in surprise when she saw the scene in the niche in the rocks.

"Wow," Eliza said, her eyes wide seeing it was a skeleton on what she thought was a swing with a treasure chest in its hands. She giggled softly at the sight of the octopus on the ground, its arms waving while it held treasure in some of them. But as they passed it, on the other side of a rope, the skeleton was a man with skin and hair, making her scream shortly.

"It's just a trick," Kathleen said; sitting with the boys. "Pretty cool huh?"

"Oh… yeah," Eliza said, looking at Fleur and the twins with her. She looked ahead and said, "Now we get to the fun part!"

"Is there something else?" Mari asked Marie, her and Julia watching the girl as she had started to move again.

"Yeah, but I'm not saying," Marie said firmly.

Julia laughed and then looked around them as they passed the pirate ship and then came into the town. She watched the scene of the pirates lowering a man into a well and sighed before she suddenly heard Paul speaking.

"Jackie-boy! Jackie-boy my nephew what are you doing," the singer was saying joking. "Get on out from those ladies' clothes."

"Paul," Nancy said, squeezing his arm while they were all starting to laugh.

"Look! Mommy, Daddy! Jules!" Eliza said eagerly, nearly bouncing before Fleur wrapped her arms around her to stop her.

"Oh cool!" Julia said as she saw that what had used to be an auction of women had been changed into a loot auction. The redhead in the front was a pirate and she watched her moving and talking about rum. She took a picture before they got too far away from the scene and said to Marie, "I can see why you wanted to wait."

"Yeah, it's awesome, it reminds us of our mum," the girl said with a smile.

"Oh, so I'm a pillaging pirate am I? Peculiar," Skye said teasingly as she'd heard her daughter.

"Why alliteration?" Beckett said.

"Just because," Skye said before her friend reached back and pinched her to her laugh. "Don't miss the ride," she told them before they turned their attention to the village in front of them. She smiled at the way Paul kept calling to Jack Sparrow and she said to him, "You aren't risking it with that?"

"And you?" the singer asked.

"Oh, they told you about that did they?" Skye said in response. When he nodded she merely shrugged and they sat back as they came to the scene with the prisoner pirates trying to get the jail key from the dog holding it.

"Should we be worried?" Isaac said as the boys were cheering the pirates on.

"You're supposed to not want them to get out," Julia said to the two in front of them.

"Oh… well, it's too late now," Clive started to say before they all started to laugh.

Going up the incline to head back to the loading platform, Paul jokingly called to his 'nephew' as they passed the animatronic Jack Sparrow and they were still laughing once they got off the boat. Once they'd picked up Martha and Josie, the family went on the Haunted Mansion before they were coming to the end of the line for Splash Mountain.

"How will we do this?" Castle asked his wife.

"Six to a boat," Beckett replied, watching one go down the drop before she glanced at Skye.

"You knew already it was a water ride," the investigator said with a smile.

"And you won't get that wet," Mary said. "They control it," she said quietly.

"We'll split up by sixes or sevens depending on the kids," Skye then said. "Fleur, you'll sit with me in the back."

Once they'd managed to work out their numbers, everyone but Liam, Martha, Josie and Dani were going to their line.


	48. One Lucky Day (Part 2)

"Are you okay?" Beckett said, reaching up to Eliza who was sitting in front of her; Julia in the front seat.

"Yeah," the little girl said, smiling back at her before the boat was moving. Eliza couldn't help feeling a shiver of excitement go through her as they came around to an incline.

"It's okay, no big drops," Julia said, looking back at her with a smile.

Eliza nodded, feeling their mother squeezing her shoulder before they came to the top and she squealed when they went down a short drop. She was going to tell her sister it wasn't that bad when she looked to their right as they came around the curve of the track. Her eyes widened; though she'd seen the same thing on the same ride at Disney World; as a boat came down the main drop at that moment.

"Sweetie-" Beckett said, seeing her reaction.

"I can't wait for that Mommy," Eliza said, turning back to her. "Daddy," she said. "Hi Paul!" she said, waving at the singer who was in front of her father, Castle in the last and bigger seat of the boat.

"Hullo lass," the singer said with a laugh. "Best pay attention."

Turning, Eliza gasped when she saw the incline they were coming to and she became nervous before they were going down the drop and she cried out as they went down a short drop. She looked back and leaned over to her sister whispering, "Are we going up for the big drop?"

"Yeah, you're not scared are you?" Julia asked in concern.

"Kinda," Eliza said, biting her lower lip.

Smiling, since she could see their mother in that action, Julia told her, "Don't worry, I am too but it's super fun." She smiled a little wider when her little sister nodded, and they watched the display of Br'er Rabbit's home before she pointed to the drop to their right.

Eliza grew nervous again, but she found she was more excited to see how tall it would be once they reached it. But first they needed to go around the track and she looked around at the mountain and then the trees to the left off the ride.

"It's beautiful here," Nancy called ahead.

"I know," Beckett said, since she knew the woman was talking to her. "Are you sure you're okay with these rides?" she then said.

"I would have to be," Nancy replied as they came around a curve and passed the main drop before coming to their next one.

"It's fun!" Eliza cried before they were going down the drop. She cried out as they were splashed after it and she wiped away the water on her face before she pointed ahead of them.

"I see," Beckett said, knowing that was for her sake.

Eliza jumped happily when they went into the tunnel and came to the animatronic animals singing before they passed the two villains for the ride she recalled. She smiled widely as the bear was moving up and down before they passed a horse on the other side until they passed Br'er Rabbit and a turtle. "There he goes!" she said eagerly seeing the same character eventually going past on a handcar above them.

Going down a short drop then, Julia cried out and raised her hands above her head before she looked back at her sister. Seeing she was laughing she smiled and said, "You liked that?"

"Yeah, look at the alligator!" Eliza said though they'd passed it by then. She looked ahead of them and gulped as it grew a little darker and she could hear the water rushing faster.

Remembering the drop then, Beckett called to Eliza, "Hold onto the sides sweetie," before they were heading down the longer drop.

Screaming, Eliza closed her eyes tightly as it felt like they were going on two drops until they were going straight and looked around them. "Honey!" she said with a smile as they were going by beehives.

"Julia," Beckett called up to her.

"I'm fine Mom," the girl assured her. "I'm not that wet."

Though she wasn't sure about that, Beckett nodded and then sat back against her seat while they were passing Br'er Rabbit trapped in a beehive. When she saw the burrow with a mother rabbit singing about Br'er Rabbit being caught she said to Eliza, "We're almost there."

"I know," the little girl said. "I'll hold onto the sides Mommy, really tight," Eliza said with a smile.

As they were going up Julia glanced back to see how Nancy and Paul were reacting. She was surprised to see they were talking with her father and laughing and she said, "Look at the vultures."

"I see, like they were in Disney World," Eliza said laughingly though her laughter was nervous as well. They passed Br'er Rabbit, tied up, and she remembered that from the Orlando park before she saw they were almost to the top. Her hands were clutching at the railings on either side of her before they came out to the sunlight and she could see the park in front of them for a moment. She bit her lower lip before suddenly they were going down and she screamed with her sister while the grownups behind them were yelling or crying out. She had been terrified but when they came down to the bottom she was covering her face with her hands at the water splashing.

"Good thing for those ponchos," Paul said as he brushed water off his hands.

"And that it's not too cold today," Castle commented.

"I know," Beckett agreed. She then looked above them and said to their daughters, "There are your grandparents and sister."

"Hi, we got wet!" Eliza cried, waving.

Laughing with their parents and the McCartneys, Julia waved before they floated past the others and then made their way back inside. She smiled at her little sister's squeal of pleasure at the final scene, all the animal characters on the steam boat. She looked back when she could hear Paul singing it and then looked ahead of them where she could hear the McDouglases all singing together as well. " _Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah_ …" she and her sister joined in before their parents were laughing and then singing as well. When they got off the ride she went to Eliza and hugged her saying, "Did you like it?"

"Yeah, it was fun," the little girl replied, squeezing her hand. "What's next?"

Beckett smiled at Eliza's exuberance and she said, "We'll get our ponchos off, meet up with everyone else and then go to the Winnie the Pooh ride since it's here."

"And then?" Julia asked. She laughed softly when her mother looked at her and said, "Kidding. But what about drying off."

"Julia," Derek called. "Practice," he said.

"I'll be over there," the girl said with a smile at her family and the McCartneys.

"Do you know they're doing a Freestyle to your song?" Castle asked Paul as they left the exit and came out to an empty space.

"Of course," Paul replied. "I had to give permission and I was happy to. But aren't they dancing another one first?"

"They're still going to practice the second one," Beckett said, slightly distracted as Mari and the boys were passing them.

When everyone had gathered together Derek was instructing the four to dance their Cha-Cha, telling them their steps and counting for them as he usually did. Julia and Peter; who were going to have a solo before Mari and Clive did; got into hold and were about to dance their steps when Castle was speaking.

"Hold on," he said hurriedly. "Are they doing that thing with their hips?"

"No," Derek said, glancing at him. "Go ahead you two. Three, four, five," he counted for them.

Watching the pair Martha said to her son, "Did you really think he'd have them do that?"

"I wasn't sure," Castle admitted. "Sorry," he said when the practice had finished and they walked together to the next ride.

"It's okay," Julia said with a smile. "I knew you were gonna ask that." They were approaching the ride and she sighed before she felt her mother taking her hand, making her look back at her before she spoke.

"Do you want to go?" Beckett asked.

"Well… with my friends," Julia said slowly.

"Alright," Beckett said. "Go ahead with Derek."  
"With…" Julia began to say before looking behind her. She smiled at the dancer as he was talking with her three friends and she then said to her mother, "You're going with Eliza?"

"No," Castle said, coming up to them with Josie. "I've got it love," he told his wife since he had their baby's bag on his free shoulder. "We're going to walk along the water down there, make sure someone brings your sister's stroller when you guys leave."

"You don't want to take her?" Julia asked.

"After dinner," Beckett said.

"Oooh," Julia replied, recalling the restaurant in New Orleans Square was very close to Critter Country, where the ride they were at was in. She then smiled and told her dad teasingly, "No Small World?"

"Probably," Castle said, grumbling before Josie was grabbing his nose. "Ow, now I know you're getting older," he said as he was getting her hand off him. "You're not letting me go." He laughed when she laughed and he nuzzled her nose with his own. "Go," he told Julia. "We'll meet you by the entrance for Thunder Mountain."

"Thanks!" the girl said before she headed off to join her friends and Derek to get in line.

"I was almost going to suggest we go on those canoes they have," Castle told his wife after they waved to their friends and family and then turned to walk along the Rivers of America before they reached Frontierland.

"With Josie?" Beckett asked, smiling as she spoke since she knew he was kidding.

"No, on our own," Castle replied easily. He laughed when his wife rolled her eyes before he was stopped by her tugging at the strap of the bag. "Kate-" he began to say.

Stopping him then, Beckett wrapped her arm around him and pulled him to her so she could brush her lips against his. When she was looking at him again she said, "Promise me something."

"Anything," Castle said seriously.

"Ride with me on the Matterhorn," Beckett told him.

"Yes," Castle said, saying only that.

Smiling, Beckett embraced him with one arm while he was quick to do the same to her. After they had parted she said, "But just this one time, I want to go with Eliza and Julia."

"You think we'll go three times?" Castle asked while they were walking again. When his wife just gave him a look he said, "Of course we will." He watched her laugh softly at him before she took his hand and he entwined their fingers telling her, "How's this birthday been so far?"

Looking at the Mark Twain Riverboat going by them as they went around the bottom of the river, Beckett said as she turned back to him, "Amazing. Everyone's happy, including Josie," reaching to the baby with her free hand and tickling her stomach to her laugh. "And having fun."

"I hope you're including yourself in there," Castle said, stopping them.

"Of course, what?" Beckett asked before he was taking the baby's bag from her. "Rick," she said with a sigh.

"I can tell," Castle said simply, putting the bag's strap on his shoulder again. He then watched with Josie as his wife was taking pictures of the water and then the rides, Pirates and the Haunted Mansion they could still see. "We'll have to make a book," he said when they were walking again, that time going more determinedly to the next land.

"With the girls' pictures too," Beckett commented. She saw the look on her husband's face and laughed softly saying, "You're going to have to find space for all these books if we're having separate ones made."

"They have storage in their rooms," Castle reminded her. "And you like the idea."

Sighing, since they had a new bookcase just for the photobooks he was making for her, Beckett said, "I do, what I'd like more is a picture," smiling as he studied her before smiling himself and getting his phone. They took a selfie at the railing on the water and after they went the rest of the way to Thunder Mountain Railroad before she and her husband were looking at Josie as she cooed.

"What're you looking at sweetie?" Beckett asked, taking a quick picture of the baby as she had turned to her.

"Am-ba," Josie vocalized. "Amamamam," she then said turning.

"Fussy?" Castle asked his wife.

"I'm not sure," Beckett said slowly, watching her. The baby seemed fine and she was about to speak when she looked in front of them and saw the rest of their group was walking over to them.

"That was fast," Castle commented.

"It's a short ride," Beckett said with a smile. She squeezed his arm before they waited for everyone to meet up with them. Josie went with her grandmother again and she said to Martha, "You don't want to come with us?"

"Later," Castle's mother assured her. "I'll let Jim go with you first."

Nodding, Beckett kissed Josie's cheek before she went over to Eliza and they went together into their line as the standby line was longer. Once they were on a train; nearly taking up an entire one and sitting from the last row towards the front; she looked down at her daughter and said, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Eliza said with a giggle. She looked back at the very last row, where her big sister was with Paul and she said, "Jules will have fun too."

"Of course she will," Beckett said before the train started to move and they listened to the safety announcement before they went into the tunnel.

"Have-" Julia started to ask Paul before the sound of the chain cut her off. She wrinkled her nose at that but looked with him over at the pools of water and stalactites before they reached the top and the water going over both sides. She put her hands up and laughed seeing that Paul was doing the same before they were going down and banking to the right. She cried out as they flew over the track, laughing when they went down a dip at one point and she felt like she was coming off her seat.

When they were going through a structure that brought them to the second lift hill Paul asked, "What were you going to say."

"Have you been on this before?" Julia said quickly, having to speak loudly like he was because of the chain.

"I have, years ago though," Paul replied. "With my kids in the eighties."

"Did anyone recognize you then?" Julia asked.

"No, I was lucky," Paul said. "Here we go," he said as they had made it to the top and he was putting his hands up with her before they were going down and around to the left past the bleating goat with a dynamite stick in its mouth.

Eliza was screaming next to her mother, but it was done in exhilaration until they had gone over the track to another structure. "That was fun," she said.

"I'm glad," Beckett said with a smile, leaning over and kissing the top of her head. "I wasn't sure with how loud you were screaming."

Giggling, Eliza waved to her father; sitting with Jim in the last row of the car in front of them; and called, "Are you having fun Daddy?"

Beckett wasn't surprised when her husband only nodded as they had soon after reached the lift hill. She smiled at him when he looked at her and then turned her attention back to the ride as they were going through different 'explosions.' She laughed at her daughter, seeing Eliza next to her was raising her hands. She did the same and they went over the rest of the track until they slowed down past the dinosaur skeleton.

"I wanna go on it again!" Fleur was saying to Liam as she'd ridden with him.

"We will but not just yet," Skye's dad said to her.

"When?" Eliza was asking her mother as they'd heard that.

"Later," Beckett said. "We haven't finished with all the rides yet remember?"

"What's next?" Paul asked Julia before the train pulled into the loading platform.

"I think the Matterhorn," the girl replied. She then smiled and said, "You went on that one."

Laughing at the way she had worded that as a statement instead of a question, Paul nodded and said, "Who're you going with?"

"Mari, I told her all about it when I first came here to Disneyland," Julia said after they gotten off the train and were walking together to the exit. She was holding the singer's hand and said, "You should ride with Nancy. I know my parents are."

"You're a sneak," Paul said, though he told her that good naturedly. "But thank you, we haven't gone on a ride since Pirates."

Looking around them, Julia took the chance and whispered, "Was it really cool getting to be in that movie?"

"It was," Paul replied with a nod. "Though I'll tell you, that costume was bloody heavy."

Giggling behind her hand, Julia nodded and said, "It looked like it was. And then you had a wig and everything."

"It was hard, but it was fun," Paul said with a nod. "Go on with your friends lass."

Though they were walking, Julia hugged him tightly and then rushed ahead to Mari, taking her hand as soon as she reached her.

"What?" the girl asked with a smile.

"You're still going on the Matterhorn with me, right?" Julia asked her.

"Of course, the boys are gonna sit ahead of us," Mari said before they were looking ahead of them as Skye was talking.

"We each get our own seat, let's figure this out now so we have everything set before we get to our line," Skye said. She was going with the youngest twins while her wife was going with Fleur and Liam. She listened to the others figure that out before they reached the tall peak and they were getting in their line to get quickly to the loading station, sitting in their trains shortly after to wait for the ride to begin.

Looking back at her parents, Eliza waved to them before their train was going before it was suddenly stopping. She was surprised but when the cast member standing next to the track told her to pull on her seatbelt she quickly realized why. They moved forward again but stopped at the entrance to a tunnel and she looked back at them again.

"It's okay," Beckett assured her. "We need to wait for the other train to go."

Eliza nodded and then turned back as there was the sound of air and they were moving forward. She shivered as she could hear air and what she thought might be an animal. She cried out when they were plunged into the darkness but stopped when she heard the chain taking them up.

"Are you okay?" Beckett called ahead to the girl.

"Yeah," Eliza replied, speaking quickly.

"We won't be in the dark for too long," Castle called to her. "See the light up there?"

When they reached that light, Beckett said, "Castle!" in annoyance when their daughter gasped at the abominable snowman that was behind the 'ice' to the side of the tunnel they were in.

"Sorry, I didn't remember that sweetheart," Castle called.

"It's okay Daddy!" Eliza called back before they reached the top. When they came back into light she saw the track again before she spotted something to their left. She was confused as to why there was an old looking car for the ride among the jumble of debris but didn't have much of a chance to look at it closely before they were passing it and flying around the track. She was a little shocked and let out a scream at the monster that lunged out at them, but it was short lived while they were going down the track. She was screaming at first but soon was just clutching at the handles on either side of her as they went lower and lower on the mountain though she managed to let out another when they passed by the monster a second time.

When they got to the pool of water at the end, Beckett reached up to the little girl and started to say, "Eliza-"

"I'm kay Mommy," the little girl interrupted her. Looking back at her over her shoulder she smiled and said, "I made it!"

Smiling herself at how enthusiastically her daughter spoke, Beckett looked ahead to see how far they were from the exit and cursed in her mind before they were moving. At the exit platform she got her seatbelt off and hurried to help Eliza out, picking her up and hugging her tightly.

"Mommy, you're squishing me! You're the monster now!" the little girl told her, saying the latter jokingly.

Beckett laughed and then kissed her cheek before she set her down saying, "I'm sorry sweetie. Your first time on this ride and I was worried you were going to be really scared."

"Here," Castle said to the two as he opened the gate of the exit. Once they were out on the path to Tomorrowland he picked up the little girl and said, "That was the Abominable Snowman. And he's not your mom, don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Julia asked, having just got off the train behind theirs with her friends, Paul and Nancy.

"Julia," Beckett said warningly.

"Yeah, you have to make sure Daddy," Eliza then said.

"Quickly," Skye said teasingly as their group was gathered together again.

"Oh, not you too," Beckett said with a sigh. Before anyone could say anything, she was reaching for her husband and they shared a brief kiss. "Satisfied?" she said, looking at him.

"Yes, no fur on her face, so she's your mom," Castle told Eliza with a smile.

When she was set down, the little girl hurried to her mother and hugged her tightly before she said, "Good, now we can go!"

As they were walking into the next land, Beckett stayed with Eliza and said, "Sweetie, I don't know-"

"Oh Mommy, no! Please don't say I can't go on Space Mountain now!" the little girl protested.

"I just don't think you should, you're only five-" Beckett then tried to say.

"But I'm almost six!" Eliza said.

Sighing, Beckett was about to speak when she felt a hand on her arm and looked back at her to see that it was Rebecca.

"Trust me," Mari's mother told her with a smile. "She's not going to let it go if you said she can go on the ride before this."

Glancing down at Eliza then, Beckett sighed and said, "Okay, but if it's too much for you then you're not going on it again."

"Good, I can still go on the Matterhorn," Eliza said eagerly.

"I really hope I won't regret that," Beckett told her friend.

"I hate to say this, but we'll find out shortly," Rebecca said before she went back to where her husband was walking.

"How is she?" Beckett asked her husband as he was pushing Josie in her stroller.

"Good, though I was wondering if I should take her out," Castle said.

"Go ahead," Beckett replied. She smiled when he gave the stroller to her and she pushed it as he unbuckled the baby before he got her out after her brief pause. "Let her see the submarines," she told him as he was putting Josie up onto his shoulders and holding her securely there. "She'll see the yellow of them."

"Are we gonna go on this one?" Eliza asked her sister since they were walking together at that moment.

"Eventually," Marie said as she joined the two girls. "We're going on Space Mountain first since we all want to go on it." She then looked around and said, "Well, the ones that can go on it."

"Cool," Eliza said though she was watching the seagulls saying, "Mine," as they did in _Finding Nemo_.

"Okay," Castle said, handing Josie to his mother. "We'll see you soon."

When the baby cooed, Martha smiled and said, "She said she hopes you'll enjoy it. Especially Eliza."

"She's riding with me Mother," Castle said. "I'll watch out for her." He wasn't surprised when his mother merely nodded; she was aware the ride was in the dark; and he and Beckett kissed the baby before they thanked Martha and headed through the exit so they could reach the loading platform sooner.

Standing with her father once they were there, Eliza watched the trains going by in front of them and she squeezed his hand. "I won't change my mind Daddy," she told him when she saw her father was looking down at her.

"Okay, but if you want to scream do that as loud as you want to," Castle said. He was a little worried when Eliza merely nodded but looked around at the others before he saw that Julia was smiling at him. He took that to mean; as they were going onto the train that had just emptied; that the little girl would be alright. He got on their row first and made sure Eliza got in okay before he immediately helped her with the lap bar before they were being checked on by the cast member. As they were moving forward he looked down at her and said, "Hold onto here."

"I will," Eliza said firmly. She then smiled ahead of them at her mother and waved before Beckett was facing forward again.

When they had gone to the right after leaving the loading station, they went onto the lift hill and after that went through a tunnel. Castle checked on Eliza and continued to while they left the tunnel and came to a second lift hill where stars and then red beams rotated around the sides of the tunnel there. At the top there was a galaxy and he pointed it out to the little girl, smiling when she gasped at the sight of it before it disappeared when they came to the top of the hill. He braced himself as he knew they were close and then looked at the little girl, not surprised she was biting a little at her lower lip.

When they were going in a U-turn, Beckett wanted to look at Eliza though she couldn't until they were going on the last lift hill. There she managed a quick glance and could hear her husband talking to their second youngest telling her they were going to be astronauts. She heard for a moment the slight laughter from Eliza before the countdown and she hurriedly turned back before they were taking off on the track.

As had happened in the Matterhorn, Eliza was screaming at first at all the turns and what felt like drops. But as the ride seemed to be going on forever she was quiet, only letting out a small squeak at the drops. She realized, when they entered a tunnel with a flash of light, that they had finished the ride and she tried to figure out what she had just done on the track.

"Eliza?" Castle asked the little girl as they left that tunnel and eventually got back to the loading station.

"Is she okay?" Beckett asked, looking back.

Before he could answer, Castle was helping Eliza out, startled when she stumbled stepping onto the platform. He hurried to pick her up and he held her on his hip saying, "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you going to be sick?" studying her closely.

"Eliza," Beckett started to say as she was running her hand over the back of their daughter's head, standing just off the platform by the trains so they weren't in the way. She was startled when a smile spread across the little girl's face and she shared a look with her husband before Eliza was crying out excitedly while she was bouncing in his hold.

"I wanna go again! Let's go again! That was so fun Daddy, turn so we can go back!" Eliza was saying so rapidly that she stopped when she heard her family laughing. "What?"

"You stopped talking," Julia said, still smiling. "And Mom and Dad were really worried about you."

"Oh… sorry," Eliza said, looking at their parents.

"It's okay," Castle said first. "I'm just glad you enjoyed it. You remembered it was in the dark right?"

"Yeah, Jules told me before," Eliza said. She looked back the way they'd come and said, "Why can't we go on again?"

"Once we go on the rest of the rides," Beckett told her, smiling at her obvious disappointment.

"Oh…" Eliza said again. She then perked up and said eagerly, "What's next?"

"Buzz Lightyear?" Julia guessed.

"No," Castle said. "Autopia." He shared a smile with his wife when their daughters gasped and started to talk eagerly about the ride. He set Eliza down so she could walk with her sister and the other kids and he held Beckett's hand as they followed the others to head to the ride close to the Matterhorn.

* * *

"How's your food Mom?" Julia said to Beckett.

"It's good," she said with a smile at her daughter. It was later that night and she was with her friends and family in the _Blue Bayou_ at their tables pressed together next to the railing above the water of Pirates of the Caribbean. They'd gotten their food a few minutes before but before that the kids had been standing at that railing, watching the bateaux as they left. "And yours?" Beckett asked her daughter.

"Good, I just hope I can finish it," Julia said, looking down at her chicken dish she'd ordered from the regular menu.

"It is good," Beckett said, since her daughter had insisted she take a piece after cutting it for her.

"I agree, the jus is too," Castle said, smiling when the girl wrinkled her nose since she didn't like it.

Looking down the table, Julia saw that Paul and Nancy were eating their vegetable dish and she smiled at the way they seemed to be fine with the meal. She then turned down to her food again and ate, wanting to finish it already since she was aware of what they were going to do.

When the last of her mashed potatoes were gone, Beckett looked at Josie who was in between her and Julia. The baby was fine, moving her Tigger stuffed doll, and she squeezed her tiny hand before she turned as her husband was getting out of his seat. Watching him go she turned to her father across the table and started to say, "What-"

"Shh," Eliza said, sitting in between her grandparents. "The boat is going by." She tried not to giggle too loudly at the way her mother studied her and then watched as the bateaux she had talked about went through the water.

It wasn't hard, after that, for Beckett to notice that everyone was avoiding looking at her for very long. She wondered if they knew that they were telling her what they were trying to hide; though not the details; by doing that. But shaking that off she turned her attention to Josie, getting the baby out of her high chair and holding her on her lap. She started to play with her Tigger doll, moving it in front of her, until she heard singing and her head shot up.

" _Happy Birthday to you_ ," Castle sang when he was close to the table. He was glad when Paul and Skye picked that up as he had to concentrate on getting to his wife and setting down the surprise for her. But he continued to sing until they were finished with the song and he'd set the plate in front of her.

Shaking her head, and smiling, at her husband, Beckett blew out the two candles on the plate of Mickey shaped beignets. She gently bounced Josie to make sure she would be okay and then said, "Thank you," as she saw her husband was watching her closely.

"You said you didn't want a cake," Castle told her as he pulled the candles out of the desserts.

"I didn't, this is perfect," Beckett said, reaching for him so he would lean over to her. They kissed then, slowly and carefully, before they parted shortly after and she smiled saying, "Thank you."

"You said that already," Castle told her teasingly as he sat down next to her. "But you're welcome." He wanted to talk to her, but he had to focus on handing out the beignets to everyone saying, "We each get one regular powdered sugar one and a peppermint one."

"Peppermint?" Ivy asked.

"For Christmas," Skye said before Castle could answer. She made sure her daughters were thanking Castle for their shares of the 'cake' and she did the same before they were eating.

"Daddy," Eliza whispered as they were finishing shortly after since it didn't take long to eat the Mickey shaped pastries.

"Hold on," Castle said with a smile as he saw his wife looking at the little girl. He cleaned his hands before he got his phone out of his pocket and quickly got something open before he handed it to his wife.

"What-" Beckett started to say as she saw there was a picture of a wrapped gift on the screen.

"Swipe the picture Mom," Julia told her with a smile.

"Since we couldn't bring everything here," Castle told her.

Beckett smiled and then swiped the picture so it moved and saw there was a picture of some items of clothing on a bed and she glanced around the table.

"From us," Paul said.

"And Stella, she made the blouse and thought you might like it," Nancy added.

"Oh, I'll have to e-mail her," Beckett said, looking up from the blouse, plaid coat and trousers. "Thank you," she told the two. When both McCartneys said you're welcome she turned to her husband and asked, "Did you take the picture?"

"They're in the guest house," Castle said with a nod. "I hid them in the room downstairs."

Laughing softly and nodding, Beckett swiped through the next pictures of her gifts finding that the Fosters had gifted her with some cookbooks she'd been wanting, her father had given her a few fiction books and Martha's gift was a scarf for that winter. She thanked them before going to the second to last picture, seeing it was one of her three youngest daughters at Knott's Berry Farm with Snoopy.

"That was my idea Mom," Julia said quickly. "Since you've always loved Snoopy."

"I do, and it's a perfect picture," Beckett said with a smile.

"We'll buy you a frame at home Mommy," Eliza said eagerly.

"Thank you," Beckett told them, kissing her and Julia since the little girl had come over to them. She went to the very last picture and smiled seeing what was in it before she leaned over to her husband.

"What is it?" Isaac asked.

"Our family picture," Julia replied. "That we took around the Fourth of July."

"It's hanging in our house now," Eliza said with a smile.

"And it's the first one with Josie with us," Beckett said as hers and her husband's kiss hadn't lasted long.

"That's it?" Peter asked before his mother quieted him down.

"No, the usual, books," Castle said, opening another picture. "Some clothes for her that I know she likes and this."

"A spa treatment back at home," Beckett said as she swiped after the picture of the books and clothing.

"For just you?" Rebecca asked.

"No," Beckett replied, glancing at her husband.

"Are we ready to walk around and go on slower rides?" Castle asked. He wasn't surprised when the others laughed while they were getting up from their chairs. He helped Beckett out of hers but before they could walk after their friends and family she was grabbing him. "What?" he said in slight surprise. "Did you want to go on your own or with-"

Beckett's lips were crushing her husband's, not caring there were other diners in the restaurant or the riders in the water behind them. But because of that they didn't linger and when they parted she murmured, "I really appreciate my gifts."

"You're-" Castle began.

" _Especially the last one_ ," Beckett said, murmuring again, but saying that in Irish.

"I heard the spa has an _onsen_ that couples can use," Castle said. "But whether or not we go there is up to you."

Not replying to that, Beckett took her husband's hand and they walked together out in the street, seeing the others were waiting for them. "Did you decide on a ride?" she asked them, speaking quickly so no one could comment on their wait.

"Small World," Julia said with a smirk.

"Smart aleck," Castle said, narrowing his eyes playfully at her.

"No, did you forget Mom? Winnie the Pooh!" Julia said.

"Yeah, you have to take Josa now," Eliza said. "Before she has to go back to sleep."

"Then let's go," Castle said as he tried to take the stroller from his father in law.

"That's alright," Jim said. "I have no problem pushing this."

"Did you want to go on the ride with Josie?" Castle asked him.

"No," Beckett's father replied. "But I would like to go on a ride with her before Martha takes her."

Nodding, Castle went over to his wife seeing that she was taking Josie from his mother. "Hey, how much time do we have left until her bedtime?" he asked his wife, kissing the side of the baby's head.

"Not too much, why?" Beckett asked, surprised at the question since he knew what time it was.

"Your dad wants to go on a ride with Josie before they go to the hotel," Castle replied.

"Alright, Peter Pan," Beckett said.

"No, I'm Ri- ow," Castle started to say as he pointed to himself before she was playfully slapping his arm. "Okay, we'll go there after," he said before they were passing Splash Mountain and turning further into Critter Country. He and his wife, once they were on the ride, sat in the front row with their youngest, their parents behind them and Paul and Nancy last in the car. He let Josie hold onto his index finger while they went through the scenes, wondering what exactly the baby was seeing. But she was smiling every so often, so he guessed she enjoyed the colors before they were reaching the exit outside. He took Josie from his wife, going with her to where the rest of their group was gathering after they got off the ride.

"We're going to Peter Pan now," Beckett said to everyone once they were all together. "And that'll be Josie's last ride."

"Weren't we going to split up too?" Castle asked.

"We might do that after," David commented.

"Is Dani going back to the hotel?" Mari asked.

"She should," Rebecca said, smiling when her youngest stopped yawning and frowned at her. "You're tired honey," she told the toddler firmly. "But you get to go on another ride."

While the group was walking to Fantasyland, Julia went to Paul who was walking with Derek and she asked the two men, "Are you guys going to go off on your own?"

"I'm going to head home after this," Derek said. She smiled when Julia looked disappointed and said, "I need rest."

"But us and Skye-" Julia started to say in confusion, since she knew they were planning on staying until the park closed at midnight.

"It's okay, but I have a little more I need to do," Derek said. "So I'm heading home for rest."

"You could have stayed at the hotel tonight," Julia said before she paused. "Wait… the… Derek!" she cried when she realized the singer was joking. She pushed his arm with her fist; slowly; and said, "You're mean."

"I don't know who to go with," Derek then told her. "I don't want to be by myself going on the rides… even though I can."

"You should go with the Fosters," Julia told him. "They're uneven."

"So will you when your little sister heads back with your grandfather," Paul pointed out to her.

"I know," Julia said with a nod. "But who knows, we might meet with someone else." She then asked the singer, "What about you?"

"I'm not sure," Paul replied. "Might tag along with you."

Julia smiled and said, "That would be cool. I'll ask my parents." She also had gotten an idea and was planning on running over to them when she found they were at the Peter Pan ride. She sighed and then went over to Mari saying, "Ready?"

"Yeah," the girl replied with a nod as they had talked to each other about going already.

Castle and Beckett went on one of the 'flying' ships with Eliza, their parents ahead of them with Josie. They watched their second youngest as they were going through the ride, not surprised she was looking at every scene they were passing closely though they'd been on the ride already. After they had gotten off they could see Martha was holding Josie, and the baby was asleep.

"Mother," Castle said after he and his wife said goodnight to the baby last, walking with everyone to Tomorrowland. "If you need to sleep the-"

"I'll be fine on the couch," Martha assured him. "Have fun and Happy Birthday again Kate."

"Thank you," Beckett said. "And for taking her and Dani."

"It's not a problem, have a wonderful night," Martha replied.

Watching as his mother made her way up to the Monorail platform to go to the hotel with the stroller and toddler, Castle said to everyone else, "We can split up now."

"Is anyone going to California Adventure?" Mary asked the others.

"For the rest of the night?" Genevieve asked in surprise.

"No, there's five hours left until the park closes here," Skye said. "We ourselves were thinking of heading there now and ride until at least two hours before we come back."

"I'm game," Isaac said.

"I think we all want to go back," Beckett said in amusement as some of the kids were asking to go on the Cars ride.

Since no one had any objections to that, the group turned together for the exit of the park and they headed across the plaza to California Adventure. Going into the Cars Land section they split up into groups of sixes though Genevieve and Isaac offered to go on their own with their sons.

When they were waiting for their own car Julia said to Paul, who was going with the Fosters and Derek, "Have you been on this?"

"I have, it's been a bit though," the singer said.

"Have you?" Julia asked Nancy.

"No," she replied. "But I forgot about this park."

"Oh, I'm glad that we came here," Julia said before she watched the pair go with the family and the dancer. Feeling her mother touch her shoulder she smiled up at her before they got into their car. She couldn't help feeling excited for the ride, hoping that her idea would work when they did it later as their car started to move forward.

* * *

"How did we let that happen?" Castle asked his wife as they watched their daughter walk off with Mari, the boys, the oldest McDouglas twins, Genevieve, Isaac, Paul, Nancy and Derek.

"I don't know," Beckett said, unable to help her smile as she thought of how Julia had managed to get the married couples on their own. "But… I'm just glad there aren't too many kids for Paul."

"And he isn't the only adult," Castle pointed out to her as they were walking from the hub in the center of Disneyland to Frontierland. He took his wife's hand and said, "It's only until eleven."

"I know," Beckett said, as they'd agreed to spend the last hour together going through the biggest rides in the park. "But this isn't too bad."

"Oh, now you like it," Castle said teasingly. He wasn't surprised when his wife gave him a look and he stopped her so they could share a quick kiss. When they parted he looked into her eyes, debating if he wanted to do more than that. But she decided for them and with a gentle tug on his hand they were walking together to Thunder Mountain.

When they were in the last row of their train, Beckett smiled as her husband was taking a selfie of them before he was hurrying to put his phone away. "Proof we went on the rides?" she asked him.

"Sure," Castle replied after pretending to think that over for a moment. He laughed when she pushed his shoulder; not hard; and he squeezed her hand quickly before they were focusing on the ride. Going through it, he yelled while his wife was crying out as they went over the different turns and dips and they came off the ride laughing as he told her, "I'm so glad I don't scream like a girl for these."

"It's because you can control it," Beckett said. She was surprised when her husband stopped walking and she turned to him asking, "What?"

Castle didn't respond, instead he took her hand and pulled her over to the path between Frontierland and Fantasyland. When he was sure they had a moment, he pulled her against him and he kissed her deeply. He was pleased feeling her arms sliding around his neck and he held her closer before they were parting for a quick breath of air. As soon as they had done that he was meeting her for another kiss and they were rubbing their tongues together until they had to breathe again.

While her husband pressed his forehead to hers Beckett smiled and said, "You're lucky there aren't many people right here."

"Before this point," Castle said as they let go of each other since they could hear people approaching. "So," he then said, holding her hand. "What would you like to go on next?"

"Let's go to the Matterhorn," Beckett said. When she saw the slight face her husband pulled she smiled a little and asked, "I thought you liked the ride?"

"Yeah…" Castle said slowly. He saw his wife was looking at him questioningly and he said, "I don't like not getting to sit with you."

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Then we'll have to go on another ride where we do afterwards."

Castle nodded and reached for his wife's hand, holding it while they were walking together through Fantasyland and making their way to the mountain. Though he'd told her that he didn't like the idea of not sitting with her, he still felt a sense of excitement once he was in his seat. Looking ahead of him at his wife while they were waiting for the train to go, he then turned his head to the line and saw that Julia was there with the McCartneys and Derek. "Hey, we'll wait for you," he called to his and Beckett's daughter.

Waving to Julia after they were going, Beckett smiled at the girl crying, "Watch out for the Yeti!" She turned the best she could in her seat to look at her husband while he was calling, "Wrong ride!"

"What?" Castle said to his wife when he saw that she was looking at him. He had to pause in continuing to speak as they came to a rough stop for their seatbelt check, but he then said, "It is, it's the Abominable Snowman."

Beckett could only shake her head as they were moving again and going through the tunnel to the lift hill. But she turned her attention from that to the ride as they were going up towards the light on the side and she held onto the handles next to her when they got to the top and made their way down the track. She was crying out and hearing her husband yelling behind her she laughed when she could until they reached the pool of water and they were slowing down. "Are we joining them?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, also ask where everyone else is," Castle commented.

"They might have gone on the other side," Beckett told him.

"Maybe," Castle said before they had reached the exit and got out. "How long?" he asked.

"It won't be that much," Beckett said, taking his hand so he would stop looking at his watch before they went to a bench nearby to watch for their daughter and friends.

"How was it?" Castle asked a few minutes later when their second oldest rushed over to them ahead of the others with her.

"Fun," Julia said with a smile. "The Abominable Snowman said that his cousin is the Yeti, so I was half right."

Castle started to laugh and then hugged her tightly saying, "I stand corrected. Where's everyone else?"

"They wanted to go on the other side," Julia said. "And- there's Skye and Mary."

"And Rebecca and David," Beckett said with a smile as she and her husband stood up together.

Once everyone was there Castle said, "Are we forgetting about the idea of the couples going off on their own?"

"Yeah, let's just make sure we go on everything as many times as we can," David said.

"Great, who wants to head to Space Mountain?" Skye asked.

When everyone; especially the kids; started to say they did the group walked further into Tomorrowland for the ride.

Castle held back his wife a bit and wrapped his arm around her while she was looking at him. "How was it?" he asked her.

"It's not over yet," Beckett said with a smile, knowing he was talking about her birthday. "But it's been amazing." She moved to take his hand and while she was entwining their fingers she told him, "Like I said it's not over yet though, so let's catch up and keep going on these rides with our daughter."

"After you," Castle said, kissing the back of her hand.

Smiling again at her husband, Becket walked with him so they could catch up just as they were going through the exit of the ride. She called Julia to them and with her family surrounding her they approached the loading platform, eager herself to go through the rest of what had been an enjoyable and memorable birthday with everyone she loved.


	49. Got Nothing To Lose

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1:The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _I Love This House_ by Paul McCartney, _New_ by Paul; from his album of the same name; _Unconsciousness Rules_ by George Harrison; from his album _Somewhere in England_ and _I'm Partial to Your Abracadabra_ by Ian Drury and Chaz Jankel; the version I've taken from is sung by Paul McCartney on the album _Brand New Boots and Panties_.

A/N #2: I loved getting the feedback for the last chapter so I'll go ahead and get to my thank yous for that! TORONTOSUN (It was great reading that you thought the last chapter had great writing. And I'm so happy you like how much love is in their family as I enjoy writing that between them),

MsNYC (I had to laugh when you mentioned Eliza sounding like an adult, I'm glad you thought she was cute doing that and with that I was trying to show her learning that from her mother, lol. Really pleased to see that you enjoyed the small flashback I had. And great you could tell Beckett and the others were enjoying her birthday, Disneyland helps, lol. I'm not surprised at your comment about Josie getting big. And yeah, babies starting to talk is cute hearing how their vocabulary develops. I had to laugh at you saying Castle was an ass but funny, lol, I wasn't expecting anyone to mention that exchange between him and Beckett, lol, but glad you thought that was funny. And I'm not surprised Martha reminds you of your mother with her unsolicited advice, I've gotten that before and it just seemed to fit her, lol. And great that you thought Beckett's birthday sounded like a success. I was really happy too that you thought the chapter had great writing as usual!) and

Mb (Glad to see you thought it was a great start to Beckett's birthday. I wasn't surprised that you loved how it was her birthday but that everyone was enjoying being there with friends and family along with having fun at Disneyland. It also wasn't a surprise that you loved Eliza saying she would eat healthy at dinner. Or that you thought it was something Castle would think and say. You're welcome for the first half! Great that you thought the chapter was fun with them going on the rides both thrilling and mellow as you said. It was nice to see that you could see where Eliza was coming from with that drop of Splash Mountain; it used to be a little more intense at Disneyland but they recently fixed the steepness so it's like the other parks. But it can be intimidating and then exhilarating once you ride it. I was so glad to see you mentioning Eliza's reaction with Space Mountain, lol, and that you thought it was so much fun! And I'm jealous too, it's been too long since I've been able to go to those parks, so I know how you feel. Really happy to see that you thought it was a fun update and I had to laugh at you saying it was a fun first half of Beckett's birthday with everyone. And I'm not surprised at your mention of suspecting Castle and Beckett will have a private celebration, lol, as they will but not exactly with the gift, lol, but there will be a private celebration. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, I loved reading them all and I appreciate the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _New_ , the information about which is in the A/N above.

Got Nothing To Lose

"Alright," Beckett said, finishing with her daughter's hair. "You're all done." She saw that Julia was still looking down at her lap and she said, "Sweetie?" Startled when she raised her head she asked, "Are you crying?"

"Sorry," Julia whispered.

"Don't be sorry," Beckett said reassuringly as she put down the girl's brush to hug her tightly from behind. She kissed her temple and said, "I don't blame you; we've been here for a long time."

"Yeah," Julia said, turning around to her. She smiled and then said as her mother gently thumbed her tears away, "I've loved this so much… and being here. It hasn't been that cold at all."

"No," Beckett said with a smile. "But home is in the Hamptons. And you need to go to school back there too."

"Yeah," Julia said, sighing before she stood. "Like my dress?" she asked, shaking back and forth.

"I do, I wasn't expecting you to have sequins… or fringe," Beckett replied, since her daughter's dress looked like the one Jennifer Grey had worn for her Jive, though it was far more modest in design and sky blue in color. "But it looks great for your Cha-Cha," she said while watching Julia go over to the mirror.

"Yeah… Dad won't mind this dress, will he?" the girl asked, looking back at her mother in the mirror.

"No, I'll make sure he doesn't," Beckett said firmly. "Now come on, we need to go."

Nodding, Julia reached out to her and took her hand before they were walking together into the hall. She looked around for Mari but didn't see her before Skye was calling to them. She smiled and said to the investigator, "You're ready?"

"Just need to get my hair and makeup done," Skye said. "You look great. You and Mari."

Julia whirled around as soon as the woman said that and gasped when she saw her best friend. She took off for her and they met, hugging each other tightly before they were laughing at the sound of their beaded fringe hitting together. "I guess we'll hear that when we dance," she said when they let go of each other.

"Maybe," Mari said. "We might be hearing the music though."

Nodding, Julia turned to her mother and said, "I think it's time for you to go."

Smiling, since she could hear the music playing out on the dance floor, Beckett said, "I think it is." She shared a quick kiss with her daughter and when they parted said, "Break a leg sweetie."

"Thanks Mom," Julia said, smiling at her. She hugged her tightly saying, "Have fun with the dancing right now."

"I will," Beckett said. She waved to the boys who were walking over to them and then went out to the ballroom. As she made her way over to where they would be sitting that night she looked for her husband, spotting him quickly after she'd made her way around some people. She smiled seeing he was dancing with Eliza and she hurried over to them, tapping his shoulder quickly before he turned to her and was suddenly embracing her.

"Sorry," Castle said, holding her but letting her step back enough so he could look at her. "She's ready?" he asked.

"She is," Beckett said. She then looked over at Eliza and saw that she had left them, with Fleur and Ivy, dancing with them. Smiling, she turned to her husband before they let go of each other and then began to dance to the faster music until it stopped and went to a slower song.

Though he felt bad for the kids, as they went to the chairs they would be sitting in for the show, Castle took his wife into his arms again and held her closely. As they swayed he murmured to her, "Only one more night for this."

"That's alright," Beckett said, smiling at him when he pulled away to look at her. "We can easily do this at home."

Nodding, Castle held her closer and gently rubbed her back for a little until they let go of each other at the end of the song. Once they were sitting in their chairs; since the show was about to start; he looked up at the Sky Box and said, "Are my glasses messed up or is she wearing fringe?"

"It's fringe," Beckett said, smiling at him. "It's alright though, it's a normal dress and very modest."

"After you've seen it I'm not surprised it is," Castle said. "I'm sure she would have changed if it wasn't." He smiled back at her when his wife squeezed his hand before they were looking at the dance floor as the countdown for the episode had begun.

"Second to last episode," Peter commented under his breath where they were standing at the railing.

"At least there's one more," Mari said.

"And tomorrow night?" Clive said.

"We still have the class back at school," Julia pointed out to them. She wasn't surprised when her friends nodded before they looked down to the screen as it was showing footage of the stars in past dances while Tom was talking about the finales and Freestyles. She shared a smile with her friends at that, since they were excited though nervous about the Freestyle they would be in at the halfway point of the hour long episode. Turning back to the screen she was startled to find the footage was over and she wondered what she'd missed when the two hosts were talking.

"Starting out tonight," Tom said after he and Erin had said that introductions. "We have a special music video, the world premiere of Paul McCartney and The Rambling O'Dells performing _I Love This House_. With a little help from Derek and the other couples."

"And be sure to watch out for the Hamptons troupe, joining in on the fun," Erin finished with before Tom was sweeping his arm towards the screen that was behind him before the camera moved over to it.

The music video started with the screen black as the intro began before it became Paul in a black jacket walking away from the camera. He was in front of his home on Forthlin Road in Liverpool and he went to the front door, opening it before a bright light flashed to change the footage. When things appeared again the singer was looking at a model of the house with the front ripped off; that having been filmed in a warehouse in LA; and there was at least one person in the rooms there were, dancing as Paul turned to the camera and started to sing the first two lyrics, walking backwards. He reached the entry, where Skye was, and she took his jacket while nodding to the lyrics he sang.

 _Cracks in the pavement, cracks in the road  
Cracks in the ceiling where the bathtub overflows, overflows  
Holes in the carpet, holes in the slate  
Holes in the carpet, but I won't evacuate_

When the chorus began immediately after, Paul gestured to the camera and he and Skye sang it before they walked over to the next room which was a family room where Jonathon and Whitney were looking over the couch there at the pair.

 _I love this house, it's where I'll stay  
Eat and sleep the night and day  
I love this house, it's where I'll be  
For you to spend some time with me  
I love this house_

At the end Mary appeared in the doorway on the other side of the room with Raj, holding a guitar and melodica respectively before they waved to everyone. Since there was a short instrumental they danced into the kitchen, finding Derek there with a guitar before he looked up at them with wide eyes. He sang the next verse and chorus with Paul and Skye, smiling at his partner while Jonathon and Whitney were dancing together.

 _Damp in the basement, damp in the hall  
Damp in the living room that's climbing up the wall, up the wall  
Rust in the drainpipe, rust in the spout  
Rust in the radiators, still won't get me out_

 _I love this house, it's where I'll stay  
Eat and sleep the night and day  
I love this house, it's where I'll be  
For you to spend some time with me  
I love this house_

Julia smiled at the way Paul's voice lingered on the word be, as it did in his original recording. She looked at Mari and saw the girl was bouncing up and down slightly since in the video the group all in the kitchen was dancing out into entry and up the stairs. They went to the first bedroom, where she and her friends were and she and Mari on the screen were jumping on the bed there and dancing what they could too.

 _Hot in the summer, rattling window teeth and knees  
Perfect place for cat and mouse  
But never mind I love this house_

When the verse was over the group was moving again and since there was an instrumental, they picked up Eddie and Emma in another bedroom before grabbing Jackie and Barry in the last.

"One more room left," Julia whispered with a smile, remembering the filming. She felt Mari touching her elbow and leaned over to her, knowing already her friend had something to tell her before she whispered into her ear.

"That was so much fun," Mari told her.

Nodding Julia looked back at the screen where they had all started dancing together through a hallway, though it had only been made to look like one since it was so long. When they reached the next verse, she smiled as just Paul and Skye were singing but it allowed Derek to dance with both her and Mari; all of them dancing behind the pair until they reached a large room.

 _Cracks in the pavement, cracks in the road  
Cracks in the ceiling where the bathtub overflows, overflows  
Holes in the carpet, holes in the slate  
Holes in the carpet, but I won't evacuate_

As Paul and Skye were singing the final instance of the chorus, Beckett smiled at the investigator drawing out the word be with the singer before they finished the song.

 _I love this house, it's where I'll stay  
Eat and sleep the night and day  
I love this house, it's where I'll be  
For you to spend some time with me  
I love this house_

Since the end of the song was instrumental, the group was jumping up and down before the four couples left for the show stepped up together to the screen and there was another flash of light and fog on the stage.

Julia was cheering as Tom was introducing the couples, smiling as her friends were doing the same next to her. "Are you guys ready?" she asked the two boys; since they were going to be with them for Skye and Derek's first dance.

"Yeah," Peter said, waving the towel he'd been given. When Julia playfully pushed at him he put it over his shoulder and then looked with the others as a crew member was calling to him and Clive. "Sorry," he said to the two girls.

"No way," Julia said first.

"Yeah, you're not even dancing," Mari said jokingly. "Make sure you keep the towels with you."

Saying bye to the two, Julia asked her friend as they turned to the dance floor again as Tom was introducing Skye and Derek.

"We're doing the Foxtrot again," the investigator was saying as the footage started out on her and Derek in the studio. "I really want the chance to do better on this dance. Hopefully whoever comes in to help us out will give me some tips."

The scene changed to Bruno walking into the room and Skye hurrying over to him, hugging him before they parted and were talking in Italian to each other.

"I hope," Derek said after the judge had embraced him quickly. "You're not going to be doing this whole session in Italian."

"No," Bruno said with a laugh. "But if it helps me to explain it to her better…"

"I'll translate," Skye assured her partner with a smile.

"I think Skye can improve on this dance," Bruno was saying, standing in the room by himself then. "She just needs to forget about her previous mistakes which hopefully I can help her to do."

"Just keep your shoulders up," the judge was saying as the footage went to him watching her and Derek dancing. "I think you go into your turns too fast, so your balance is getting off. Try this," he said, moving himself to show her. When the pair tried it again he nodded and said, "Wonderful, much more improvement. Again."

After she and Derek did that same move again and continued as Bruno was motioning to them, Skye said with a smile when they stopped, " _Lui sa di cosa sta parlando_."

"What does that mean?" Derek asked his partner as the judge started laughing immediately.

"He knows what he's talking about," Skye said with a smile at Bruno.

"Alright, let's get back to work," the Italian judge said in a mock stern tone of voice. He then watched the pair trying the same step again and said, "Much better," as he was nodding.

"With Bruno's help," Skye was saying in a voice over while the footage switched to her and Derek practicing alone. "And a lot of practice; even at Disneyland this week; we should be able to do this dance the justice it deserves."

The music played as the logo was going across the screen and Derek was sitting on a bench behind a newspaper in his hands. Clive was brushing off a derby hat; meant to be the dancer's; with the towel that he'd had over his shoulder to the pro's left. Skye walked over and sat down, handing Peter who'd been behind the bench her derby hat so he could do the same with his towel. The investigator held a newspaper in front of her as the announcer was saying, "Dancing the Foxtrot, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

As the music began, Derek and then Skye lowered their newspapers, looking over at the other. Finally, as the first lyric of the first verse began the investigator stood up and started to walk away, the paper tucked under her arm. Derek followed her on the second lyric and at the third tapped her shoulder. Skye turned and she dropped her newspaper before getting into hold with her partner and they started their basic Foxtrot steps on the very last lyric. At the fifth lyric the pair was spinning together before they stopped and for the sixth and seventh lyrics they were dancing forward, kicking up their knees in unison. On the last lyric Derek spun Skye out before she spun back to him.

 _Don't look at me  
It's way too soon to see  
What's gonna be  
Don't look at me  
All my life  
I never knew  
What I could be, what I could do  
Then we were new_

In the first lyric of the next verse, after some vocalization by Paul, Skye and Derek had let go of each other and they walked together down the dance floor before they stopped and went back into hold on the second lyric. At the third they were spinning around together and then dancing forward. With the next lyric Skye and Derek danced side by side, moving together forward as they'd done their first Foxtrot. But the investigator didn't slip and they were only doing that until the fifth lyric was over and the pro was pulling her back into hold after spinning her. They then danced some Foxtrot steps and continued that until the verse was over.

 _You came along  
And made my life a song  
One lucky day you came along  
Just in time  
While I was searching for a rhyme  
You came along  
Then we were new_

When the chorus began, Derek and Skye were letting go of one another again and they started to clap their hands together to the rhythm of the first and second lyrics. On the third they were back in hold and danced their steps until the last lyric when Skye slid her foot forward and then kicked her leg up.

 _We can do what we want  
We can live as we choose  
You see there's no guarantee  
We've got nothing to lose_

With the next verse Skye and Derek were spinning together on the first lyric before they were going back into their steps together though the investigator was looking away on the second. Derek was lowering their arms; though they were doing it together; and they danced with their hands holding each other and their foreheads pressed together until the fifth lyric. Their arms came back up and they held onto each other as they danced their way from the end of the floor where they'd ended up to the judge's table. The chorus happened right after that and they repeated their steps they'd done before for that.

 _Don't look at me  
I can't deny the truth  
It's plain to see, don't look at me  
All my life  
I never knew what I could be  
What I could do  
Then we were new_

 _We can do what we want  
We can live as we choose  
You see there's no guarantee  
We've got nothing to lose_

At the next verse Skye and Derek danced the same as they did at the beginning of the song since the lyrics were the same; letting go of each other and the investigator pretending to walk away before the dancer was again tapping her shoulder. But that time at the end they were letting go of each other and hurrying back to the bench. The very last lyric of the song they sat together and Derek picked up the newspaper, using it to block their heads as they pretended to be kissing each other though their heads were just very close until the music ended.

 _Don't look at me  
It's way too soon to see  
What's gonna be  
Don't look at me  
All my life  
I never knew  
What I could be, what I could do  
Then we were new_

 _Then we were new  
Oo-oo-oo-oo  
Now we are new  
Oo-oo-oo-oo_

Applauding with the others as they were all standing, Beckett playfully nudged Mary next to her saying, " _That's supposed to be you with her_ ," in Irish.

Smirking the doctor asked, " _You don't think we practiced that at home_?" in the same language.

Laughing, Beckett turned back to the judge's table they were across from that night as Skye and Derek were walking over to Tom. She smiled when Isaac and Genevieve waved to their sons as they passed on the way to the Sky Box and then looked back as Carrie-Ann was called on for her reaction first.

"Now that's the meaning of redemption," the judge said with a smile. "And I could tell you meant it too, your lines were very much improved over the last time you danced the Foxtrot. And Bruno really helped you out with your shoulders."

"And Derek," Skye was quick to say.

"And Derek," Carrie-Ann said with a laugh. "So straight lines, good footwork and your shoulders straight… excellent work."

"Alright, Len," Tom said.

"I agree with Carrie-Ann," the British judge started out with. "I was a little unsure about your beginning but I know that the singer himself is here so that was for him."

Skye was applauding with the audience and the others as the camera was showing Paul and Nancy across the dance floor next to her wife; Ringo and Barbara on the other side of them. She turned back, seeing that Len was waiting, and she glanced at her partner before he was speaking again.

"I was pleased to see you did end up having good Foxtrot content with this," Len said. "Good job with that Derek. And to you Skye for dancing it as well as you did."

"Bruno, what do you have to say about this dance you helped coach Skye on?" Tom directed to the last judge.

"Darling," the Italian judge began, studying the investigator with a smile.

"Uh-oh," Skye said jokingly, smiling herself.

"That was magnificent!" Bruno continued, standing up at the same time as his voice became more exuberant. "You listened to me all the way through to tonight and I appreciated it greatly. You kept your shoulders where they need to be, calmed down on your spins and it was fantastic!"

Jumping up and down slightly Skye said in joy, "I learned from the best," as she motioned to her partner as well.

"Is that it?" Tom asked with a smile.

"Wonderful choreography and I loved your foot placement too Skye," Bruno said as he sat down. "I loved it."

Julia looked at her friends as Tom was sending the show to commercial; talking about the next dances; before Skye and Derek were heading up to the Sky Box. "I think they'll get a good score," she told them.

"Of course."

"Definitely," Mari and then Clive said.

"What's wrong?" a voice said behind them.

Whirling with the others, Julia smiled seeing it was Maria and she hurried to her, hugging her briefly. "You look so cool," she said since she was wearing the green outfit John Lennon had for the cover of the _Sgt. Pepper's_ album.

"Thanks, I forgot you guys were dancing," the star said with a smile. "But what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Peter replied as he knew she'd heard his sigh. "Just ready to dance."

"Or you're bored," Clive said. When his friend looked at him he said, "What? You could be."

"Guys," Skye said with a smile. She went to Maria when they looked at her and she hugged her carefully saying, "You're early."

"You said get dressed now," Maria said in mock annoyance. She then said, "Your outfit is… interesting."

"Oh," Skye said, pretending to be annoyed. She smiled and then said, "It's the early 1900s, this is what I'd wear if I could dress like a man," since she'd worn a suit with a morning coat. "But I'm changing right after." They had to stop talking then as the show was about to come back from commercial and she hurried over to her partner before the countdown began and Tom spoke until he handed it over to Erin in the Sky Box with them.

"Congratulations on a dance that got some very positive feedback," the co-host was saying. "How do you feel now that it's over?"

"Happy," Skye said with a smile. "Very happy that I was able to dance without messing up like I did the last time. So I want to say a very sincere thank you to Derek and Bruno both for your help on this one."

"Let's get your scores," Erin then said with a nod.

Beckett looked on as the music played and the announcer said, "Will the judges please reveal their scores?" She smiled at her husband before the man was speaking again saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Ten," the judge said.

Skye was hugging Derek tightly but quickly as she turned back to see what Len would give them.

"Ten," the British judge said with a smile.

"Bruno Tonioli," the announcer said last.

"Ten!" the judge said holding up the paddle and waving it.

"That gives you a perfect score to start out the night," Erin said as Skye was hugging Derek. "How are you feeling?"

"Really great," the investigator said after she and Derek had calmed down.

"Yeah, that's how we want to start out," the pro said.

"You've got the Freestyle next," Erin then continue with. "One of the most anticipated dances of the season, are you ready for that?"

"Definitely," Skye said. "We have something special planned and I'm eager to get to dance again."

Julia, as Erin was talking about voting, was startled at the realization that that night would be the last time the co-host would tell the viewers about it. She shook off the sudden rush of disappointment that came over her at the thought and looked over the railing, waving at her family as they were looking up at her. She then went with her friend as the other three were talking about practicing one more time before they needed to dance themselves.

* * *

"'lexis?" Julia asked her sister in surprise though she was quickly smiling after. "Hey Lizzy, how come you're here? And where are Mom and Dad?"

"They're coming behind us," Eliza told her, squeezing her sister's hand.

Nodding, Julia went to them from where she'd been dancing a few steps with Peter and hugged her big sister. "I'm sooo glad you came," she said, looking up at her.

"Me too," Alexis said. "What's wrong?" she then asked, noticing the look on the girl's face.

"I used to have to look way up at you," Julia said with a smile. "Not so much now."

"You might have to look down at me eventually," Alexis said, smiling herself. "Especially Christmas mornings when we're in our pajamas." When her sisters looked at her in confusion and said, "You'll definitely be taller than me."

"Oh… that's not for a while though," Julia said rapidly. "What do you think though? Of the show?"

Smiling again, as she wasn't surprised her sister was changing the subject, Alexis said, "It's amazing and I'm so jealous of you both."

"Don't be 'lexis," Eliza said quickly. "Jules had to do a lot of work."

"I think she means schoolwork," Beckett said as she and Castle were walking up to them. "But you're here now; backstage."

"I was going to say," Alexis said to her mother, nodding. "I'm incredibly lucky. But we have to go back soon."

"Very soon," Castle said. "But first… time for a picture."

"Did you know Daddy was going to do that?" Eliza asked, looking up at her big sister.

"I had a feeling, 'cause of my dress," Julia replied, smiling widely.

"Hey, that thing is fabulous," Castle said, smiling when his wife and their daughters laughed at that. "Go ahead and pose." He waited for the girls to do so and he pushed his wife gently saying, "You too Kate."

Giving him a look, Beckett knew she didn't have a chance of protesting and she hurried over to the girls, standing next to Alexis while Julia and Eliza stood on either side of them. After her husband had taken the picture she told him, "Your turn," making him take her place as she took his phone.

Castle didn't say a word in complaint, merely standing with their daughters before his wife was taking a picture of them. "One of the three of you together," he told them, speaking swiftly before they could move. He watched his wife take a couple pictures and he smiled saying, "Good."

"You need to go back don't you?" Julia asked. When her mother looked behind her she turned around and then saw Derek was there. "I guess I need to practice one more time," she told her family with a smile, looking back at them. She hugged her sisters in turn, smiling as they both told her to break a leg. She then went to their father, embracing him tightly before he ran his hand over the back of her head.

"Like they said break a leg sweetheart," Castle told her, almost calling her _ceann beag_ though her sisters were with them.

"Thanks Dad," Julia said, smiling up at him. She hugged him again before they parted and turned to her mother.

"Break a leg Julia," Beckett said firmly before her daughter stepped forward into her arms.

"Thanks," Julia said. When they'd been hugging for a while she pulled away and peered up at her before saying, "I hope you like the dance."

"We will," Beckett said. She wanted to give her a kiss but figured her daughter wouldn't really want her to do that so she instead gave her a final squeeze.

Watching her family walking away, Julia breathed in for a moment, remembering two days before when Alexis had flown into the city and they'd gone to pick her up. She then turned to practice one last time with her partner, but she couldn't get the memory out of her head while she was moving in their steps.

* * *

 _"Take it easy you guys," Castle told the girls, watching the two shift back and forth on their feet. "She needs to get off the plane first."_

 _"I hate waiting," Julia commented._

 _"So do I," Castle said. "But it needs to be done. We can't make her walk faster unless we went over there and they'd arrest us for going past that door."_

 _"And you'd all be grounded," Beckett said. "And don't forget Louis' here too."_

 _"When we talk about 'lexis we mean him too," Eliza said firmly to her mother._

 _"Oh, okay," Beckett said with a laugh. She saw the way her husband was looking at her and she asked, "What?"_

 _"Are you sure it's okay that they'll be in the guest house with us?" Castle asked her._

 _"Why not?" Beckett said simply. "They have no problems with it."_

 _Nodding slowly, Castle was going to say more but he decided he didn't need to after all and they turned with the girls to watch for the pair coming out from the gates. "Too bad everyone from the city couldn't come," he eventually said._

 _"I had thought it was odd they said that when they need the vacation for the holidays," Beckett said. "And of course conflicts with other detectives taking off."_

 _"At least they'll watch," Julia commented._

 _"And vote," Beckett added._

 _Glancing at the door in front of them before it opened Julia saw something bright red before she cried out and called, "'LEXIS!"_

 _"'LEXIS!" Eliza repeated when she saw what her sister had. They ran together over to their big sister and hugged her as tightly as they could as she was laughing above them._

 _"I'm happy seeing you guys too," Alexis said, hugging her sisters to her the best she could. She then shared kisses with them and said, "It's been too long."_

 _"Definitely," Julia said. "Say hi to Josa."_

 _Alexis smiled and gently squeezed her shoulder before she went to their mother. "Hey Ma," she said to her before they hugged._

 _"I'm so glad you made it," Beckett said to her daughter, pulling away so she could look at her._

 _"What?" Alexis asked in surprise._

 _"Just making sure you're doing alright," Beckett told her with a smile._

 _"I am," Alexis said, smiling herself. She squeezed her mother's hand before she went over to her father. She took Josie; that he was holding; and took her on her hip saying, "Oh my gosh, she got so big," she said to her parents._

 _"Didn't you see when we were talking on the TV?" Eliza asked._

 _Laughing softly, Alexis kissed Josie's cheek gently before she said to her parents, "I'm glad she remembers me. And it's hard to tell on the screen," before directing the last to her sister. "And she's adorable."_

 _"Bababa," the baby suddenly babbled, waving her right arm around._

 _"That means she's happy to see you," Julia commented._

 _Nodding, Alexis gave her baby sister another kiss before handing her to their mother. With her arms free she almost threw herself at her father._

 _"You look happy kiddo," Castle commented._

 _"I am, very," Alexis replied. "But I'm glad to see you; all of you."_

 _"We missed you too," Castle told her with a smile. After they let go of each other he then went over to shake Louis' hand saying, "We're happy to see you too."_

 _With a slight laugh, the young man said, "Don't worry, I know how much you've missed Lex. Where are her grandparents?"_

 _"At the house, Skye and Mary are out with their girls so we have it to ourselves," Beckett answered while they made their way over to the luggage carousel for their flight._

 _"Too bad it's cooler now," Julia commented. "We could have gone swimming."_

 _"Yeah and you could try the slide!" Eliza said while the adults were watching the suitcases that were going by._

 _"Could have," Beckett corrected her._

 _"I'm sure another time we can go swimming," Alexis said as her sister was pouting. She wrapped her arm around her shoulders before she spotted her suitcase and was about to move to reach for it when her father was doing so._

 _"Is that it?" Castle asked as he looked over once he'd given his daughter her suitcase to see Louis had his. They then left the terminal, crossing the street to the parking structure where the two cars they'd brought were._

 _"How are we going?" Alexis asked._

 _"However you want to," Beckett said. "But the baby's car seat is in one car already."_

 _When they reached the two cars, Julia wasn't surprised when her big sister and Louis went in the car her father was driving. When she was inside the other she said, "What are we going to do now Mom?"_

 _"Don't worry," Beckett told her, starting the car before she pulled out of the space they were in and after the car her husband was driving. "We'll figure something out, but we need to see if your sister and Louis are too tired at all."_

 _"I thought you would say that," Julia said, smiling at her in the rearview mirror. "But could I suggest something?"_

 _"Alright," Beckett said._

 _"What about going to the Promenade?" Julia said._

 _"We can ask them what they think," Beckett said. "But let them unpack and rest a little bit before we start talking about traveling again." She checked on Josie and Eliza and seeing the two were okay she focused on driving to Santa Monica and the McDouglas house. Once they were there she got out with Julia and Eliza but told them, "Don't get her out." She wasn't really surprised when the two rushed over to the other car and their sister. "Don't worry," she said to Josie as she was getting the baby out from her car seat. "Your sisters didn't forget you, but they'll want to see your big sister for now." She stepped back and looked at her husband as he walked up to her and she said, "Do you have the key?"_

 _"Yeah, I was just making sure you were coming with us," Castle replied. He then leaned over and kissed at Josie's cheek adding, "And making sure she knows we're not forgetting her." When he pulled back he saw the look on his wife's face and asked, "What?"_

 _"I was telling her her sisters hadn't forgotten about her, since they were so eager to go to Alexis," Beckett explained. When her husband smiled she shared a kiss with him, quickly, before they made their way to the guest house which he opened._

 _"Your room is back here," Castle said, going over to the doorway. "The baby's crib is here but she's still sleeping with Martha."_

 _"Did she stay here at all?" Alexis asked with a smile, guessing that her grandmother insisted on having the baby in her room._

 _"A few times, a few too many of course," the woman herself said, making everyone turn to the living room where Martha and Jim were. "We thought you were going to the main house," she said._

 _"Gram," Alexis said, hugging her as tightly as she could once she reached her._

 _"Oh darling," Martha said with a smile. "I feel like it's been ages since we've seen you. Let me look at you," she then told her oldest grandchild, gently pushing her back. "Look at you," she said after a moment. "Working girl."  
"Thanks Gram," Alexis said, hugging her one more time. "I'm glad to see you too Grandpapa," she said as she turned to Jim before she hugged him._

 _"We're all very happy you could make it out here," Jim said. "And I'm glad that you're obviously happy with your job." He looked at Louis and said, "And you as well."_

 _"Thank you," the young man said, shaking his hand after he'd hugged Martha at her insistence. "What are we doing now we're here?"_

 _"First look at your room for the next few days," Beckett said. "And then unpack; we'll stay out here to wait for you." When the couple went into the bedroom she handed Josie to her father and went to the kitchen with her husband to get some glasses of water. She wasn't surprised when Julia followed them and she looked at their second oldest, waiting for her to tell them what was on her mind as she was expecting her to do._

 _"This shouldn't take too long," Julia began._

 _"Yes, but they need to rest," Beckett said._

 _"No we don't," Alexis called from the room. "If they want to go to the Promenade we can."_

 _Julia covered her mouth as she was laughing but seeing that her mother was smiling as well she said, "Sorry."_

 _"No, at least your sister doesn't mind," Beckett said. "Or Louis."_

 _"I don't," the young man then called. "Lex has been telling me about this street; sounds nice."_

 _"Mommy, Daddy," Eliza said, hurrying over to them. "We can have dinner at the restaurant!"_

 _"Which restaurant?" Louis asked._

 _"You'll see, we were planning on going there already," Beckett said, directing the last to Eliza._

 _Nodding, the little girl went over to the couch and started to play with Josie and her Tigger doll while they were waiting._

 _Alexis and Louis tried to go as quickly as they could and since they didn't have that much in the suitcases they were finishing unpacking and walking out to the others._

 _"What exactly is on this street?" Louis asked as they were heading for the cars._

 _"I didn't go into specifics," Alexis said with a smile as her sisters looked at her._

 _"You'll get to see soon," Julia told him. Though she wanted to go in the car with her grandparents, sister and Louis, she followed Eliza over to the other car since she wanted to sit with Josie. Settled in the back seat once the baby was in her car seat, she started to tickle her, listening to her laughing before she gurgled._

 _"Oh, you made her drool!" Eliza said though she began to giggle._

 _"Sorry Josa," Julia told the baby, wiping her face. She then looked up out the windshield and the view as they were making their way through the city to the Promenade. She couldn't wait to go again and smiled at Eliza over the carrier as they waited to reach the parking structure near the street._

* * *

Breathing heavily, Julia looked at Mari and said, "What do you think?"

"It's almost time," the girl said with a smile. "What were you thinking about?"

"When I went with my family and Louis to the Promenade," Julia said with a smile. "It was so much fun showing him the stores, the ocean and looking at the Pier too."

"Oh, I remember you telling me about that," Mari said. "I'm going to miss that street; it was a lot of fun."

"Well… downtown at home is kind of like that," Julia said.

"Yeah," Mari said, smiling at her. She thought of something, "What did he think of the restaurant?"

"He loved it," Julia said with a wide smile again. "He said it was like being at home in England."

"Girls?" Derek said, coming up to the two from the stage.

"Is it time?" Julia asked. When the pro nodded, she squeezed her friend's hand and they hurried out after him to the dance floor and she said to Mari, "Break a leg."

"Break a leg," the girl replied.

"You'll be fine," Derek said. "And you remember that I'll be with Whitney, right?"

"We'll get out of your way," Julia said with a nod before she reached Peter. When the dancer left them, she said to her partner, "I can't wait to see the rehearsal footage."

"I'm going to want to go to Disneyland now," Peter said jokingly. He laughed when his partner playfully pushed him before they turned at their parents calling them and he waved at his mother while she was waving to her parents. He was going to speak when he heard the countdown begin and he said, "Here we go."

Nodding, Julia watched as Tom greeted the viewers before he introduced them, and she was twisting her body back and forth while Mari was doing the same on the stage behind them. As soon as she heard the footage starting behind her she turned with her friends so they could watch and see what they were going to show.

"You guys are dancing the Cha-Cha this time," Derek was saying to the four. "And we had a request from Olivia and Dhani Harrison too, they want you to dance to _Unconsciousness Rules_ instead of me and Skye."

"Even though we've danced to it before?" Julia was asking, motioning to herself and Peter.

"Don't worry," Derek said. "I'll make sure the steps are different."

It went to a voiceover and the dancer was saying as it showed him choreographing with the kids, "This dance I'm actually having a lot of fun with, since the kids all love the dance steps. And the best part was this week we had the chance to practice while we were at Disneyland."

The footage was at the park, showing the Matterhorn before it went to the two pairs of kids dancing together. Derek was standing with them, talking to them and motioning while people were walking by.

"While we were having fun going around," the dancer was saying as the footage then showed them back at a studio. "They were serious about their choreography and I know they'll be dancing this one well."

Turning to Peter as the music played and the logo went across the screen, Julia smiled when he widened his eyes at her. A second later he was just smiling, and she was doing the same as the music was playing and they all started to dance together though Mari and Clive were still on the stage. There were some vocals from George until the first verse was starting and the lights on the stage went dark while a spotlight focused on her and Peter.

Dancing alone together, Julia and Peter started out the first two lyrics dancing their basic steps before they sped up danced away from the steps a little until they reached the end of the third lyric. There the lights came up on the dance floor fully and Clive was spinning Mari while Julia was being spun by Peter. They went back into hold by the time the fifth one started and they danced side by side as the girls were moving their legs while the boys were stepping with them. At the second to last lyric the girls were kicking their legs up and they spun around to face the boys before they danced the at the last lyric away from each other.

 _You dance at the discotheque  
That's why you look such a wreck  
Your face is pale you look drawn  
Your clothes are dirty and torn  
You've got that look in your eyes that says  
You're half alive and you're lost inside  
Meanwhile you're back in your cage  
Ego'd out on the stage  
Where the unconsciousness rules_

At the instrumental there, the pairs stopped and extended their free arms as their other hands were holding onto each other. They then spun around together before the boys were helping the girls into splits and they helped them up so they could slide their legs closed just as the next verse began.

The two pairs were standing still and the boys wrapped their arms around the girls, lifting them up just enough so they could keep their right feet on the floor still. The second lyric had the girls being spun away from the boys and they continued to turn until they ran into Derek and Sasha who were going to dance as well. The boys were with Whitney and Emma and they were dancing together for the third and fourth lyrics, moving to the middle of the dance floor. When they'd met up in the middle Julia and Mari wrapped their arms around their partners and for the fifth lyric they danced side by side, doing their steps that way until the seventh lyric. The last two lyrics the boys were helping the girls doing splits and they were going to the corners on either side of the stage.

 _You've got yourself in a bind  
You don't know how to unwind  
Your senses unsatisfied  
Take you along on a ride  
You've got a way and stance that says  
You'll dance the pants off of everyone  
Then you go back on the floor  
You got to get through the door  
Where the unconsciousness rules_

Beckett was relieved seeing the two pairs of pro dancers were dancing during the instrumental then since it allowed the kids to rest. She could just make out Julia, standing on the opposite corner of the dance floor, and once she was sure she was alright she turned back to the dancers.

Castle was going to lean over to his wife when he watched with some surprise as Mari and Clive were dancing forward. He glanced at the Fosters and the boys' parents, seeing the smiles on all their faces since the two were dancing their steps well. He knew where Julia and Peter were going to come over and he waited for it, smiling as the two were obviously preparing themselves as they moved towards the other pair.

Julia and Peter danced over to the other pair on the first lyric of the last verse before they were dancing forward slowly on the second lyric. When they got to the third lyric the girls were being spun and they were stopping with the music. They did their arm extensions again before dancing through the next two lyrics. On the very last lyric they were joined by the two pro pairs and they were dancing all together.

 _You've lost a screw in your head  
It shows the way you're led  
Blind leading the blind  
Nothing can stand in your way  
You're living day after day  
Where the unconsciousness rules_

Dancing out the rest of the song; which was George vocalizing; the eight pairs came to a stop as the music did and the girls and two women were holding onto their partners, holding their right legs up. When the pros started moving the kids did too and Derek went over to the four, taking them to the judge's table.

"Again, are you guys alright?" Carrie-Ann asked the kids when Tom told her to start. When all four nodded she smiled and said, "First, you know I watch for lifts." At them nodding again, seriously, she laughed and said, "I saw you two girls making sure your feet were down on the ground; good job. And you had some amazing lines girls, with your legs. Boys you've been doing well too, I'm glad to see you've been careful with your partners."

"Our teacher told us to be," Peter said.

"I'm glad they did," Carrie-Ann continued. "And it was well danced, all of you."

Smiling back at the pro dancers who had come over with them, Julia turned when Tom went to Len.

"I thought you had a fantastic dance," the British judge began with. "And I was watching you closely while the professional pairs were with you and you were doing very well with them, staying in unison." Len waited for the audience's applause to die down a bit before he continued saying, "And you made the dance enjoyable to watch as well, so kudos to all of you."

"I'll agree with Len," Bruno said, nodding to the judge next to him. "That was very well danced, and I can imagine you four were nervous with the pros." He smiled at the kids nodding and then told them, "But you didn't show it. And I enjoy how you four are able to keep your shoulders so straight and your extensions as well. I think I speak for us all when I say we'll miss you when the season is over tomorrow."

Castle couldn't help laughing slightly as the kids rushed to Bruno to hug him while Tom then sent the show to commercial. "Have fun rushing," he said to his wife jokingly.

Rolling her eyes at him, Beckett hurried out of her seat and then went backstage so she could meet their daughter at the dressing room. "I hope we can make it," she said once she and Julia were together in the room.


	50. Got Nothing To Lose (Part 2)

"I know," the girl said. And that was all she and her mother said as she got dressed into her costume for the Freestyle. Her hair was put up into a bun and as soon as it was ready she was hugging her mother tightly. "Thank you so much," Julia said.

"You're welcome," Beckett told her. When they let go of each other she told her, "Have fun and break a leg."

"Thanks," Julia said again before she was rushing out of the room and to where she needed to go on the stage with everyone else.

"Oh! It's so cool!" Mari said when she turned from the stage where she'd just reached Skye and Maria.

"We'll have to take a picture," the investigator commented. They were wearing Sgt. Pepper-esque costumes, the tops and pants the same as on the album covers but the decorations on the coats was minimal. She herself was wearing the light blue outfit that Paul had worn, silver lining the collar of the coat down the middle and to the bottom of it. Maria was wearing the green and her coat had orange around the collar and edges. Julia had on the red outfit that George had worn, silver on her collar and down the middle as Skye's had but also along the scalloped edges of the bottom of it. Mari was wearing Ringo's pink outfit, gold on her coat but there were three lines on the collar and the bottom of it as well. "Several," she said with a smile.

"Guys," Derek said, walking up to them. "They're going to film you all first here."

"Not you?" Maria asked in surprise.

"No, I asked them to just have you guys so we don't ruin the effect," Derek answered.

"Are the boys okay with that?" Skye said.

"They are, we'll be on the dance floor until they go to the rehearsal footage," Derek said.

Julia was tempted to ask if they were going to show when Skye first met Maria, but she didn't have a chance as the countdown was beginning and the investigator pulled herself and Mari to stand with them; in the order the colors were on the album cover. She and Mari already knew that they were supposed to stand in place for that, but she hoped she'd be able to turn and see the footage. Luckily they were able to turn to the screen which she and her friend were doing in time to see it was starting out with Skye and Derek in a studio.

"I'd like us to dance to the song _Partial to Your Abracadabra_ ," Skye was saying.

"Whose is it?" Derek asked.

"Paul's; it's a cover song but it's always spoken to me," Skye said. "And one last request; we're The Beatles. Early sixties and later sixties."

"I can't help but be slightly unnerved about the idea of doing something with The Beatles, but luckily it's just costumes," Derek said, the footage going to him in a dance studio by himself. "And we're going to have some help with this dance as well."

Julia smiled when it showed Maria and Keo going into that same room and the other pair greeting them before she and her friends entered the room a second later.

"So we're two bands," Skye was saying in a voice over as Derek was choreographing with Keo's help. "But we'll come together; essentially the same band. There is one other thing with this Freestyle that I'm wondering about though."

"Of course we'll have to do something big," Derek said in another voice over as it showed him and Skye attempting to do different lifts. "I haven't gotten it just yet, but I'm letting the music speak to me."

"And with that I know we'll have everything down that we need to make this a Freestyle to remember," Skye was saying as it showed her being held up on either side by Mari and Keo before they set her down and she stumbled a little to their laughter.

Julia was standing with Skye, Maria and Mari at the base of the steps as they had been on the stage while the music played, and she assumed the logo went across the screen. She was trying not to breathe too hard, watching as Derek, Keo and the boys walked towards them while the announcer was saying, "Dancing Freestyle, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

The four boys and men stopped just in front of the tableau that the women and girls made, the two groups staring at each other before Derek took one step forward and the music began with Paul's yell and Skye moved away from the group. That started the dance and while the music was playing before the first lyric the girls and Maria were going to their partners and being spun around until they were stopping. At that lyric Derek let go of Skye to follow her as she was walking away from him until the second lyric. He was grabbing her and they pressed up together, stepping backwards before he pushed her but it was only until the fourth lyric had finished. On the very last one, Derek picked up Skye and spun her around so her legs flew out before he set her down while the other six were coming up behind the investigator.

 _I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm raptured by the joy of it all  
So stop me where you start  
The cockles of his heart  
The panties sends it right up the wall_

The four pairs were dancing together after that in a diamond formation, the men and boys spinning the women and girls before they got into hold. They moved forward in various steps until they were meeting in the middle and the women and girls broke off. At the second lyric, Maria grabbed Skye in her arms as she fell back and then pushed her as she got up. The investigator then began walking towards Derek as Keo and the boys had run out of view. That took up the third lyric and when they got to the fourth, Derek was grabbing the investigator and he helped her bend backwards into a flip. On the fifth and last one Skye threw her arms around her partner's neck and he dragged her backwards until they'd reached the steps at the stage where everyone else was gathered.

 _Please, please stop it, it likes it  
Tickles it to death either way  
These lovely boots exist  
To drive it 'round the twist  
The call of nature must be obeyed_

There was a short chorus and on that the pairs danced together, going in a line in unison down to the other end of the dance floor.

 _Glad it's over, but this is worse  
Could hardly say it had been coerced  
Stop it 'cause it like it, it's worse_

At the instrumental, the lights went out except for on Skye and Derek and they danced together until the next verse they would dance to. On the first lyric, Derek helped the investigator do the splits and once she was standing up he helped her up on the second. With the third Skye was playfully pushing away her partner before he fell onto the floor. At the fourth Maria and Keo were grabbing her arms, picking her up as she was moving her legs and pretending to walk over Derek while he pushed himself back. He grabbed her ankles and then pushed her legs up so he could stand. Grabbing them he then spun her around, the others standing in a half circle around just in case.

 _There's been a manifestation  
Nature made it answer the call  
It simply can't resist  
Boots and pants like this  
Abracadabra for all_

With the next verse, Derek was letting Skye do a handstand before he threw her legs over so she could stand. The rest of the first lyric she was walking backwards into the others as her partner was following her. He grabbed her and then pulled her to him and spun her around while her legs were parted. On the last lyric he set her down and they parted so they were standing across from each other again.

 _Glad that's over, but this is worse  
Roll it over, too perverse  
Stop it 'cause it likes it, it's worse_

The end of the song; a repetition of one lyric; had the pairs stepping determinedly towards one another. They got into hold and were dancing almost aggressively together until they were parting at the second to last lyric and the women and girls were going back to their tableau while the men and boys were watching. At the last lyric; which Paul sang slowly; Keo and the boys moved to stand grouped together just to the right of the women and girls. Derek walked up to Skye, and the investigator made him turn and kneel in front of her as she crossed her arms over his shoulders, cheek pressing against his head while she stared at the camera in front of them.

 _I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra  
I'm partial to your abracadabra_

Letting Derek go, Skye hugged her partner as tightly as she could with her relief at getting the dance done without incident. She then turned to Maria and Keo, hugging them both before she squeezed the kids' shoulders. While they were walking to the judge's table she waved at her family and friends before turning back.

"Before I go to the judges," Tom said. "Your costumes are amazing."

"Thanks," Skye said. "And thank Stella McCartney since she designed these."

"Let's go to you Len," Tom said once the audience had stopped applauding.

"I really enjoyed this dance," the judge said. "I had wondered what you would do for any tricks and I wasn't expecting what you did. And now I see why you had extras with you. That could have backfired on you, especially when you were in unison, but you managed to stay together well," Len finished with. "And it was very well done."

"Bruno," Tom said to the next judge.

"Oh, I have to say though you were honoring the band, you still managed to convey that you were intent on being together," the judge said. Bruno smiled when the group in front of the table was laughing and he waited for them to stop before he continued with, "But Len is right, you risked being in unison and you were perfect with each step. I enjoyed it and I love your costumes. Oh, and what I loved was you all working together when you had to as well. It's wonderful to see you again Maria."

Skye was relieved so far, but she knew they needed to hear from Carrie-Ann. For some reason she was concerned about what the last judge might say, and she turned her attention to the woman before she started to speak.

"I was afraid for you when Derek was spinning you around again," Carrie-Ann said laughingly. "You took a lot of risks this season. But besides that I enjoyed the dance. And the fact you didn't shy away from having others with you though this was basically your dance. I agree too that it was a big risk to have them with you… except for you Keo."

Skye turned to the dancer and squeezed his arm as he was laughing before the judge was continuing again.

"But luckily they all did well," Carrie-Ann said. "And very quickly, I was delighted by your steps Derek and how you executed them Skye. Great dance."

"Alright, you'll get your scores here," Tom was telling the pair so they wouldn't leave. "But first this song doesn't seem very much about you. Or is it and I'm getting it all wrong?"

"I wanted to honor Paul and-" Skye started to say before she was jumping as someone was wrapping their arm around her. She looked and saw that it was Paul and Ringo on the other side of him. She squeezed Derek's arm when he let her go and then moved to stand in between the guitarist and drummer and said, "And The Beatles. Without that music I wouldn't have found the joy I have in singing and playing and… that's been the best part of dancing to all these songs I've had."

"Alright, let's get your scores," Tom said.

Julia was surprised when Paul motioned to her as the dramatic music started to play. She then noticed; as the announcer was starting to speak; that Ringo had motioned to Mari who went to him. They were stopping just in time to the announcer saying, "Carrie-Ann Inaba."

"Ten," the judge said with a smile, waving her paddle.

Skye hugged Paul and then Derek before she had to look back at the table as the announcer said Len's name next.

"Ten," the judge said.

"Bruno Tonioli," the announcer said last.

"Ten!" the judge said exuberantly.

Skye immediately hugged her partner before she went to Paul, laughing as Ringo joined them and she hugged him too.

"Great job," Maria told the investigator when they had embraced, and the show was on commercial.

"You too," Skye told her. "And thanks for joining up."

"Not a problem," Maria replied before she let her go.

"What do we do now?" Clive asked.

"Do you want to change?" Julia asked him.

"Not really," Clive said, looking down at his coat. "We really get to keep them?"

"Yeah, Halloween costumes," Peter commented.

"Guys," Skye called to them. "We need to go up to the Sky box, wait out the rest of the show."

"Can we go see our parents really fast?" Mari asked her.

"Yeah, but it needs to be fast," Skye said, not surprised when the four were racing across the floor.

"You shouldn't run sweetie," Beckett said teasingly as her daughter came to her hurriedly.

"I know, but there's not enough time," Julia said. She felt her little sister hugging her too and she looked at her saying, "Like my costume?"

"Yeah, it's pretty," Eliza said. "You too."

"Thanks," Julia said with a smile. They hugged that time and she then went to their father, doing the same with him before she went to Alexis and their grandparents. She was just letting go of her grandfather when a crew member told her she needed to go. "See you later!" she called to her family before she ran up the stairs to join her friends at the railing. While she caught her breath, she looked over at Skye, seeing the investigator seemed to be fine though there was still the elimination. She wasn't sure how the woman was able to keep calm but before she could go and ask Mari was touching her arm. Smiling at her friend she looked down at the dance floor trying to forget the elimination again as the others in the box joined them as the next Freestyle was beginning.

* * *

"Why can't I go up there too?" Eliza was asking her father.

"Shh," Castle said gently to her. "There's not that much left of the show."

Eliza wrinkled her nose but turned to look at the stage as the four pairs that were standing there. She then realized something and turned to her mother whispering, "Skye will stay, won't she?"

Quieting her gently, Beckett looked over at the stage as Tom and Erin were talking, about to announce the first person that was safe before the dramatic music then played.

"Skye and Derek," Tom said.

Breathing out heavily, Skye was tempted to sit on the stage in her relief, but her partner was turning to her. "I almost collapsed," she said with a slight laugh.

"I noticed," Derek said before the spotlight that was above them went out.

Looking on as the remaining three pairs went down the stairs, Skye glanced at her partner as she couldn't remember them doing that before. But as the two hosts began to talk she quickly turned her attention back to her friends since the music was beginning again.

"Eddie and Emma," Tom said, naming the first couple that was safe.

"Oh good," Skye murmured under her breath as she watched the pair hugging each other. But she couldn't forget that one of the two couples that was left wouldn't be joining them the next week. She had no idea why the idea that she had came to her then and she was going to mention it to Derek when the music was playing as the lights went down except for on the four in front of them.

"Daisy and Sasha," Tom said finally.

Skye sighed as the two hugged each other and she turned to her partner, whispering into his ear before she studied him.

"It depends on what we get," Derek said after he thought over the request. "We'll see shortly."

Nodding, Skye then hurried to go down to them and she wrapped her arms around Daisy first. "I'm so sorry," she said.

"Don't be," the photojournalist said with a smile as they parted. She then became startled as the investigator leaned over to her.

"We're going to ask everyone to be in our last dance… in some way," Skye began. "Are you in."

"Definitely," Daisy said before she was turning to Emma to hug her.

"Wow… Skye could really-" Clive started to say before the girls were shushing him. "What?"

"Don't," Julia said. "Anyways we need to change and get ready to get our last dance."  
"I can't wait to see that," Mari said exuberantly.

Laughing with her friends, Julia went with them all backstage so they could get into their practice clothes for their last practice on the night of the episode.

* * *

"Oh wow," Skye said as they were entering the studio where they would be practicing. "Those are so cool…"

"You can pick out one if you'd like it," Derek told his partner.

"Look! There's a picture of us too!" Mari said eagerly, going to the wall where there was one of the four of them for their Jive.

"You'll all have copies that you can take," Derek assured them.

"What do you think _grá_?" Skye was saying to her wife then.

"I agree," Mary said, since she was pointing to a picture of them with Derek during their Flamenco.

"I guess we better get started," Skye said then, turning to all the kids that were there. The parents were there but the four dancers had asked them to go to another while they practiced since they wanted to surprise them with their Freestyle. "I have to point out," she commented. "They know one part of the Freestyle now."

"That's okay," Peter said. "The other stuff will be. Though I guess we'll have to tell them about the pictures."

"We'll call them in to get you," Skye said with a smile. "Derek?" she then said to her partner.

"Our Fusion dance is…" the pro said, as he picked up the envelope. "The Salsa and Tango."

"And the song?" Julia asked when that was all he said.

" _Atlantic Ocean_ ," Derek replied, looking at his partner. "You have an idea, don't you?"

"I think," Skye began, putting her hand on Julia's shoulder. "We all know what we're going to do."

"Pirates!" all the kids, the investigator and Derek said at the same time.

"Great, I'm glad we agree," Skye said in amusement. "So obviously we're with different ships and we meet to parley."

"And all the other couples are with us?" Derek asked.

"Yeah," Skye said before she hesitated.

"It's just going to be those four with you too right Mum?" Marie asked.

"Sorry kids," Skye said apologetically to them. "It's better there aren't so many since the other pairs will be joining us."

"That's okay," Ivy said.

"Yeah, we're gonna be in the other dance," Eliza said.

"Speaking of that," Derek said. "We need to start now, that way we can have everything ready for tomorrow."

"Kids first?" Skye asked.

"Kids first," Derek echoed. "And guys," he directed to the four. "You can definitely help me."

Julia smiled, having been ready for that, and she went with her friends to the middle of the dance floor. She hoped her parents wouldn't mind missing out on watching them but shook herself quickly as she needed to dance with Peter to show Derek what they'd thought of so far since they'd learned they would be having their own Freestyle.

* * *

 _November 23_ _rd_ _, 2020_

 _Hello again Diary!_

 _I know you're surprised to see me here again before going back home but I have the chance. And I'm not even sneaking this time either which is nice!_

 _Anyways, I've been doing the usual stuff practice, school and playing. But on Tuesday last week I got to go to Disneyland with everyone for Mom's birthday and it was sooo fun! Oh, we went to California Adventure too but when I say Disneyland I mean there too. But it wasn't just us and the McDouglases, but Derek went, the boy's parents went and Mari's family. And we met Paul and Nancy there too! I got to go on rides with Paul which was amazing to get to do. He liked the rides so that made it even better._

 _And Mom said she was having a great birthday too so that made it great. Plus she loved our gifts even though we didn't have anything for her to unwrap. I guess that's what being older means. We stayed right until Disneyland closed and we were able to stay at the hotel another night too._

 _Tonight was the second to last episode; Finals Week! And Skye and Derek made it too! Their Redemption Foxtrot they were able to get a perfect score on. We did our Cha-Cha-Cha after and the judges really liked it. We then did the Freestyle with Skye and Derek and that got a perfect score too. So cool to do that since we were wearing_ Sgt. Pepper's _outfits and those we get to keep!_

 _We already know we have our Freestyle tomorrow, but we did practice after the show and Derek says all the other kids can dance with us. And he liked our steps too and the idea! We asked Paul about him joining to perform and he will so that will be really fun. But Skye and Derek got their very last dance and since it's a Fusion one it's a Salsa-Tango one. It'll be interesting to see it all finished since it's the song_ Atlantic Ocean _by Paul. Skye already has a story, pirates, and everyone that was on the show and is on now will be on the 'ships' that she and Derek will be captains of. And the four of us kid dancers will be divided between them too. I asked Skye and it's by pairs, me and Peter chose to go with Skye and Mari and Clive wanted to go with Derek._

 _I'm so sad though, I missed home (I still do of course) but it's been so nice being here in Santa Monica and getting to do the show. But I wish that it wouldn't end, I loved getting to meet Derek and getting to know him. And dancing! Oh, it was so amazing getting to dance. I guess I should say I liked dancing on TV, but I would forget about it (honestly diary). But luckily I don't have to stop dancing!_

 _I hear Mom coming up, I gotta go so for sure I won't be able to write in here until I'm back home. So I'll see you soon in the Hamptons Diary!_

"Are you girls finished?" Beckett asked, entering the room.

"I am," Mari said, smiling at her.

"Me too," Julia said, taking her diary over to her carryon which was open for her to finish packing the next day. "I can't wait until I don't need to catch up with stuff."

"I hate doing that," Mari said.

"Get into bed girls," Beckett said, not sure if they were trying to delay doing that with their conversation.

"We're going," Julia assured her. She got onto the mattress after her friend had and turned to her mother to hug her. "One more time," she said as she had already said good night to everyone before she and Mari had been allowed to update their diaries.

"Thank you," Beckett said. She let her daughter go and said, "Sleep," firmly. "It's late and you have the show tomorrow… and then the flight back to the city which is later."

"Not that late," Julia said.

"It is, by the time we get to the city it'll be Wednesday morning," Beckett reminded her.

Nodding, though she didn't really want to sleep yet, Julia said, "Night Mom."

"Night Kate," Mari was quick to say.

"Goodnight girls, we'll see you tomorrow," Beckett said before she left them.

"Are you tired?" Mari whispered once they could just hear her friend's mother going down the stairs.

"Not really, but we have to sleep," Julia said with a sigh. She then smiled and asked, "Are you jealous of Skye too?"

"Yeah, but she said they weren't going to go on any rides," Mari reminded her.

"I know, but I bet you they'll get to go on Pirates," Julia said before they were laughing together. "Shh, someone's going to come over here… Skye and Mary."

"We couldn't help it," Mari said. When they'd calmed down she sighed and said, "Night Julia."

"Goodnight Mari, see you in the morning," she replied. Julia squeezed her friend's hand firmly before she closed her eyes. It took her a while to fall asleep, but she didn't move and tried her best not to think of the next day before she eventually did so with a sigh until she was finally nodding off.

* * *

Glancing down at the first floor, Castle's hands clenched down on the railing there to keep himself from falling over it when a hand touched his back.

"What're you doing?" Beckett asked him.

"Just making sure they're alright," Castle told her, a little surprised at her slightly stern tone of voice.

"By staring down at the room?" Beckett said in disbelief.

Shaking his head Castle said, "I just started looking now." He noticed the hesitation in her and hurried to add, "Really, I couldn't spy on them like that."

Sighing Beckett said, "I saw."

"You did? Then why are you giving me a hard time?" Castle said in surprise.

Taking her husband's hand, Beckett pulled him over to the bathroom and told him, "Because I don't want you to spy on them."

"To be honest," Castle said, preparing his toothbrush. "I can't spy on them if I can't see them." He wasn't surprised at the look his wife gave him in the mirror but didn't say anything to it and turned his attention to brushing his teeth.

"Come here," Beckett said, stopping him from leaving the room.

"But I-" Castle began before his wife was pulling him close. He knew for sure then what she wanted and he went into the kiss easily with her, wrapping his arms around her tightly and holding her up against him. He wasn't surprised when she initiated another as soon as they had parted and he worked with her until he was starting the third. He lost count after that and when they finally stopped kissing he smiled at her and said, "Are you sure you don't regret them here?"

"No," Beckett said, shaking her head. She then moved to embrace him saying, "We need to sleep."  
"Yeah," Castle said simply. He felt his wife's head tilting up to look at him and he smiled telling her, "Sorry, I was just enjoying this."

"I was too but I was still addressing the conversation," Beckett told him teasingly. She expected her husband to say something, but he was picking her up to her slight cry before she said, "You're just going to keep doing that unexpectedly aren't you?"

"Basically," Castle said. He smiled when he could hear her murmuring under her breath but didn't say anything until she was on the bed and he was standing next to it. " _I really wish we could_ ," he said in Irish as he took off his robe.

"We'll be home soon," Beckett reminded him.

"With a lot of guests," Castle couldn't help pointing out as he watched her stand up next to the other side to get her robe off.

"That's never stopped us before," Beckett commented. She smiled at him as she was climbing into bed and told him, "Hurry."

Hearing the seriousness in her voice, Castle was quick to take off his glasses and set them on the nightstand before he was getting under the covers with her. They kissed as soon as he was close enough to reach her and it was passionate as it had been before. But that was the only kiss they shared as his wife was placing her fingers on his lips to keep him from leaning into her again.

"Do you have a memory for me?" Beckett asked him.

Breathing out for a moment, Castle lay on his back and then said, "Yeah. It's in 1932, September twenty-fourth. So the girls were ten, five, almost four and two."

"Very young," Beckett commented. "Luckily Julia helped me out."

"Us," Castle commented.

"What were we doing that warrants a memory?" Beckett said with a smile.

"We went way out of town, upstate, and to an apple orchard," Castle replied. "And we picked apples." When he felt his wife settling down for it he started the memory, telling her how Julia was running ahead with her next littlest sister.

* * *

 _"Girls!" Kate called as she hurried down the path after them._

 _"But Ma-" Julia started to say._

 _"You can't run, what if you fell?" Kate asked her once she'd reached the two._

 _"Ma," Elizabeth started to say, sniffing._

 _"Don't cry honey," Kate told her soothingly as she caressed her hair. "I only ask that you don't run again."_

 _"We won't Ma," Julia said earnestly._

 _"Promise?" Kate asked them both._

 _"Promise," the girls said together._

 _"Swell, now we get our apples," Kate said before she took them by their hands and they turned around to face Rick as he was coming over with Josephine in his arms and Alexandra walking with him, holding onto his coat._

 _"Are we all spiffy now love?" Rick asked his wife._

* * *

"Spiffy?" Beckett asked her husband, interrupting him.

"I… think that's what I said," Castle said slowly.

"Maybe," Beckett replied. "So we were all together…"

"Give me a chance," Castle said in mock annoyance before he was laughing as quietly as he could while she pinched his side lightly. "Okay, so we got our baskets and a lesson and we started."

"Wait," Beckett said. "The owner was letting us pick and take the apples home?"

"Yeah, I think the next year he had to stop doing that," Castle began after thinking over that for a moment. "And I don't think we did it again until… after the war," he continued. He was looking down at his wife so he was able to see her nod and he then continued, picking up where they were standing at their first tree.

* * *

 _"Are you sure we can't climb up there Ma?" Julia asked as they were studying the apples._

 _I'm sure," Kate said. "We'll rely on your da to get the taller apples." She smiled when the girls; except for Josephine; nodded and said, "Now we'll let your sister pick."_

 _Rick waited for their three oldest to protest, but when the girls merely turned to look at their littlest sister he glanced at his wife. When she just smiled at him he then said, "Alright, what do you think about picking the very first apple?"_

 _"Dada," Josephine said simply._

 _"Good, watch me," Rick said, reaching up to the apple. He had expected the toddler to follow his example and as she was holding out her arm to he raised her up so she could reach the ripe apple hanging closest to them._

 _"Mama! Apple!" Josephine said happily._

 _"Pull it off the tree honey," Kate told her, smiling at the look on her face as she was so obviously pleased._

 _Rick helped the toddler in pulling the apple off and he gently got it away from her before she could squeeze it too much. He instructed her to put the fruit in the basket, relieved when Josephine managed to understand him, and then said, "Who's next?"_

 _"Me!" Alexandra said happily, raising her hand._

 _"Here," Kate said, looking around the tree before she spotted an apple. She then picked up the four-year-old and let her pick the apple herself before she was getting it in the basket Julia held for them._

 _"Now it's my turn," Elizabeth said eagerly._

 _"Hold on," Rick said as he needed to hand Josephine to his wife so he could hold their second oldest. Once he had her he led her to the next apple and watched her put it happily into their basket. He was about to tell Julia she was next when the girl was speaking herself._

 _"Will I be using a ladder?" she asked._

 _"You'll have to," Rick said. "But I'll help you."_

 _Nodding, Julia hurried over to the one that her father eventually set up under the apples and she climbed up. Rick was holding the ladder for her and she was steady as she reached up and picked an apple before she grabbed a second one. "It was right next to it," she said quickly in case her parents might say anything about her doing that._

 _"Swell, we'll be able to finish that much faster," Rick commented as he was picking some then._

 _"Pick another and then take your sister for me," Kate said to their daughter._

 _Grabbing one more apple, Julia came down once Rick was holding the ladder again and then took Josephine while they were watching their parents._

* * *

"They just watched us?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Well… three of them were young and the oldest was watching her sisters," Castle replied. "And after that we took the apples to the owner and then headed back to the house." He knew, since his wife was watching him, that he should continue but he couldn't resist, leaning down and then kissing her. He wasn't planning on using his tongue but when his wife's slipped into his mouth he was responding immediately. They tangled together for a time and he breathed out saying, "That was all I had for that one but there is another that just came to mind."

"When?" Beckett asked, pressing a little closer to him.

"It was the Monday after we picked the apples so we were alone with Josephine while the others were at school," Castle began. "And apparently that day was applesauce day."

Beckett laughed, since she was recalling herself, but she let her husband tell her as she held onto him.

* * *

 _"Is she asleep?" Kate asked, looking at her husband as he walked into the kitchen._

 _Not answering at first, Rick rushed over to his wife and took the towel she was using to dry her face while she worked. "I'll get you another one love," he said as he felt how hot her skin was._

 _Kate smiled but didn't turn her attention away from the stove and the pot she was stirring with the apples in them. She stopped for a moment when her husband was wiping her face with a cool towel and said, "Thank you love."  
"Now let me take over," Rick said before he was taking the spoon she was holding._

 _Though she wanted to protest, Kate found that she couldn't as her husband was insistent on standing in her place. "I don't have very much left Rick," she told him, keeping an eye on the applesauce which was nearly ready._

 _"That's alright," he said firmly. Rick then glanced at his wife and smiled saying, "And Josephine is fine, safe and warm close to the stove."_

 _With a quick nod, as they'd left their youngest on some blankets on the floor for her nap in the living room, Kate tasted the apples to see where they were, and she said, "A little more love."_

 _Rick continued to stir and after he had the consistency his wife wanted he got the pot and poured it into the jars she had ready with her help. "Looks like we have enough well into the next year," he commented as they were washing everything._

 _"I know, which will be good," Kate said._

 _"What is it?" Rick asked as she was holding one jar in her hand carefully._

 _"I need one for Josephine," Kate said with a slight frown. "I suppose I'll just get some into a bowl for her later."_

 _"When will we start canning?" Rick asked._

 _"We?" Kate asked, drying her hands before she was reaching behind her to untie her apron._

 _"You don't expect to do it all on your own do you?" Rick asked as his wife paused in what she was doing. "I won't need to write until we're finished. And even then I'm set on episodes for now."_

 _"Alright," Kate said with a sigh before she turned her attention back to her apron. She was startled when her husband pulled her off the counter; where she'd been leaning; and turned her around. "I'm perfectly capable of doing that myself you sap," she told him, though teasingly._

 _Rick focused his attention on the tie instead of thinking of a reply, and once he had it off her waist he tossed it onto the counter._

 _"What-" was all Kate had time to say when her husband had her turn back around. He was pushing her against the counter and crushing her lips with his, making her groan for a moment in her surprise before she was responding. Wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could, she parted her lips to his seeking tongue and then realized that his hands were roaming over her back. "Rick," she breathed, trying to warn him but failing in her tone as his hands were moving._

 _Lifting his wife up onto the counter, Rick didn't allow her to go back too far as he was sliding his hands under her skirt, trying his best to push it up past her knees. They were kissing a second time then and he used that time to slide both his hands up on her thighs, grasping her ass. As soon as he had a hold on it, he was pulling her flush to him and they were parting for a gasp of air before meeting a third time._

 _Kate was enjoying her husband's touch immensely and they were literally fighting with their tongues inside her mouth. With all of that she was more than ready to allow things to become more intimate when she suddenly heard someone saying, "Mama?"_

 _Freezing at the same time as his wife, Rick pulled away from her and he turned to see that Josephine was toddling through the dining room towards them. He hurriedly helped his wife down, checking her skirt before he felt her hands on his hair. "Go my love," he said quickly, straightening it himself._

 _Unable to help herself, Kate kissed him briefly and then turned her attention to their youngest. "What's wrong Josephine?" she asked, picking her up._

 _"Stocks Mama?" the toddler asked._

 _Looking at his wife with wide eyes, Rick wasn't sure what they could say to that; as Josephine had obviously seen them; but his wife was luckily speaking first._

 _"Yes honey," Kate said, smiling at both her husband and their daughter. "Your da was making sure they were straight and neat. We must make sure to be neat."_

 _"Neat," Josephine said slowly with a smile. "Mama go gagee!"_

 _"What?" Rick asked._

 _"Yes, but honey look," Kate said quickly, as she knew they wouldn't be able to figure out the word. "Your da helped me with the applesauce. Would you like some." She smiled as the toddler nodded rapidly and she looked to her husband._

 _"I'll get it love," Rick said quickly._

 _"Thank you," Kate replied before she took the toddler to the living room so they could wait there for him and spend the rest of the afternoon left before school was over for Josephine's sisters._

* * *

"How did we not have more than four kids?" Castle asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Beckett replied with a smile as she looked up at him.

Castle shrugged and then said, "That night is coming to mind but…"

"I know," Beckett said, smiling again. She leaned up and allowed herself to kiss his jaw a few times before she lay normally. "Better we get some sleep."

"I love you Kate," Castle said.

"I love you too Rick," Beckett said swiftly. She shared a kiss with him and murmured, "Tomorrow we'll be on our way home."

"I was thinking of that too," Castle said as he knew his wife wanted the distraction. "We are going back after _GMA_ , right?"

"Yes," Beckett said with a smile. "I don't think I could wait anymore. Plus, the McDouglases don't have a hotel for that night in the city."

"Good," Castle said.

Beckett couldn't help laughing and said, "Goodnight love."

"Night," Castle said. "I promise I'll sleep."

"I will too," Beckett said, fighting her smile as her husband was studying her. They shared a kiss and she murmured she loved him again before she settled against his side once he turned off the light on the nightstand to her husband telling her he loved her. She did her best to not dwell on their night in their past life but found herself dreaming of it as they got some rest in preparation for their very eventful next few days.

* * *

 _Laughing in pure delight as she fell back on the bed with her husband on top of her, Kate said, "You're too rough, you big six," though she spoke teasingly._

 _"Then I should sleep on the couch?" Rick asked her. When his wife pulled him back to her as he was starting to pull away, he allowed her to and they were kissing passionately. "Kate," he said when they had finally parted._

 _"Here," she said, getting up so he would get out of her way. Kate began unbuttoning her blouse before her husband stopped her and she watched him, running her fingers through his hair._

 _Rick didn't speak until he had gotten every last stitch of clothing off Kate and he told her, "You should rest."_

 _Kate didn't say anything, as her husband would tell her that every so often when he undressed her first, and merely lay back to watch him. She bit at her lower lip as he undressed and once he was naked she reached for him. Making sure he grabbed protection for them first she then took his hand when he was close enough. She pulled him onto her again and they were immediately kissing, touching each other intimately until they had to breathe. "Oh my love," she moaned when he started suck at her neck._

 _Pulling away from his wife, Rick studied her for a moment and then moved to slide down her body. He suckled at her breasts then, staying there for some time until Kate was begging him to stop. He knew that request for what it was, and he slid down again before he pleasured her eagerly with his mouth._

 _Her orgasm striking her soon after, Kate was lost in the pleasure her husband was causing her and she wanted to do the same to him when she heard something familiar. "Oh… Rick…" she breathed, opening her eyes and seeing he had his condom in hand._

 _"Help me," he begged her. He was pleased when she did and as soon as he could, Rick sank into her body to their exclamations of joy at the sensation. "I love you Kate," he breathed as he was still, letting them feel each other._

 _"Oh Rick… I-I love you… so much," Kate said._

 _With the tone of her voice being thick with desire, Rick found he couldn't delay anymore and he proceeded to thrust. He was immensely pleased when she started to move with him as much as she could and they kissed passionately while his right hand was touching her anywhere he could reach._

 _Kate found herself nearly screaming as things were getting intense some time later and she wanted to feel all of her husband. She just realized what she was thinking before she was struck by a second orgasm. She didn't try to stop it, letting it take over until she realized he had joined her by the way he said her name a few times. Not sure then how long they were so closely involved with one another, she only was aware everything had stopped when she was still, and Rick was breathing heavily. She was about to ask him if he was alright when he was suddenly raising his head._

 _"My Sheba…" Rick began, kissing around her face, focusing on her lips. "Goddess… Kate…" he groaned. He was trying to continue to do that on her neck when she stopped him. "What is it?" he asked in surprise, thinking she would want him to linger._

 _"I didn't have my turn," Kate said, pouting a little at him which she knew would drive him wild._

 _"Then I must let you," Rick said seriously though his desire was raging. He carefully pulled away from her and once he was bare to her he looked on while she was pleasuring him. He thought it was brief before he was climaxing, but Kate assured him she'd been working for some time. "I have to say you're incredible," he told her seriously as they were sitting up and staring at one another. "And I adore you."_

 _"Hmm, I adore you Rick," Kate said before they leaned into one another and kissed hungrily. When they managed to stop she let him lay her down, his hands running all around the front of her body to feel her until he moved. She urged him to hurry until he had protection on once more and with that she grabbed him to get him back onto her. Their bodies coupled once more joyfully, and she and her husband wasted little time in indulging their need for each other for the first of many times the rest of their night together._


	51. Feel The Rhythm

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The lyrics in this chapter are from the songs _The Waiting_ by Tom Petty, from the Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers album _Hard Promises_ ; _Dance Tonight_ by Paul McCartney, from his album _Memory Almost Full_ ; _Atlantic Ocean_ also by Paul; _Crazy Little Thing Called Love_ by Freddie Mercury, from the Queen album _The Game_ ; _See Yourself_ by George Harrison, from his album _Thirty Three & 1/3_ and _True Love_ written by Cole Porter, the version I've taken from is sung by _George Harrison_ also from his album _Thirty Three & 1/3_.

A/N #2: It was great getting the feedback for the last chapter and I want to get into my thank yous for that. TORONTOSUN (Loved seeing you liked all the moments involving Beckett, also including Julia),

MsNYC (Nice to see you thought the kids did a great job. And it was great to see that you enjoyed the flashback when they picked up Alexis and Louis, I had fun writing that. I was really happy to read that you enjoyed the second half of the chapter very much with Skye and Derek making it to the finals and then the flashback. And with that I'm glad you that the halves of the flashback were very sexy and well written too. Great you're looking forward to their trip back home. Actually, the dogs are there with them I just haven't had the chance to write them in more than just a mention, lol, a lot to put in. But great too to see you thought it was great writing as usual! And it'll be interesting to see if you do recall if you'd missed anything; I don't think you did but of course I don't know, lol, and as I said I'll see) and

Mb (I loved seeing that you thought the first half was a sweet, sweet update, wanted it to be an enjoyable one, lol. I'm glad to see that you were able to understand why Julia was emotional as she was at the beginning since it's the end of the show but then again she'd be homesick that long away of course, you're right. And great to see you loved that Alexis and Louis were there and the other families are all there to support both the kids and Skye. Not surprised you've missed Alexis and Louis too. I was really happy that you loved the flashback of them picking the two of from the airport. I figured Julia and Eliza would be excited seeing them since it'd been so long since they'd seen them in person. I was really glad that you enjoyed Josie remembering Alexis and that you enjoyed Martha and Jim seeing them as well. And of course I was very pleased to see that you thought the description of the dances was great, definitely tried to write that as best I could. And I'm glad you loved how good the kids danced that as well as being excited. Also with the judges I figured they would be supportive to the kids, since they're kids, when they had the Junior show the judges there were the same way, lol, even with mistakes so I figure it's to encourage the kids as well. I'm glad you thought it was great too that Skye and Derek nailed the Foxtrot they'd had trouble with before, nothing like second chances, lol. Nice to see you thought it was a sweet update. You're welcome for sharing the first half! Of course I was really happy to read that you thought the second half was a great update. So pleased that you thought the freestyle was fantastic and loved how everyone in it was included. And I had to let the kids have a big part in helping since they'd been there with Skye and Derek for so long. I'm not surprised you thought it was so good that Skye and Derek advanced to the final night or that you loved how Paul and Ringo went to hug Skye and Derek and give support to Skye, Derek and the kids as well. I wasn't surprised that you laughed at Castle's 'dad streak' as you put it showing since Alexis and Louis were in the guest house with them. But you did make a good point about it being different when the kid is there with you with their significant other. I was happy to read you thought the flashbacks I had were great, especially the ones with the sexy times between Castle and Beckett, lol. You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading them and as always I'm grateful for the time taken to write them out and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Atlantic Ocean_ , the info about it in the A/N above.

Feel The Rhythm

Peering over the railing of the Sky Box, Julia bit at her lower lip in her excitement and she murmured to Mari, "Today went too fast."

"I know, we were having too much fun," the girl said.

Julia wanted to say more but the episode was starting and she looked over at the dance floor as it was on the screen. She felt Mari squeezing her hand and did the same to her before they were turning their attention quickly to Tom and Erin.

"Before we start with tonight's Fusion dances," the former was saying. "We have one last performance from The Rambling O'Dells, singing the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song _The Waiting_."

As the song was beginning with instrumental, Beckett could just see Eddie off the stage and she smiled. Though Skye and Mary hadn't told them about the performance the night before the pair had filled them in that morning. She knew the pros of the three remaining stars would be dancing and the other two stars would join them. She wondered why the investigator had been vague about the end of the song but had a feeling it was something that had been decided on last minute. But Skye was singing, and she reached for her husband's hand, holding it since they were standing along with the rest of the audience.

 _Oh, baby don't it feel like heaven right now  
Don't it feel like somethin' from a dream  
Yeah, I've never known nothing quite like this  
Don't it feel like tonight might never be again  
Baby, we know better than to try and pretend  
Baby no one could have ever told me 'bout this  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

 _The waiting is the hardest part  
Everyday you see one more card  
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart  
The waiting is the hardest part_

Watching the pros dancing together, Emma and Whitney with Derek, Julia smiled at her friends as the band was starting the next verse.

 _Well yeah, I might have chased a couple women around  
All it ever got me was down  
Yeah, then there were those that made me feel good  
But never as good as I feel right now  
Baby you're the only one that's ever known how  
To make me want to live like I want to live now  
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_

 _The waiting is the hardest part  
Every day you see one more card  
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart  
The waiting is the hardest part_

Watching her friend singing the second verse and chorus again, Beckett wasn't surprised to see her gaze going to her wife next to her. She felt her husband squeezing her hand and glanced at him, seeing he was slightly smiling at her. She wrapped her arm around his left and murmured, "I know," right as Skye was singing again, as she knew he was thinking about the fact that the second verse applied to him very specifically.

Castle wanted to speak back to her but the singing cut him off and he was hoping for an instrumental so he could finally do that.

 _Oh, don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you  
Don't let 'em kill you baby, don't let 'em get to you  
I'll be your breathin' heart, I'll be your cryin' fool  
Don't let this go too far, don't let it get to you_

Relieved there was an instrumental there, Castle whispered into his wife's ear, "I'm s-" cut off when she squeezed his hand hard.

Beckett didn't look at him, still looking at the stage, and she said, " _Who are you with now_?" in Irish.

Suddenly annoyed by the show, Castle wanted to get his wife into his arms and kiss her as passionately as he could. But since he couldn't he merely entwined their fingers before they were looking back to the band since they were singing again.

 _Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah  
The waiting is the hardest part  
Every day you see one more card  
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart  
The waiting is the hardest part_

 _Yeah, the waiting is the hardest part  
Ooh  
Is the hardest part  
Ooh  
Is the hardest part_

Julia was laughing as Derek rushed up to Skye as soon as the song was nearly over and placed his arm around her shoulder.

Laughing the investigator said, "Hold on," as she took off her guitar. Skye handed it to her wife, thanking her, before she hurried down the steps with her partner in between Jonathon and Whitney and Eddie and Emma. She wasn't surprised when Tom was coming up to them and was smiling before he reached her.

"An appropriate song for tonight," the co-host was saying. "Why don't you announce our first dance tonight?"

"Alright," Skye said before she looked at the prompter. "First up tonight is actor Eddie Izzard and his partner Emma Slater, will their Cha-Cha-Cha Jive Fusion dance earn them the mirrorball trophy?"

"Okay… we're soon," Mari said slightly uncomfortably as they were watching the footage.

"Hey, hey," Skye said, hurrying up to them. "Don't be so worried, you'll be fantastic."

"Yeah… but it's weird where we are," Clive said.

"Don't worry, you'll be after Catalina and Val's Paso and then the Jive that Raul and Sharna will dance," Skye told them.

Nodding Mari looked back over the railing, breathing out a little harder than she wanted to before her friend was holding her hand again.

"We'll be okay," Julia said firmly. "And have fun and then be pirates." She smiled when her friend started to laugh and she gave her a gentle squeeze before they were watching as Eddie and Emma began their dance below.

* * *

"Are you comfortable sweetie?" Beckett was saying to Eliza.

"Yep!" the little girl replied. She giggled and then said, "Like my dress?"

"I do, I'm just wondering how all of this is going to work," Beckett commented watching her. Her daughters were both wearing dark grey Victorian era dresses, complete with stockings. "And why these?"

"You'll see Mom," Julia told her with a smile. "Come on Lizzy," she said, holding her hand out to her. "See you afterwards!"

"Bye," Beckett said in amusement as the two left after Julia had opened the door. She left in a hurry, to get back to her seat with her husband for the kids' Freestyle.

"Everything okay?" Castle asked her; the show on commercial.

"Yeah, I'm still wondering but they didn't say word," Beckett said. "Even Eliza didn't say anything."

"Her sister taught her well," Castle commented while they were looking up at the Sky Box they knew their daughters were in.

"Good, that's perfect and I think you will all be amazing staying together," Derek assured the kids in front of them. "Now let's head down before they film us running down the stairs."

Julia was laughing with her friends as they went down the staircase and she waved at her family with her sister before she went up to Paul. "Hi," she said with a smile at the singer though she was directing that to Ringo as well since he was walking up to them.

"Are you ready lass?" Paul asked her with a smile.

"Yeah, do you like the costumes?" Julia asked both singers.

"It's a bit… fussy," Ringo said as he was wearing a Victorian suit.

"Just for this dance," Eliza said, taking her sister's hand.

"Oh, get ready," Julia said when she heard one of the crew members calling they were a minute from returning on air. She and her sister sat on the floor, looking at the antique couch in front of them where Paul and Ringo were sitting together.

"Welcome back," Tom said once the show was on again. "We have a special Freestyle tonight. Put on by the Hamptons troupe and overseen by the kids, this is also a live performance by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr with assistance from The Rambling O'Dells."

There was some rehearsal footage at that point, but it was brief, just showing the kids the night before practicing all together and Derek joking about how many there were of them before the music played and the logo appeared.

"Alright children," Mary said as she and Skye; dressed in clothing from the same era as the kids and singers; walked over with their two youngest daughters. "Everyone's here and ready, please show us what you found on your travels," she said to the singer.

"This is a mandolin," Paul said, showing them the one he had in his hands. "Skye," he told her, handing it over. "I bought myself two."

Taking it, the investigator ran her fingers over the strings and then smiled before saying, "That's quite a sound."

"Here, try this," Paul said before he played the opening to the song. Ringo next to him was picking up a drum, playing the beat with one hand as they were standing up.

Skye walked alongside Paul, going around with the children following them as they were allowing some crew members to get the couch off the floor. By the time it was she called to the kids, "Dance!" in time for Paul to start singing the first verse.

The kids were dancing in pairs as they had been for the _Lady Madonna_ Jazz dance, taking turns jumping up and down in turn for the first lyric. For the second they were leap frogging one time over each before one part of the pair was spinning for the other.

 _Everybody gonna dance tonight  
Everybody gonna feel alright  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight_

With the second verse the taller kid was helping the shorter into a leap in the air and helping them down. On the second lyric they were holding hands and skipping so they formed a circle around the singers and with the last lyric they started to run.

 _Everybody gonna dance around  
Everybody gonna hit the ground  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight_

On the very short next verse, the taller kids of each pair were spinning the others before they were switching partners suddenly with who was on their right.

 _Well you can come on to my place if you want to  
You can do anything you want to do_

Repeating their same moves for the verse that was next since it was the same as the first, they then went back to their original partners at the end.

 _Everybody gonna dance tonight  
Everybody gonna feel alright  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight_

During the short instrumental, the kids parted from their partners and danced different steps for a while until they went back together for the short verse that was sung again.

At the first lyric the kids were standing side by side with their partners and moving in a way that had been done in the music video for the song. On the second the shorter of the pair was doing the splits while their partner was helping them.

 _Well you can come on to my place if you want to  
You can do anything you want to do_

On the next verse the kids were dancing with the beat together before they were going over to the singers, moving into a circle around them. That took them through the second lyric and on the third before the pairs broke apart to make a fuller circle. There they were jumping up and down and spinning at the same time, to the rhythm of the song again.

Castle wanted to ask his wife if they were going to take any kind of break; since he felt they'd been dancing for too long; when she was squeezing his hand to stop him as he watched her move to whisper into his ear.

"She said Eliza wouldn't be the entire song," Beckett managed to say.

 _Everybody gonna stamp their feet  
Everybody's gonna feel the beat  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight_

At the instrumental, Castle and Beckett had the explanation about why just Eliza wouldn't be dancing the whole song. At that point the kids, except for the four dancers, sat in front them as they were dancing together. The three singers walked towards the stage just before the next verse and the kids ran together after them.

At the first lyric the kids were jumping around towards the three singers before they paired off again. The second lyric had the taller kid lifting the other and turning around before the shorter child of each pair was being spun.

 _Everybody's gonna dance tonight  
Everybody gonna feel alright  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight_

With the first lyric of the next verse, the pairs were taking turns jumping to the lyric, doing that until the second lyric. On that one the other kids made circles around Julia and Peter, and another around Mari and Clive. The boys were picking up the girls, spinning them around rapidly before they were setting them back down. On the last lyric the two pairs stood in between the kids that were around them and they were skipping together the rest of the distance between them and the singers.

 _Everybody gonna jump and shout  
Everybody's gonna sing it out  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight_

When the next verse started, immediately after the previous one, the pairs came back together and were leap frogging over each other one time. When they were standing up again the kids were moving forward together, extending their right arms while they were pointing their left legs at the last lyric of the verse.

 _Well you can come on to my place if you want to  
You can do anything you want to do_

On the very last verse the kids spread apart in their pairs and they were helping each other as they were spinning while doing that. When Paul and Skye sang the second lyric, they walked forward with Ringo as the kids were gathering around them in a circle. Finishing the verse, the kids were jumping up and down in turns again, those not jumping moving as was done in the music video. They continued doing that until Paul was playing a final flourish on his mandolin, bringing the song to its conclusion before the audience started to applaud; their families doing so immediately.

 _Everybody gonna dance tonight  
Everybody gonna feel alright  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight  
Everybody gonna dance around tonight  
Everybody's gonna feel alright tonight_

Julia and the other kids ran towards each other, going into a big group hug before she realized she was crying. She tried to stop but; knowing it was their last dance on the show; she couldn't do so before Tom was calling to them.

"Are you kids okay?" the co-host asked in some concern when he saw the tears on the two oldest girls.

"Yeah," Julia said first, just remembering not to wipe away her tears.

"It was the last dance," Mari explained while they walked over to the judge's table.

"Alright… everyone's here," Tom said, glancing around. "And I mean everyone. Just some quick comments from you three."

"I think we're all in agreement," Len said as his fellow judges nodded to him. "It was a very fun song."

"And well-choreographed considering you younger children still aren't in dance classes," Bruno said. "Well, except for you… Eliza?"

"Yeah," the little girl said shyly and with a giggle, hiding behind her sister a bit.

"It was fun too," Carrie-Ann told them. "You had fun right?" She laughed when they all chorused a loud, "Yes!" and then said, "Whose idea was the Victorian setting?" Seeing Julia raising her hand she asked, "What made you think of it?"

"Well," the girl said, hoping her makeup was covering her cheeks enough as she knew she was blushing. "It's more like _The Addams Family_. But not creepy."

"That was an interesting theme," Carrie-Ann said. "Great job, all of you and for keeping in unison."

Julia breathed out a little when Tom was then talking about Oliver and Peta performing next and they stayed until it went to a clip the pair had. She ran down the side of the dance floor the table was on and hugged her mother tightly saying, "That was so fun."

"I know, but you realize it's just the start," Beckett told her firmly.

"Yeah," Julia said, smiling as she pulled away.

"Come on," Beckett told her. "Let's get you changed."

Nodding, Julia went to hug the rest of her family; as her sister was doing; and she embraced her father last before she and Eliza took their mother's hand and went backstage to change for what would be the very last dance of the season.

* * *

"Are you nervous?" Mary asked her wife.

Giving her a mock glare Skye said, "I'm trying not to look."

Laughing Mary said, "Come here," pulling her wife to her. They were in the investigator's dressing room before her Fusion dance and she knew her wife was a bit anxious about it. Once she was close she cupped her face with her hands and kissed her, letting her tongue tease against her wife's.

When she felt Mary's hand grasping her breast firmly, Skye jumped and ended the kiss saying, "Really _grá_?"

"Mmm-hmm," the doctor replied easily, smiling at her wife's obvious arousal. She brushed her lips against hers briefly and said, "You'll remember your steps."

Sighing, Skye went to grab her hat and said, "You'd best hope." She couldn't help smiling at the way Mary laughed and they left the room with their pirate hats in their hands. Luckily everyone that had been on the show and the two other couples still competing against her had agreed to be part of the 'crews' they were having. However, hers and Mary's daughters and Eliza were joining them as well as the show had told her and Derek people were asking on social media for the rest of the kids to join in again and they were going to be part of the crews. Since just she and her partner were dancing it hadn't taken long to get the costumes which meant everything was ready.

"Wow, that's a cool costume!" Clive said as the two women walked out onto the dance floor.

"Thanks, you guys look great too," Skye said with a smile as the kids were all in various forms of pirate ensemble that was meant to look more realistic than costume-y. She herself was wearing a shirt that had billowing sleeves but tight cuffs, the middle unbuttoned down to just above her breasts. She was wearing black trousers but they were loose and ragged at the ends with a bright blue scarf tied around her waist so the ends would swing while she danced. Over that; and only for the beginning of the dance; she was wearing an elaborate coat that was a blue hue. Seeing Derek she smiled, his outfit basically the same as hers though his scarf was only at his waist and was red while his coat was the same color. "We're ready," she stated instead of asking.

"Yeah, everyone's gathering so… let's go," Derek said.

Walking over to the 'ships' that were set up on opposite ends of the dance floor, Skye and Mary went to the one by the stage. "All set?" she asked the kids on their boat.

"Yeah," Julia said first with a smile. "You?"

"I am," Skye said. "Who am I giving this coat to?"

"Me _grá_ ," Mary told her.

"Okay," Skye replied.

Studying the investigator, Julia quickly discerned that she wasn't nervous, just recalling her steps for the dance. Looking down at herself then, she couldn't help smiling as she recalled earlier that day when they'd gone to Disneyland for the rehearsal footage before the Fusion dance though the visit had only lasted a few hours.

* * *

 _"How come we're here?" Julia asked Derek as they were walking after the cast member that was leading them._

 _"You're part of our crews," the pro said with a smile. "And you're small still."_

 _"So we won't damage anything?" Peter asked._

 _"Exactly. Now Skye and I need to be careful," Derek commented._

 _"Oh, that's rich," the investigator herself said with a laugh. "But I can see why someone would go after their phone."_

 _"Here we are," the man said, opening a door. "You guys can go anywhere here but don't walk past this scene okay?"_

 _"You mean near the Jack Sparrow figure?" Skye said to make sure. When the cast member nodded she looked at the Mari and Clive who'd be on that side with Derek._

 _"We'll stay with him," the boy said first._

 _"Okay, let's go," the pro said before they were led across the water._

 _"Let me hear your pirate voices," Skye said to the kids once they were in place at the loot auction on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was just before eight in the morning and they were getting ready with the camera crew from DWTS to film a little scene for their rehearsal footage. They were wearing their costumes for the Fusion dance that night and would stay there for about fifteen minutes to get enough footage and then allowed to go on the ride. They would stay until eleven and have lunch together, still in their costumes._

 _"Arrr!" Peter said._

 _"Oh, too high," Derek said as they all started to laugh. "Arr," he then said._

 _"Belay the arrs," Skye said then. "If you want to be a pirate you mangy scoundrel, you have to speak English."_

 _"King's English?" Mari quipped though she couldn't help blushing. She then groaned with the others and said, "Where's the rum."_

 _"Wait," Derek said, laughing and dropping his accent. "It's better if you kids don't mention rum since…"_

 _"We're kids?" Clive suggested._

 _The group was laughing before the cast member that had brought them let them know the first bateaux was on its way. The kids grew serious before they were looking at Skye or Derek to see what they would say as a final instruction to them._

 _"We know what to do," the former said first, smiling at them. "So just be ready."_

 _Since they had no props, Julia sat next to the red headed pirate while Peter went down a little further from her. Skye was on the steps to their left and readying her prop sword she'd been given for the ride._

 _Julia, turning back to the water, could hear the first bateaux coming towards them and she stood back up quickly, reaching for the 'crate' the crew member had told her she could set on the floor next to the red headed pirate since it had the word rum painted on it. She took a deep breath, setting it on top of a stack of crates that had been created for their time there before she allowed herself to look at the boat that was going by. She wasn't really surprised to find it was their families but was when she realized that Eliza wasn't crying out her name; or Dani for that matter. She focused her attention on the pirate animatronic next to her as Derek on the other side was responding to what she was saying._

 _"We'll gets our rum," the pro said. "Won't we?"_

 _"Aye!" "Aye!" both Mari and Clive said as they were sitting on the steps. They were holding daggers and the former was holding hers up before she lowered it._

 _Julia tried not to smile as the bateaux left them and she turned her attention to Skye as she was calling out to them and she needed to focus her attention on the scene._

 _"Oh, wasn't that amazing," Martha was saying to her son and daughter in law as they could hear Julia back at the scene calling "Gold and silver for rum! No cheatin' the captain or you walk the plank!". "Our little girl's become an actress."_

 _"A pirate… but she's gotten good," Castle commented._

 _"She has," Beckett said in agreement as she was smiling. She looked at Eliza next to her and told her, "Sit straight sweetie, you won't be able to see her."_

 _"She's so lucky," the little girl breathed. "Looking at the pirates up close and everything."_

 _"Yeah," Dani said behind them._

 _They all started to laugh before they were getting to the town burning scene and eventually made it to the loading platform. After they had gotten off they walked together around New Orleans Square, waiting for the kids, Derek and Skye to rejoin them._

 _"Hey!" Julia said, coming up to her parents looking at the window of a store._

 _"Hi sweetie, how was it?" Beckett asked, wrapping her arms around her._

 _"Good," Julia said simply. She then started to laugh, and she said, "I think people were really surprised and weren't sure about us."_

 _"Cool… did they take pictures of you though?" Castle asked._

 _"Dad," Julia said, rolling her eyes though she was smiling. "That's why we had on bandanas and had our faces dirty."_

 _"Okay," Castle said with a sigh before he hugged her to him when she walked over to him._

 _"So can we go on rides now?" Julia and Eliza asked as soon as the former had let go of their father._

 _"Yes, but when we say it's time for lunch we need to go," Beckett told them._

 _"We know, any rides will be good," Julia said. She smiled when her mother playfully pinched her shoulder and she took her hand as they walked over to Thunder Mountain for their first ride._

* * *

 _"Well," Castle said as he watched Josie to make sure she was okay drinking from her bottle that he was giving her. "Considering this was a short trip; a very short trip; we got to go on all the good rides."_

 _"Yeah, that was fun," Eliza said with a smile. "And we could go on them with you 'lexis."_

 _"I'm glad I came," Alexis said. "Though I wish you could have gone through the park for longer," she said to her boyfriend. "And the other park."_

 _"Well, we got to see a good part of it," Louis told her reassuringly. "We could always come back some day."_

 _Julia wanted to ask her parents when they would do that, but she hesitated seeing the way her sister and her boyfriend were looking at one another. She guessed that they were talking about them going by themselves and she smiled a bit before finishing her food. "We really need to go?" she asked._

 _"We can stop one last time at the gift shop on Main Street," Beckett said. "But don't get anything too big since it needs to go in your carryon."_

 _"Okay," Eliza said eagerly._

 _"Just one thing," Beckett said, shaking her head and smiling._

 _"That's okay," Julia said. "I didn't think you would let us go."_

 _"She's done love," Castle told his wife as he gently pulled the bottle from the baby. He tried to set it down on the table hurriedly as Josie was whimpering but before he could get her Jim was taking her out of her highchair._

 _"I've got her," Beckett's father told his son in law. He allowed Castle to put a towel over his shoulder and said, "I'll carry her so we can go."_

 _"Sorry Lizzy," Julia told her sister with a smile. "But I have to practice…"_

 _"Ooh," Eliza said in mock annoyance before she was smiling at her big sister. She got up; as the rest of her family was doing; and went over to Julia saying, "I can't wait."_

 _"Me too," the girl said with a smile. Julia took her sister's hand and they walked with their family and friends, eager to go to the store and get to the show that night when they would get to dance together again._

* * *

"I'm ready," Julia said looking up at Skye as she realized the woman was looking at her.

"Good, we're… about to start," the investigator started to say before she paused when a crew member started to countdown.

"Break a leg," Julia and Peter said together before Marie, Ivy and Eliza said the same almost at the same time.

Laughing, Skye squeezed the shoulders of the kids not related to her before hugging her two daughters for a moment. She only had time for that and turned her attention to the dance floor in front of them where Tom was speaking.

Beckett was only half listening to the co-host as he was introducing the investigator, looking over at Eliza to make sure that she was behaving as they would need to wait. But she was soon looking at the screen as the rehearsal footage was starting and her husband had quickly touched her knee. She wanted to give him a look; since her knees were slightly bared with her blue lace dress on; but he took her hand so she paid attention to what they were showing.

"We're dancing the Tango and Salsa together," Derek was saying to Skye. "And to the song _Atlantic Ocean_."

"I immediately got something for this one," the investigator said in a voice over as it was showing her partner trying out steps. "Pirates, a bit obvious perhaps but hopefully it'll help Derek."

"I'm having some trouble," the pro then said. "I get her idea for this theme… but it's not helping me with steps."

"I have an idea," Skye said, she and her partner in the studio. "When you're speaking of pirates there's only one place you can go."

Eliza giggled and looked at her sister as the footage suddenly jump cut to the investigator and dancer in front of the ride.

"Disneyland!" Skye said, raising her arms.

The screen then showed the pair and the four kids in the ride at the scene, talking and moving like the robots were.

"I don't know why," Derek said as they were off the ride; filmed before the group had gone to lunch as the producer had asked them to get more. "But this has inspired me."

Julia smiled when it then had the pair practicing their steps still in their costumes before Skye was talking.

"With a little more practice," she said while the footage cut to them standing in front of the sandbar and parrot at the queue for the ride. "And these fantastic costumes we'll take over the seven seas!" Skye finished with, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head up. When Derek leaned over and whispered into her ear she then pouted her lips and said, "Or win the trophy, either way. We'll have some fun mateys," winking at the camera before the logo went across the screen and the music began.

Beckett was glad to hear the audience laughing as the announcer then said, "Dancing Fusion, Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough."

"What say you my band of scallywags," the investigator was saying to her 'crew'. "Shall we find our treasure?"

"Aye!" the kids and adults said together.

"Then-" Skye started before there was the sound of a cannon and water splashing. She turned to look across the dance floor and saw that Derek was waving his sword and she went to the edge of the platform of the ship as he spoke.

"Belay that order captain," the dancer called. "We have the map."

Skye looked back and said to Derek, "Let us parley and see whose map is real."

As soon as the investigator finished speaking, the music began and she and her partner were taking off their coats before climbing down from their 'ships' and they walked towards each other. They met at the middle of the floor and the second verse of the song began as the show had wanted it to start there. On the first lyric they were getting into hold and walking towards the stage before Derek dipped her. As the second lyric was being sung, he then picked her up and spun her while he held her before setting her down. The third lyric had them back in hold and Derek dipped Skye and the rest of the verse; with the same lyric repeated three times before a different final one; they were going around the dance floor in their Tango steps.

 _British pirate ruled the seas  
From Trinidad to Bimini  
Now he has eternity to feel  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm, the rhythm_

When the next verse started, Skye walked away from Derek, but he hurried after her and then began dancing with her. They were dancing the rest of the verse in Salsa steps and at the end he was lifting her up before she went into the splits and she was dancing away from him.

 _Ocean liners come and go  
Sending sailors to and fro  
Whale and dolphin down below  
Listen to the rhythm_

The next verse Skye and Derek were alternating between Tango steps and then Salsa steps. At the beginning they were dancing side by side before Skye went into sliding splits and her partner picked her up so they could dance the Salsa. They danced slight variations on that until they were finishing the verse.

 _Foreign artist stows away  
Wants to reach the USA  
Lives to paint another day  
And feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Listen to the rhythm_

The next verse started immediately after and on that first lyric Derek spun Skye before getting her into hold and they were using Tango steps for the next two lyrics. On the fourth lyric, with a heavier beat, they had parted and were walking together in time to it. When they got back into hold they were dancing the last lyrics as the Salsa though going back into hold for a Tango step at the very end.

"Think he's enjoying this?" Castle murmured to his wife.

"Shh," Beckett said, trying not to laugh as she wasn't really surprised at the fact that her husband was asking since Paul was on the other side of her. She was watching the pair on the dance floor, after glancing quickly at the girls, before the singer was murmuring something next to her.

"Odd not to perform," Paul said jokingly. He smiled at Beckett when she glanced at him and then turned back so he wouldn't miss the dance.

 _Off the bus from Penny Lane  
Young musicians took a plane  
Got invited back again  
Uh, uh, uh  
To feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Uh, feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm, uh-uh_

On the last verse of the song, Skye and Derek were again alternating between their Tango and Salsa steps. The first and second lyrics they were dancing forward in a Tango step before Derek spun his partner. Dancing the Salsa face to face, they ended the song, with instrumentals and vocals from Paul, with Derek picking up Skye as she extended her legs into the splits.

 _The rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm of the Atlantic Ocean  
Feel the rhythm  
Uh, uh uh-uh-uh_

When the music ended Skye was being held by Derek with her right leg up and she had taken a piece of paper from his pocket before that point. "We're going after the treasure mates!" she called to her 'crew' before the audience started to applaud in earnest. "Why did they wait?" she asked Derek laughingly.

"I don't know," he replied, laughing as well. He hugged her and said, "Great job."

"I don't like the look on Len's face," Skye then said.

"We'll see what he says," Derek said. When she nodded he took her hand and let her wave to everyone on the two ships before they were heading to the judge's table.

"Alright, Len let's hear from you first," Tom was saying.

"I have to admit there was something with your last bit of the Tango I wasn't too sure about," the British judge said. He looked around as the audience was booing and then said, "I think it was your feet, but before that I quite enjoyed it. You dance very well for a pirate."

"Thank you," Skye said, nodding her head.

"Carrie-Ann?" Tom said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said to Len. "I thought it was amazing and a lot of fun. You managed to blend the two dances very well and the steps suited you Skye. Great job."

"Bruno, very quickly," Tom added.

"I think you were fantastic; your foot placement was spot on and you are a merry band of pirates!" the judge said exuberantly.

"Okay, let's get your scores," Tom said with a laugh.

Beckett, wrapping her arm around Julia as the girls had come to them, watched as Carrie-Ann was holding up a ten for the first paddle. She smiled as her daughter was jumping up and down before Len was called on to give his score.

"Shh," Castle said, trying not to laugh too hard as both girls were yelling at the nine on the paddle. "Even if she gets another nine she's tied with Eddie," he was quick to remind them. He was relieved though when the last paddle from Bruno was a ten and he hugged Eliza since she was with him. "Go," he told the girls since they needed to change for the flight after the show. He squeezed his wife's hand in passing, watching her go with their middle daughters with a smile before he leaned over to speak with Paul and Ringo over the commercial break.

* * *

"After ten weeks of competition the winner is…" Tom began to say with Skye and Derek to his and Erin's right and Eddie and Emma to their left. Jonathon and Whitney had been eliminated at the halfway point of the show and the episode was nearly over, the winner needing to be announced.

Beckett could feel her daughter's hand squeeze at hers and she glanced over at Julia, trying not to smile at the slight anxiety on her face. But she knew how she felt as they were all hoping the investigator could win. She turned her attention back to the dance floor, hoping that the winner would finally be announced as it was taking far too long.

Tom let that go on for a bit longer before he finally said, "Skye and Derek!"

The investigator couldn't help the scream that left her lips as she nearly knelt on the floor and she turned to her partner as she quickly stood. Hugging him as tightly as she could she said, "I didn't think…"

"Luckily you were wrong," Derek told her before they let each other go.

"Skye deserves to win," Eddie was ending his interview with Erin then. He laughed when the investigator rushed over to him and he embraced her back. "Congratulations Skye," he told her honestly.

"Thank you, but I really thought they loved you and Emma," the investigator said.

Eddie merely smiled and he turned to Derek while his partner was sharing a brief hug with the investigator.

"How are you feeling?" Tom said once he was talking to Skye and Derek, standing in front of the small table where the trophy was.

"Exhausted but very happy," the investigator said, swiping away the tears that had been in her eyes and finally spilled over. "And thank you to my wife, our family and friends. The judges for the scores since that was part of the purpose," she added with a laugh. "And of course the voters, we would not be here right now without you all."

"Congratulations and I believe this is yours," Tom said, lifting the mirror ball trophy and handing it over.

Her tears forgotten; Skye raised the trophy with Derek as the audience was reacting. She could see her family and friends, including everyone from NTSB West who were behind her family and the Hamptons kids' families. She waved at them all as Tom and Erin were talking about the next season and they could lower the trophy. She cried out when she suddenly felt someone lifting her up and smiled at Val who was doing so with Keo helping. She waved before Tristan and Artem were doing the same with Derek and she gave him a high five before they were waving to the cameras and singing with the song playing over the credits.

"Oh Mom, I'm so happy," Julia said when the cameras were off.

"Us too," Kathleen said jokingly near them.

Laughing Julia hugged her and said, "Now you're gonna have the trophy in your house."

"I know…" Marie said as she had been listening to them. "Mom-"

"We'll think about that later," Mary said with a smile. "Come on."

As they made their way over to Skye and Derek, Beckett held onto her daughter's hand to keep her from running. But as she got the chance to hug her friend she couldn't help feeling the same excitement she knew the investigator was going through as she let her hold the trophy. It was only briefly, but because Skye allowed Julia to hold it; along with basically everyone in their group; she didn't mind and knew they'd have more time once they made their way back to New York City.


	52. Feel The Rhythm (Part 2)

"Come on," Skye was saying to Julia.

"What?" the girl asked in surprise.

"The four of you will come with us," Skye said.

"Don't worry," Eddie told the kids as they were gathering at the door of the bus as it was slowing down. "They love you little imps."

"Thanks Eddie," Julia said, smiling at him. She looked ahead at the door, a little shocked at how it was Wednesday, the twenty-fifth and they were back in the city. "This should be fun," she said to her friends.

"Yeah, and at least we're close to home," Clive commented.

"And at least we're not here for the whole show," Peter said. "So we can go back faster."

Julia laughed before the doors were opening and Jonathon and Emma stepped out first. She was surprised when Skye was urging her and her friends and they stepped out onto a red carpet in pairs. She was a little shocked at the people that were on either side of them but remembered to wave and smile as the investigator had told them quickly before they managed to go through the cheering people inside the building.

Beckett was with Castle and Eliza and the rest of the McDouglases last off the bus, but she was surprised when the people were still cheering before she realized it was for the kids. She smiled and looked at her second youngest, seeing her waving before they were going inside.

"Did they know me Mommy?" Eliza asked as they were being led to where they needed to go for the show.

"I think so," Beckett said before she let her husband pick her up. When they had gone through halls after getting off an elevator they came to the studio of _GMA_ and were pointed to some chairs near the ones set up on the clear space.

"Josa's okay, right Mommy?" Eliza asked.

"She's fine," Castle answered before his wife could. The baby was back at the loft, Jim and Martha taking her as they were exhausted after the late flight and would watch the show as they were watching the baby and dogs.

"Why are we here?" Julia whispered to Skye as they were sitting on chairs too with the four couples.

"It's alright," the investigator told her soothingly before they looked in front of them as the show was being counted back in.

"We have here the final four of _Dancing With the Stars_ ," the entertainment anchor, Lara Spencer was saying.

"And we have four special guests," the co-head anchor Robin Roberts added. "The Hamptons troupe!"

Julia could feel her cheeks were flushed as the people in the studio applauding, but she loved the fact their families were doing that too. She watched as the two women were talking to the other three couples, wondering what they would say to Skye and Derek once they got to them.

"Before we get to our winners," Robin said. "We want to speak with the troupe. Would you introduce yourselves and your ages?"

"I'm Marianne Foster," Mari said first, smiling at Julia when she had to start over since she'd nearly whispered at first. "And I'm ten."

"I'm her partner, Clive Lennox," Clive said with a wide smile. "And I'm ten too."

"I'm Julia Beckett-Castle," Julia said, wondering what her parents would say about that since the show had only used her father's name. "And I'm eleven."

"I'm Peter Waterson," Peter said. "Her partner and I'm eleven too."

"Yes, give it up for the little imps," Eddie called out before they were laughing.

"So you're all dancers here in New York," Lara said. "How did it feel getting to dance on the show?"

"Really cool," Julia said, not surprised when her friends looked over at her. "We've all watched the show so… it was great. And great to work with Derek," she hurried to say at the end.

"And how was it for you," Robin directed to Derek. "Working with kids this season?"

"It was fun," the dancer said with a nod. "Not just them but Skye's five daughters and Julia's little sister. They were all eager to learn so I had no problems."

"As opposed to me," Skye said slyly before they were laughing again.

"Is it alright if we meet the other children too?" Robin asked. "Just an introduction," she added as the investigator was looking over at the people watching.

"Sure," Skye said, seeing her wife nodding and beginning to urge their daughters over to her.

Julia, watching her parents, saw that Eliza was hugging their mother and she smiled as she came over to her. "It's okay," she whispered, holding her hand as soon as her little sister reached her.

"Okay, these are the six children," Lara said to the camera once the McDouglas girls were around Skye. "That joined the Hamptons troupe for their Freestyle last night. Let's start with the youngest."

Feeling her sister burying her face into her shoulder Julia whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, just say your name and how old you are."

"I'm Eliza," the little girl finally said shyly.

"She's five," Julia said with a smile as she saw the way her sister was biting her lower lip.

"Thank you for telling us," Robin said with a smile. "What about your daughters?" she then asked Skye.

"I'm Ivy," the little girl said. "I'm seven. And this is my twin sister Iris."

"I'm Fleur," the little girl said next. "I am the same age."

"I'm Marie-" the girl began.

"And I'm Kathleen," she interrupted, smiling at her twin. "We're almost ten."

"Have any of you had any experience with dance like the troupe has?" Robin asked them. She saw one hand raising and she said, "What have you done Eliza?"

"I dance with my sister," the little girl said with a smile.

"In the same class?" Robin then said. When the little girl nodded she smiled and said, "It showed. But none of you had that experience," she directed to the other girls.

"Which shows you how good Derek is," Skye commented with a smile, laughing when her daughters all nodded in agreement.

"Okay, we're going to take a break and when we're back we'll direct things to Skye and Derek," Robin said to the camera. "And stay tuned for special performances from the _Dancing With the Stars_ finalists."

While the show was on commercial, Skye took her daughters back to Mary and Liam before Mary stepped forward to get a mic. Eliza; at the same time; was going back to her parents, wrapping her arms around Castle's neck tightly once she'd reached them.

"You did a great job," he told her, hugging her tightly and helping her onto her chair in between him and Beckett.

"Thanks Daddy," Eliza said shyly though she was smiling at the same time. "When will they dance?" she asked.

"Soon," Beckett said, smiling herself when her daughter immediately turned to her and hugged her tightly. She then looked over at Julia, seeing that she was talking with Derek and Peter at the same time before Mari and Clive joined them. She managed to get the chance to wave to her daughter, watching her hurry back to her chair as they were told they were coming back from commercial.

"Welcome back to our _Dancing With the Stars_ After Party," Robin said when it was motioned to her that they were back. "We're talking right now to NTSB Investigator and singer; who was the champion last night; Skye McDouglas and her partner Derek Hough. I mention the NTSB," she said, directing the last to the investigator. "As we have a special message for you Skye."

Her brow furrowing, the investigator looked over at the screen that was near them and she watched as it went from the logo for _GMA_ to Doug Feith and three of her colleagues.

"We're very proud of you Skye," Feith said first. "And we're more than happy you were able to win."

"You were the best dancer," another man that was there said.

"And we have something for you," a woman with the four men said.

Skye broke out into heavy laughter as she watched her colleagues holding up an NTSB jacket, though the yellow letters had been bedazzled with sequins.

"Will you wear that?" Lara asked when the footage ended.

"No," Skye said, laughing again. "I wouldn't hear the end of it from DC. But that was so sweet of them to say, thank you so much, all of you."

"They were in the audience last night, weren't they?" Robin then asked.

"Most everyone who's an investigator," Skye replied, smiling. "They weren't hard to spot."

"Yes, we have a picture from last night," Lara said.

"Hmm… Skye I'm having some trouble," Eddie said jokingly as the picture on the screen was of everyone from NTSB West, with their jackets on. "Where are they?"

"They're a grand bunch," Skye said with a wide smile.

"So the trophy," Robin said as the picture went off the screen. "What are you going to do with it?"

"No clue," Skye said with a laugh. "When we get back home we'll definitely look around."

"And that brings us to your wife," Robin then said. "Also, the fact that you're the first gay woman to win on the show."

Nodding Skye said, "I'd thought of that, but it was more to win for my wife and children."

"And how was it dancing with your wife?" Lara said. "For your Flamenco?"

"So fun," Skye said earnestly.

"I feel the same," Mary said with a laugh as Robin and Lara were looking at her. "I didn't think we'd have the chance so… I suppose it was a dream come true though that is a little cliché."

The two women then began speaking with Derek before they went to a commercial again and everyone was getting up so the crew could take the chairs and leave a space for the dances. The kids waved at their parents during that time, before they stood with the other stars and dancers.

"Welcome back to the After Party," Lara said.

"We have some performances from the finalists of the show," Robin took up. "First will be Daisy and Sasha, dancing their Argentine Tango."

Julia watched with a smile as the pair were dancing, to a recent song by Sia, before Jonathon and Whitney went next. She was cheering everyone but she and her friends; along with Skye; were a little louder with Eddie and Emma. When they had finished she went with her friends to hug the actor before rushing to be ready when the show came back from another commercial.

"And now our special performance," Lara said. "Skye and Derek plus the Hamptons troupe. Very quickly," she said to the four kids at the end. "Which was your favorite dance that you did."

"Jive!" the four said before the music of the song started.

Beckett shared a smile with Castle as Eliza was squealing since the group had practiced when they'd been in the airport and they knew the song was from Queen. But seeing it all together she had to admire Derek's ability to choreograph so quickly as the three pairs were dancing until the first verse.

On the first lyric the six were dancing together in unison, mostly kicks and flicks all the way through to the instrumental between that verse and the next.

 _This thing called love I just can't handle it  
This thing called love I must get round to it  
I ain't ready  
Crazy little thing called love_

When the music stopped all three pairs did the same before the other two left Julia and Peter there and the two spent the first two lyrics dancing some kicks and flicks. After that they started to walk forward together before he was helping Julia into a sliding split before she came up and kicked out her right leg. That brought them to the last four lyrics and there Mari and Clive joined them and the boys spun the girls on the fifth lyric. With the sixth they were shaking themselves before going into their kicks and flicks to finish off the verse.

 _This thing (this thing)  
Called love (called love)  
It cries (like a baby)  
In a cradle all night  
It swings (woo woo)  
It jives (woo woo)  
It shakes all over like a jelly fish  
I kinda like it  
Crazy little thing called love_

Skye hurried over to the girls as the boys had left them and they linked arms, walking to where Derek was standing with Peter and Clive, his hands on their shoulders while their arms were crossed over their chests. Skye and the girls turned together to the left of them and walked away, letting go of each other's arms. That was the first two lyrics of the verse before Derek and the boys were following them. Once they'd caught up with them on the third lyric they were grabbing their partner's hands and then spinning them towards them so they could hold them. On the last lyric they were dancing a couple kicks and flicks before they stopped.

 _There goes my baby  
She knows how to rock and roll  
She drives me crazy  
She gives me hot and cold fever  
Then she leaves me in a cool cool sweat_

Skye and Derek, alone then as the kids had left them, came together on the first lyric and they danced close, rocking their hips before they did some slower kicks and flicks into the second lyric. When they reached the third they were back in hold and for that one mimicking a Tango before they were rocking their hips as they spun around for the next lyric. They did a kick and flick before standing side by side and doing the same thing before they came back together for the last lyric, kicking and flicking until the kids were rejoining them.

 _I gotta be cool, relax, get hip  
And get on my tracks  
Take a back seat, hitchhike  
And take a long ride on my motorbike  
Until I'm ready  
Crazy little thing called love_

There was an instrumental then and the six were dancing it all the way through. When the beat changed, Skye and Derek started to clap their hands in time to it as they walked around. The kids were doing the same, walking around everyone at the edge of the space before they were too. That continued as Skye and Derek came together and they were dancing the same as they had the verse before; though at the ' _ready Freddie_ ' lyric they were stopping and nodding to each other.

 _I gotta be cool, relax, get hip  
And get on my tracks  
Take a back seat (ah hum), hitchhike (ah hum)  
And take a long ride on my motorbike  
Until I'm ready (ready Freddie)  
Crazy little thing called love_

On the last lyric, Mari and Clive were dancing on their own but the other two pairs were coming back to them and they danced their kicks and flicks through the rest of the song though Derek and the boys were spinning their partners once. As the final lyric of the song was being repeated until it faded out, Skye and Derek were left alone to dance which were kicks and flicks before he grabbed her and dipped her a bit as she bent her right leg up towards him.

 _This thing called love I just can't handle it  
This thing called love I must get round to it  
I ain't ready  
Crazy little thing called love_

 _Crazy little thing called love  
Crazy little thing called love  
Crazy little thing called love  
Crazy little thing called love  
Crazy little thing called love_

As the audience and the others from the show were applauding, Robin called out, "We have a surprise for the kids."

Julia, having heard that, looked over in surprise and gasped when she saw that Eddie and Daisy were walking over to them with four tiny versions of the mirror ball trophy in their hands.

"These are for you," Derek said. "Made by the same people who make the larger one."

"Congratulations!" Skye called.

Taking her trophy, Julia could feel tears of joy welling up in her eyes and she whispered a thank you to Derek. She was relieved when the show went to commercial then as she was able to take the trophy over to her parents and sisters.

"Wow, that's really cool," Alexis said, seeing that her sister's name was on the small plaque on the bottom along with _Season 27_ etched underneath.

"I know," Julia said. "Could I put it with my other trophies?"

"Of course you can," Beckett said, hugging her. She kissed her cheek and then said, "Did you hear what Robin said?"

"No," Julia replied, looking confused.

"She's gonna sing!" Eliza said eagerly.

Julia looked at her parents but before either of them could say anything she was rushing back to her friends, startled as she was going to see the rest of the O'Dells were there. She got there just in time to watch Robin as she welcomed the audience back and then explained what her parents had just told her about.

"For our second special performance," Robin said. "We have with us the band The Rambling O'Dells." She smiled as the audience was applauding before she said, "And we have a request via Twitter."

Skye shared a look with her wife and Jackie before they were looking at the screen as Robin was reading it.

" _Loved the performance of George's song in concert_ ," the co-host anchor said. " _Would you take on_ See Yourself. And that is from Oliva and Dhani Harrison, who are here right now in the studio with us via satellite."

"Hello again," Skye said, waving at the two on the screen that had appeared.

"Hello," Olivia said, her son echoing her. "We've been watching your performances and we would love to hear you sing something from George again."

"Especially that one," Dhani said.

"Can you?" Lara asked them.

"Oh sure," Skye said easily, smiling. She then turned to Raj, watching to make sure that he had everything ready with his keyboard; that and Barry's drums set up during the commercial. "Okay, one two three!" she called to the others before they began to play the instrumental until she stepped up to the mic in front of her and began to sing.

 _It's easier to tell a lie than it is to tell the truth  
It's easier to kill a fly than it is to turn it loose  
It's easier to criticize somebody else  
Than to see yourself_

 _It's easier to give a sigh and be like all the rest  
Who stand around and crucify you while you do your best  
It's easier to see the books upon the shelf  
Than to see yourself_

Looking at each other, Castle and Beckett didn't say anything to the glances they were getting from some people around them at the second to last line. They knew the song already; from Julia; and they hoped the others wouldn't turn to them again as Skye started to sing again with the others joining her.

 _It's easier to hurt someone and make them cry  
Than it is to dry their eyes  
_ _I got tired of fooling around with other people's lies  
Rather I'd find someone that's true_

 _It's easier to say you won't than it is to feel you can  
It's easier to drag your feet than it is to be a man  
It's easier to look at someone else's wealth  
Than to see yourself, ooh_

During the instrumental, Skye stayed close to her mic as she sang, " _See yourself_ ," shortly after before she was focusing on playing her guitar. She did her best not to look at the screen where Olivia and Dhani still were, as she only had one more verse before the song was over.

 _It's easier to see the books upon the shelf  
Than to see yourself, ooh  
It's easier to criticize somebody else  
Than to see yourself, ooh_

Julia was applauding with the others around her, smiling when she saw that George's wife and son were doing the same. She felt disappointed the show was almost over and the 'after party' was probably over but Dhani was soon calling over the satellite link.

"I wonder if there's enough time for one last song," he said.

"There is," Robin said as the band all looked at her at the same time.

" _True Love_?" Dhani said.

Skye laughed and said, "Right, quick one that. We've sung it how your dad covered it before." She looked at the co-host anchor and when Robin nodded she talked quickly to the rest of the band and then grabbed a guitar slide from Raj. When she was back at her mic she nodded to the others and they played in together a second later. She was playing the slide over the guitar until she turned her attention to the lyrics, seeing hers and Mary's daughters and the Hamptons kids were dancing together.

 _You give to me and I give to you  
True love, it's a true love  
So on and on it will always be  
True love, it's a true love_

 _For you and I have a guardian angel  
On high with nothing to do  
But to give to me and to give to you  
A love forever true, it's a love forever true_

Playing her slide guitar more prominently, Skye smiled at her wife before they were stepping to their mics to sing the next, short, verse together before they were singing the last verse of the song.

 _True love, it's a true love  
True love, true love_

 _For you and I have a guardian angel  
On high with nothing to do  
But to give to me and to give to you  
A love forever true, a love forever true  
It's a love forever true_

Taking the end of the song as far as they could, Skye said while they were playing out, "Thank you Olivia, Dhani. And thank you George!"

As the show was going to commercial, Derek and the other three pairs went over to Skye and standing together they thanked the show before Robin was talking about what would be next.

When the cameras were off, Julia hurried to her parents and sisters and said, "Can we go home?"

"Soon," Beckett said, smiling when her daughter frowned. "I know how you feel," she then whispered into the girl's ear. "But it'll be as soon as we can leave." She was relieved when Julia nodded and she looked for Skye to see if they could go, wanting to get back to their house after nearly three full months gone.

* * *

 _November 25_ _th_ _, 2020 5:40pm_

 _Hello again from home Diary!_

 _Oh, I'm so, so happy to be back in my room (though I miss Mari already, it was so great to get to spend the night with her so much)! And guess what?_

 _SKYE AND DEREK WON!_

 _Sorry about the yelling but that's something that needed it. Oh it was so close, but they got a little more than Eddie and Emma on the last night and her Freestyle was awesome (well… they all were and they all got perfect scores that night). And I'm not just saying that 'cause I was in it. I did get to meet Maria Menunous because of Skye and Derek's Freestyle and she's so nice. And she's okay, she was dancing with us and everything. But the minute they said Skye's name was… amazing I guess is the best word I can think of. And Skye was crying a little bit when that happened, but I don't blame her._

 _After that we basically went to the airport right away since we had our things in the cars already. We ate dinner at_ ¡Lotería! Grill _(we really went there, I'm not just putting it 'cause of the upside down exclamation point, but I do think it's cool), one last time having Mexican food while we were in California (but Mom and Dad say we'll go back to the state, I think we have to, we remember it now so much from our past lives). But the coolest thing was we were with Derek, Eddie, Emma, Jonathon, Whitney, Daisy and Sharna! I had dinner with pro dancers!_

 _When we got to our gate we had a while before the flight so we had a lot of fun dancing together to practice our stuff and then we flew. It was so funny, the flight attendants let Eddie do to the safety thing where we sat, and they were all laughing. But then he announced Skye and Derek were there and the winners and everyone was applauding for them. At the start once we took off people came over to them to get autographs (a couple asked Mary and Mom and Dad, plus one girl came up to me which was nice, she asked about our next book and luckily it'll come out next month!). But the rest of the flight we were sleeping which was hard 'cause I was really ready to go home._

 _When we got to the city there was a bus there; the one they always use to take the stars and dancers to the studios for_ GMA _. We got to go too and we started dancing around when we were closer to the building since there was a camera there. But we got there and of course they talked to everyone before talking to Skye and Derek. There they had me, Mari, Peter and Clive introduce ourselves and say our ages and then had Lizzy and the McDouglas girls do the same. So we were on TV! And then we did our Jive to the Queen song,_ Crazy Little Thing Called Love _. That was so, so fun to get to do since we were dancing with Skye and Derek too. After that The Rambling O'Dells sang two songs that Olivia and Dhani asked them to sing (they were on the TV since they're in England still)-_ See Yourself _and_ True Love _. Both songs are sooo good and the band sang-no, performed them sooo well!_

 _I almost forgot! After we did that Jive they gave us little mirror ball trophies of our own. They have our names on them and everything. I have mine already with my other dancing trophies and it looks so cool, right in the middle of the bookcase._

 _And then after the show we got to come home!_

 _It was fun to get to take our clothes out and put them back in our own closets and dressers. And not have to pack for a long time! (Oh… I just remembered Mom and Dad are going to Tahiti on Sunday so they're going to have to pack. But since they're gonna be alone and it's only until Friday that same week I don't think they'll care) I can't wait to sleep in my own bed and I know Lizzy is happy too. I almost forgot about 'lexis and Louis, they're going to stay at their townhouse of course, but we're going to have dinner all together. And Gram is staying too until after the New Year since her classes aren't starting up again until then. And the McDouglases are here until Sunday (they're leaving at JFK to fly with Mom and Dad) and we're all here for Thanksgiving._

 _I have to go (remember the time I put up at the top?), it's time for dinner and it's with everyone so I want to go. I'll write soon diary!_

Setting her diary back in her desk drawer, Julia smiled at that before she shook herself and hurried out of her room. "I'm coming Gram," she said as her grandmother was standing at the bottom of the staircase. "I didn't think I would have so much to write," she said once she'd reached her on the first floor.

"Well… I think a lot happened," Martha said with a smile, wrapping her arm around her. "Dinner hasn't been delivered yet, but your parents will let you feed Josie if you want to."

"Oh! Sure," Julia said eagerly, hurrying over to the kitchen.

"Did you finish your diary?" Eliza asked when she saw her big sister.

"Yeah…" Julia said, looking around. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"In their office," Alexis said as she was taking two jars of baby food over to the table where their baby sister was sitting in her highchair already with a bib around her neck. "But they'll be out soon."

"What's Josa having today?" Eliza asked eagerly. "I wanna tell her." When Alexis showed her the two jars she said, "You get butter…"

"Butternut," Julia whispered to her.

"Butternut squash," Eliza said, looking over at her sisters. When they nodded she then said, "And for dessert apples."

"Abab," Josie vocalized before she squealed.

"You better feed her," Castle said as he was following Beckett out of their office. "She sounds like she's hungry."

Trying not to roll her eyes when the girls were playing Roshambo for their turns, Beckett said, "Okay, you won Eliza, you can feed her the squash." She looked for the wet towel they used to try to keep the baby's face a little cleaner when she saw Alexis walking over with it.

"I'm fine," the young woman said. "I'll keep an eye on them."

"Thank you," Castle told her. "But we have nothing to do."

"Like the song," Julia said with a smile, looking over from Eliza feeding another spoonful of food to Josie.

"I'm surprised they did that," Castle said.

"And that they picked the second song," Alexis said. "That's just a cover song and a lot of people don't know about it."

"That's likely the point," Beckett said. She heard Louis calling her oldest's name and she said, "Shouldn't you go with him."

"Yes," Alexis said with a smile as she handed the towel to her mother. "Thank you, Ma."

"You're welcome," Beckett replied, watching her go before she sat in her chair. "Hold still Josie."

"Guys," Castle said to Max and Molly. "She's not giving you anything. "Or you guys," he added when he saw the other dogs coming over from their water bowls.

"Careful," Julia said suddenly. "Don't let her take the… spoon," she began before the baby was doing just that.

"Okay, so she'll give you a little bit but that's it," Castle said as the dogs were licking at the floor together.

"Rick, get them another spoon," Beckett said, taking the one Josa was still holding. She kissed her cheek and then got up to put it by the sink before her husband was handing her a new one. They shared a quick kiss and she went back to the girls so Josie could finish her dinner.

"How come she doesn't make a mess with you?" Eliza said in a slightly complaining tone.

Shaking her head Julia said, "It's because she knows it's sweet."

"I don't think so," Beckett said with a smile, smoothing down a lock of Josie's hair that was sticking up slightly. "She knows you're a little more serious."

"Can I take her?" Eliza asked eagerly when Beckett told Julia to stop.

"Yes, but make sure Julia walks with you," Castle said. He was about to speak again when the chime for the gate rang and he said, "Actually give her to an adult to put back in her chair."

"I'll get it," Beckett said, smiling at her husband since he was wiping off the highchair. She hurried down to the entry, pausing for a moment when she saw that Skye was about to open the door. "Rosie," she said swiftly.

"Oh… don't do that," Skye said as she looked back at her. "You scared me."

"That was the point," Beckett said simply before she was opening the door and paying for dinner.

"I wasn't about to pay," Skye said once the deliveryman had left. "You were adamant about that."

"Dinner's here," Beckett called as they were passing the family room. She and the investigator took it into the kitchen and they were setting it out together as Castle was sitting at the table with Josie.

"Kate-" he started to say uncomfortably while watching the two women.

"Someone needs to watch the baby love," Beckett said simply, smiling at him.

"And she seems to be having fun with you," Skye commented.

Looking at Josie, since she was holding onto his index finger, Castle said, "I guess you're right. But you don't need any help?"

"We're fine," Beckett said. "Girls," she called.

"Let my oldest help Julia," Skye told her quickly. When her friend nodded she then called, "Marie, Kath. Help Julia set the table."

After the kids had set the dining room table, which just barely fit them all, they got their food while some adults helped carry Josie until they were going to the large table.

"To you guys coming here for Thanksgiving," Castle said as a toast before he glanced at his wife.

"It's okay," Beckett said soothingly as she'd gotten word from Darnley that he and his family were going to stay for the holiday in DC since his in-laws had decided to stay instead of going on their trip. "I'll see him at Christmas and that's only a month away."

Castle wanted to say something about that, but he found she was right and Darnley would still be working. So he nodded and said, "I am sorry though."

"I'm aware," Beckett said, taking his hand and squeezing it. "And you don't need to be but it's sweet." She then turned her attention to the others and said, "How's the food?"

"Good," Mary said first. "When are you going back to San Francisco?"

"Why are you asking me that? That's been my daughter's job lately," Beckett said jokingly, smiling over at Julia at the end of the table with the kids, laughing when the girl wrinkled her nose at her.

"I get the feeling you think about this with having Dim Sum," Mary said.

"Chinese is your favorite isn't it?" Skye asked her.

"It's always been," Jim commented.

Though she wanted to say that didn't mean anything, Beckett merely smiled before she said, "And yours?"

"That and Mexican," Skye said. "Though I have lived both lives in California so… that would stand to reason I believe."

"I think we should talk about something," Castle said as he'd been watching his wife. He knew she wasn't uncomfortable but was aware she wanted the change in subject and when she smiled at him he knew that for sure.

"How's the weather supposed to be while we're here?" Liam asked.

"Cold of course but sunny," Martha said. She smiled when her son and daughter in law looked at her and she explained saying, "Our younger guests were wondering if it would snow."

"Not yet?" Beckett asked, as she'd meant to check on the weather but hadn't found the time for it.

"No… there was a chance on Monday but that's not for sure of course," Martha said.

"Are you riding tomorrow morning?" Skye then asked.

"We are," Beckett said with a nod. "Only join us if you want to though."

"Girls," Castle then said to Julia and Eliza. "If you're too tired then you shouldn't come."

"He's right, we can go another time of course," Beckett said. "I just need to see the horses."

"Mom," Julia said softly after they were quiet for a while. When she looked at her she smiled a little and asked, "Can I go for sure? I need to see Lottie, the pony is gonna be born any day now."

"I was going to tell you, you should come," Beckett replied with a nod. "So that means we can't stay up that late."

"I know, I don't mind," Julia said.

Castle was expecting more after that but when the girl was silent he picked up some chow mein with his chopsticks before Julia was saying, "We will tomorrow night anyway," which made him start to laugh. "Sorry," he said when he noticed the others were looking at him. "I had a feeling she'd say that."

"What do we get to do tonight?" Marie asked.

"You can play," Skye said.

"But let Julia and Eliza lead you," Mary then commented.

"We know it's their house Mom," Kathleen said, rolling her eyes before she smiled.

"But we'll go to bed at your normal bedtime," Skye was adding. "Never mind we're three hours behind at home."

"I think they realized that already lass," Liam told his daughter when his two oldest granddaughters rolled their eyes.

"And they knew I was joking already," Skye said.

With some laughter the family went back to their meal and just when they finished Josie was starting to fuss. Castle and Beckett stood up immediately but before the latter could reach for the baby Martha was speaking.

"Allow me," she told them.

"Are you sure?" Beckett asked, getting the baby out of the chair and handing her over to her mother in law.

"Of course," Martha said. "Are you giving her a bath?" When both her son and daughter in law nodded she smiled and said, "I'll bring her back down."

"Let us clean up," Alexis said, she and Louis standing.

"We'll pitch in," Mary said then.

Beckett wanted to protest but she stopped herself, knowing that they wouldn't take no from her so she allowed them to do that before she and Castle helped get the plates over to the kitchen and they got the things ready for the baby's bath. She was waiting for Martha to come back as her husband was putting away the food with Louis and she walked over to the stairs.

"Here she is, warm and safe," Castle's mother said, showing her youngest granddaughter in her warmest bathrobe.

"You undressed her?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Oh of course," Martha said. "Would you mind if I held her until the water is ready?"

"No, do you want to give her her bath?" Beckett replied with a question.

Shaking her head Martha said, "She wants her mother."

"She told you?" Castle asked, coming up behind his wife.

"Of course she did," Martha said, watching as the others were walking by to head into the family room. "Here, I'll join my other granddaughters."

"Thank you, Martha," Beckett said as she made sure Josie was secure in her arms.

"I'll get the water ready," Castle said, hurrying to the sink which Skye had cleaned for him after everything from dinner had been washed. He set up the tub and filled it with water once a towel was on the counter next to it and the baby's things for the bath were there as well. He watched his wife open the bathrobe on Josie and said, "It's a shame." When Beckett looked at him he hurried to get the matching booties off the baby's feet and said, "She makes such a cute giraffe."

Beckett shook her head, smiling at the same time, and then let her husband take off the robe that had a hood to make it look like the animal along with the pattern on the rest of it. She set the baby into the water and motioned to her husband, not surprised when he looked startled for a moment.

Recovering quickly, as he knew she was serious, Castle hurried to the tub and stood where his wife had been. He then started to rinse Josie off, smiling when she did so back at him and he couldn't help leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. "You can tell we're at home, can't you?" he asked.

"I'm guessing that's a yes?" Beckett said as the baby let out a gurgle.

"Of course it is," Castle said, letting her squeeze out some of the baby shampoo onto his hand. He washed Josie's hair gently, telling her all about how if she wanted to learn to dance with her sisters he would be very happy. "I know it's not a for sure thing," he said as he rinsed her hair when he finished with the conditioner for her. "But if you did we'd be happy." He then started to wash her body with soap on a washcloth and asked his wife, "What about her tomorrow?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "I'd like her to stay here; get used to the weather a little more until we take her outside for very long."

Nodding Castle told Josie, "You'll have a lot of fun. I'm sure your gram will stay in at least; you can play with her." He smiled when the baby yawned and said, as he was picking her up out of the water, "But first you should get some sleep."

Watching her husband drying Josie off, Beckett got the robe ready for him and she asked, "Do you want to get her dressed?"

"Sure," Castle said. "Bring her back down?"

"No," Beckett said, speaking absently as they were watching the rest of their family coming to them. She watched as they were saying goodnight to Josie and once they had finished; saying I love you to her; she said, "We'll be back once she's in bed."

When they were going up the stairs, Castle wasn't surprised to find Max and Molly trailing them before they were going inside the baby's room. "Should we leave the door all the way open?" he asked his wife as he took Josie to the changing table. He let her put a fresh diaper on her and handed her a pajama onesie with clouds all over it.

"No," Beckett said, finally answering his question but whispering since Josie was asleep. "Just slightly open."

Nodding, Castle leaned over once she had Josie in her arms and kissed the baby's forehead temple gently murmuring, "I love you Josie. Sleep tight back in your bed tonight _ceann beag_."

Beckett smiled at his words before she turned her attention to the baby, kissing her temple gently and whispering against it, "I love you too. Sweet dreams Josie." After that she went over to the crib and set her down after Castle got the blanket out of the way for her. Tucking Josie in, she gently smoothed her hair off the baby's forehead and she and her husband watched her sleep for a while before they went out of the room, leaving their youngest with Max and Molly. When they were out in the hallway and had made sure the baby was still asleep before they started to walk, she wasn't surprised when they only made it to the door of Eliza's room before her husband was making her turn. But she was taken aback slightly when he held her by her arms and speaking instead of kissing her as she'd been expecting; and hoping for as well.

"This is a weird time to do this," Castle said. "But it's been driving me crazy and I want to ask before we go to bed." He looked down the hallway in both directions; though he would have been able to hear anyone approaching them; and turned back to his wife asking, "Did you want to be celibate until we're in Tahiti?"

"Completely? Yeah, I did," Beckett replied. She smiled a little at the face he'd made when she'd said completely and said, "I'm sorry but…"

"It's alright," Castle said quickly. "I know why you're asking that and I'm looking forward to it myself now I'm thinking about it."

"Pervert," Beckett said, stepping closer to him so she could wrap her arms around his neck.

"Yes," Castle said simply. He smiled when his wife laughed softly and then leaned down, kissing her gently at first. When she deepened it, he was quick to follow her lead and their tongues were rubbing around each other before they stopped abruptly as they could hear someone coming up the stairs from the first-floor hall.

"Hey, is Josa asleep?" Julia asked, seeing her parents letting go of each other.

"She is," Beckett said. "We needed a second to talk," she told her, looking at her and daring her to say anything to that. When their second oldest merely smiled at them both she and Castle went over to her at the top of the stairs before she stopped her. "Sweetie are you sure-" she started to say.

"Is this about Tahiti?" Julia asked. When her mother nodded she took her hand and said, "Don't worry, we want you to go."

"But it's your first day of school on Monday," Castle said, since he and Beckett were unsure about the trip for that reason.

Shaking her head Julia said, "We had our first day of school."

"Yes, but you're going to middle school and your sister is going to spend a full day in the first grade," Beckett reminded her.

Shrugging Julia said, "She's excited, we'll meet in the quad and then go to dance class. Don't worry." She then saw how her parents were looking at her and she said, "What?"

"That's really strange you know," Castle commented. "She at least would want us to be here for her first day at the school."

"You're coming back the afternoon when we'll be at the dance class," Julia said. "So you can see us then. And the next week too." She heard the sighs coming from both and smiled saying, "We're fine with it but… could we Skype once we're home on Monday?"

"Of course; every day actually," Beckett said firmly. "You didn't convince your sister that-" she started to say.

"No," Julia said firmly, not mad at her mother but wanting her to know for sure that she hadn't told her sister their parents needed to go. "What time will you call us?" she asked.

"It'll have to be the other way around," Castle said, looking at his phone quickly. "And it's in the morning… about ten thirty by the time you get home so after breakfast?"

"We'll see what we're doing then love," Beckett said, shaking her head.

"Mommy?" Eliza asked, at the bottom of the stairs.

"We're coming," Beckett said, going down first. "Are you excited for Monday?"

"Yeah, Miss Thurston is really nice," Eliza said. "Emmie says."

"I'm glad she's in your class too," Julia told her sister, the girl a new student Eliza had befriended at the end of her kindergarten class.

"Yeah," the little girl said with a smile. "We're gonna play games now."

"You weren't doing that before?" Beckett asked, looking at her watch to make sure she knew how much time there was until Eliza's bedtime.

"Now we wanna play UNO," the little girl replied.

"I'm not surprised," Castle said, watching his wife stopping the little girl from continuing into the room.

"Your sister said you guys want us to Skype with you once you come home from your dance class on Monday," Beckett told her.

"Yeah!" Eliza said eagerly before she frowned. "But what if you're sleeping?"

"It'll be morning for us," Beckett told her. "So we won't mind calling you." She smiled when the little girl threw her arms around her and she hugged her tightly before she said, "Okay, then we have everything set. But we're not going to do this next year," adding the last firmly.

"Kay… can we go play now?" Eliza asked.

"Come on," Beckett said with a laugh.

Castle, following with Julia, smiled as the little girl went into the room and he watched the girls getting things ready for them to play with their friends before the youngest would need to go to bed. He sat with his wife on the couch and they looked on as the kids were playing together first, holding her to him while their daughters were laughing and talking about the games they'd play the next day already.

* * *

"What did you say?" Beckett said as she walked out of the bathroom. She'd been washing her face and had heard her husband say something but hadn't been able to make it out over the sound of the water.

"It's great to be back in our bed," Castle said, looking at her. "It feels like we've been gone for six months; not three."

"I know," Beckett said with a smile. She walked around the end of the bed before she took off her robe and said, "It's cold."

"It is," Castle said as he hurried to sit up, holding the covers up for her. When she was underneath with him he set them down and made sure they were draped over the other side of the bed. He settled on his side as she was doing the same facing him and he said, "Do we have everything for tomorrow?"

Doing her best to fight her smile, since she knew the question was a desperate attempt at a distraction, Beckett said, "We've checked, it's all there."

"Yeah," Castle replied with a nod. He then moved to lay on his back and wrapped his arm around her when she followed.

"What is it Rick?" Beckett asked with a smile, watching him.

"I agreed to this celibacy but… hard to stick to it in my mind," Castle replied.

Leaning down Beckett told him, "We could do something tomorrow." She watched the indecision on her husband's face and then said, "Let's wait and see though."

"Yeah," Castle said as they were going to be busy with the holiday the next day. "Come here," he told her.

Moving quickly to lay down next to him, Beckett pressed close and said, "I thought of something."

Castle didn't answer at first, too busy nuzzling her forehead with his lips, before she was moving away from him a little. "Okay… what?" he asked, trying not to sound frustrated at her making him stop.

"We'll be going riding," Beckett told him.

"Sure," Castle said before it suddenly came to him. "Are you sure? Everyone will be here-"

Covering her husband's mouth with her hand Beckett told him, "Nothing that would take too long. But we wait to see how things are with time before we commit to at the very least fooling around."

"I'm fine with doing that," Castle said seriously before he was laughing when she playfully pinched his side. He shared a kiss with her and held her tighter against him, unable to let her go as they continued to delve into several more kisses after that.

"And if it ends up we only have time for this?" Beckett whispered to him as they kept their lips close though they were catching their breath.

"I'm fine with it," Castle said, talking as shortly as he could so he could crush his lips to hers. He couldn't keep himself from turning her onto her back but made sure his lower body was away from hers while their tongues were tangling together.

"Okay," Beckett said, breathing heavily once they'd stopped. "We… we should stop."

"Just one more," Castle said, moving to kiss her again. He lingered that time, though it was more sensuous than anything else and he had to tear himself away as they went on. "Damn it," he groaned as he pushed himself away from her over to the edge of the bed.

"Don't worry," Beckett said. "You're not the only one." She smiled when he turned to look at her and she said, "Lay down." When he hurried to do so she tried her best not to laugh and she moved to press against his side. "We might have to do something," she commented.

"But we're still celibate," Castle said swiftly.

"Of course," Beckett said, looking up at him. When he smiled at her she raised her head enough so they could kiss, though it was brief. "I love you Rick," she told him once they'd parted.

"I love you Kate," Castle told her, pulling her tighter against him. They kissed again and as the one before they were soon after parting and he waited for her to lay against him after she reached for the lamps to turn them off. "Night love," he told her.

"Night Rick," Beckett said with a slight smile as her husband was caressing her hair. It took her little time to fall asleep after that, soothed by his touch and his warmth and content they were finally home for the upcoming holiday.


	53. All That Is Nearest And Dearest

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: I was wondering about the response I'd get for the last chapter, so I was glad to see what I did receive in the end for feedback, I'll go right into my thank yous for that. TORONTOSUN (It was great to see you thought the songs I had in the chapter were good ones since I love them myself. And I was really relieved to see you thought I had detail in the dancing and that you liked it too!) and

Mb (I was really happy that you thought the first half was sweet and fun too. I was so glad to see that you loved the sounds and the description of the dances too of course, along with the costumes too. And I'm glad that you enjoyed the kids dancing all together and having a blast too as you put it. I was pleased to see that you were so happy about Skye and Derek winning, I was hoping the readers would have that reaction, lol. Glad to see you thought it was a sweet and fun chapter. You're welcome for sharing the first half! I was happy to see you thought the second half was a fun and sweet update too. It was really nice to see your reaction to them on GMA with the dancers including the kids too. I also was glad that you liked them giving the four kids a smaller mirror ball trophy, I thought that would be cute. I wasn't surprised to see you know how good it is being back home from a trip and in your own bed no matter how the trip you were on was, so I definitely knew what you were talking about. I had to laugh at you laughing at Castle and Beckett torturing themselves by being celibate before they go to Tahiti, I figured it'd happen with how they are intimately, lol, so not surprised you commented on that. Great you thought it was awesome. And you're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken to write them out and sending them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Your School_ by Paul McCartney.

All That Is Nearest And Dearest

"Julia, don't run," Beckett said, going after her daughter though she was running herself.

"Louis said it was going to happen fast when she started," the girl said.

"The legs are out," Louis said, smiling at them, turning from the foaling stall he was standing in front of. "I'm glad you hurried. And Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," Castle said, catching his breath as he'd run after his wife and their daughter.

"Oh… wait, you said the sac around foal-" Julia said, peering in at Lottie who was laying down.

"I was about to go in," Louis said, putting on gloves at that point. "You'll have to stay here though."

Frowning for a moment, Julia nodded before she watched him go into the stall and she murmured, "She should be okay right?"

"She's been doing well so far," Louis said before he knelt against the door to the stall to keep an eye on the mare.

Beckett, as they settled in to wait, glanced at her daughter every so often to make sure she wasn't too disgusted by the process. But Julia looked more concerned than anything else and she whispered to her, "This is how it works sweetie."

"I know," the girl whispered back to her. "But this isn't how it is for women right? For humans?"

"Not exactly," Beckett said softly. "But the basics of it are."

"That I know… now," Julia said, smiling at her parents. Looking back, she saw that Louis was speaking in Irish to Lottie while he touched her side lightly and she couldn't help saying, "It's okay Lottie, he's helping with your foal."

Beckett was concerned her daughter's voice was going to be too much, but the mare seemed to be alright as the foal's head was beginning to leave her body.

" _Cailín éasca… éasca_ ," Louis was saying as the mare was raising her head.

"What did he say?" Julia whispered to her parents.

"Easy girl," Castle said first. "And he repeated the word easy."

Nodding, Julia turned her attention back to her horse and saw that more of the foal had come out. She was digging her nails into her palms as the process continued until finally Louis was helping with the amniotic sac around the foal as its back legs were slipping from Lottie. She wanted to ask what it was but knew that the mare was going to be focusing on its baby.

"Now I can tell you," Louis said with a smile as he walked out of the stall with Castle opening the fence for him once he was sure the placenta had left Lottie with no problems. "You have a colt."

"Oh! Wait… now?" Julia asked.

"He's known since we got her," Beckett said. "We thought you wouldn't want to know until now."

Julia thought over that for a moment before she nodded and she smiled saying, "Okay, but I didn't know you could tell."

"Should you have more horses now you do know," Louis replied with a smile. "I'll be back after I wash my hands; keep an eye on her while she's cleaning him."

Before the young man could even finish that, Julia was peering over the railing, watching as Lottie was cleaning the colt. "Ooh… he's so cute," she breathed happily. The colt was dark and she wondered; when its hair was clean and dry; if it would be the same color as Lottie or its father. "What color was its… sire?" she asked her mother.

"Seal brown," Beckett said. "But it looks like it might follow Lottie and be bay colored." When Julia nodded, she then said, "And you know you need to name him."

About to speak the girl paused before she said, "Um…"

"You don't need to do it this second, but we need to get it before we leave since they'll be filling out the paperwork for us," Castle said.

Julia nodded before she said, "Sure… we're going riding, aren't we? And then you?"

"Yes, we'll leave soon," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when the girl was about to react when they noticed the colt was beginning to stand.

"Good," Louis said as he hurried back at Castle's call. "That's exactly what you want to see."

Though she wanted to point out that the colt was still struggling, Julia nodded briefly and looked back into the stall. It took a couple more tries but after the fourth time the colt was standing on its legs. "Hi Helios," she whispered, waving to the newborn.

"Helios?" Castle asked her.

Smiling Julia nodded and said, "He was born as the sun was coming up."

"Good choice," Beckett said, looking at her father's watch and seeing it was by then nearly seven thirty-five.

"If Josa doesn't like the name she can change it though," Julia said. "This isn't my colt."

"No, but I get the feeling she would like it," Castle commented.

"Is he trying to get milk?" Julia said as she noticed the colt was nosing around its mother's side.

"He is," Louis said. He glanced at the girl and saw her biting her lower lip before he said, "Don't worry, if he takes a bit I'll head in to help but we need to give him a little time. You said Helios?" At Julia nod he smiled and said, "Then I'll help Helios." He looked back at the colt to check on it and said with a smile, "Interesting choice."

"It kinda goes with Alexander the Great," Julia said. "And Julius Caesar… you know, the names of my parents' horses."  
"That's true… Helios was the middle name of one of Cleopatra's sons," Louis said, thinking for a moment. "So you'll stick with royalty."

"It depends on what Lizzy will name her horse whenever she gets one," Julia said quickly. "But I wasn't thinking of a queen for Lottie," she added with a smile. "But that was a queen's name."

Beckett was listening to the two with a smile on her face before she noticed that Helios was trying again to nurse from his mother. When he succeeded she said, "It looks like he's doing well sweetie."

"Yeah," Julia said with a sigh. She then looked at her mother and said, "What about everyone else?"

"It's still early," Castle said as he was checking his watch. "Should we head for our ride? They'll start arriving once we get back."

"Sure," Beckett said, looking at their daughter who was still watching the colt. "Sweetie?" she said, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"I know," Julia said with a sigh. "We'll be back Lottie, Helios." She tore herself away and then went with her parents over to the building that had their horses in it, wondering what her mother would do once they saw Alex and Julius.

Seeing the two stallions' heads were sticking out from their stalls, Beckett started to jog over to Alex and hugged him around the neck once she reached him.

Hearing her mother murmuring in Irish, Julia smiled and then looked at her father asking, "Are you-"

"I may joke about it but don't worry, I'm not jealous," Castle said, smiling as his wife kissed Alex's forehead. They went closer and he said, "I'm guessing he's happy."

Stepping back and allowing the stallion to raise and lower his head, Beckett smiled herself as Julia giggled and she said, "I think so. And Julius?"

Going to his horse, Castle wasn't surprised when the stallion was raising and lowering its head. "Alright, we'll go for a ride now," he said before the two were whickering. "Who will Julia ride?" he asked as he went into the stall to prepare Julius.

"I think Sapphire," Beckett said, looking back out at their daughter.

"Sure," Julia said, knowing who she was talking about already. "But Mom, when can I take Lottie?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait until Helios is weaned," Beckett said as she set a saddle blanket on Alex's back. "And that's about six to eight months."

Sighing Julia said, "I read that in my book about horses. But I was hoping it wasn't true."

"Sorry sweetie," Beckett said before she was setting the saddle on Alex. She looked back out at Julia and said, "When you turn twelve I'll let you go on your own to her to get her ready."

"Really?" Julia asked.

"Yes, but not until you've been riding Lottie for a while," Beckett said, getting the bridle ready. "Alex," she said when the horse was whinnying. "Do you want to go on a ride or not?"

Julia laughed softly and then said, "I can't wait to get to do that…" She had been about to say she wished the mare hadn't been pregnant when they'd gotten her, but she was watching as her mother took care of the bit-less bridle she used.

"Okay," Beckett said. "Rick," she said.

Hearing the hooves of a horse before her father could reply, Julia looked back at the entrance and saw that Louis was there with Sapphire, ready for the ride. "Oh," she said, walking carefully over to him. "How'd you know my parents wanted me to ride her today?" she asked as she used a step and swung her leg over the saddle.

"Just a guess," Louis said with a smile. "What if the others come in?"

"Have them wait for us," Beckett said, on her saddle and riding out from the stable with Castle on Julius behind her.

"I'll do my best," Louis said. "Have your radios?"

"We do," Beckett assured him.

"Thanks Louis!" Julia called before she was directing Sapphire into a trot. Once they were on the trail she said, "Can we go faster?"

"No galloping," Beckett replied. "Canter and then we'll go to the field to let them all run."

"Oh good," Castle said, moving to ride next to his wife as Julia was ahead of them. "I can tell Alex wants to go."

Beckett smiled and said, "He can tell I want to."

Julia wanted to look back at them and tell her mother that she needed to run in the field with Alex before they were all going to do that. But she had to focus on where they were going to and carefully led Sapphire into a canter until they reached the creek. When they'd stopped the horses she groaned and said, "Do I have to?" as her parents were getting off Alex and Julius.

"Yeah, let them have a break," Castle said as he was standing next to her to help her down. He helped her and once she was on the floor watched her go to the edge of the water before she was rubbing Sapphire and Julius' necks. He went to his wife, on the other side of Alex and took her hand, squeezing it tightly before she spoke in a low voice though she was talking in Irish.

" _Cúramach_ ," Beckett said, telling him careful. When he looked at her she said, " _I can tell_."

" _You think I can't tell with the way you're holding my hand_?" Castle shot back. He breathed out heavily when she squeezed his and he said, " _Then we should probably keep going_."

"Good idea," Beckett said, speaking in English. "Julia are you ready?" she then called to their daughter.

"Yeah, the horses are done," she replied. "And telling secrets," Julia added, smiling when she looked at her parents and saw the surprise on their faces.

"Alright," Beckett said, knowing she was talking about the horses touching their noses together. "I'll hold Sapphire for you."

Julia went over to the mare and climbed up onto the saddle before she held Sapphire steady while her parents were getting onto their stallions. As she had before, she rode ahead of her parents and was going into a canter very shortly after they'd started down the path again.

"Slow down Julia," Beckett called when they were closer to the stables. When she saw the girl had Sapphire at that pace the path widened and she and Castle moved Alex and Julius over to ride on either side of her. "When we get home-" she began.

"We can play outside, right?" Julia interrupted her.

"You didn't let me finish," Beckett said in mock annoyance.

"She didn't even really let you start," Castle commented.

Glancing at her husband for a moment, Beckett then said to their daughter, "You can play. And you can play outside but just on the grass or by the trees."

"No beach?" Julia said. When her mother shook her head she said, "Okay. But what about the mashed sweet potatoes?"

"You'll take care of those," Beckett said.

"You'll be able to," Castle said. He saw the hesitation on the girl's face and he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Is there anything else I can do?" Julia asked.

"There is, but we do have guests remember," Beckett told her.

"I know," Julia replied. "But… maybe something else?"

"The rolls," Castle commented.

"Okay," Julia said eagerly.

"That's fine," Beckett said in amusement when the two looked at her. "For now though…" She wasn't surprised when they turned ahead of them and saw that they were nearing the field. She was going to tell Julia to go with her before the girl was speaking first.

"Go Mom," Julia said.

"You can-" Beckett started to say.

"No, really," Julia told her. "Go around on your own, it's better for Alex."

"You're not saying anything?" Beckett directed to her husband as he was climbing down from Julius to open the gate to the field.

"Nothing needs to be," Castle replied easily. He smiled as she sighed and watched her ride Alex inside before her legs were nudging the sides and the two were taking off into a gallop.

"She didn't really fight," Julia said to her father as he mounted Julius again.

"I think she really wanted to go," Castle said.

"Didn't Skye and Mary talk about going to some stables by Universal?" Julia said after they'd called out to her mother once she'd passed by.

"It was too far and we ended up being too busy," Castle replied. "And I wonder if your mom really would have wanted to go on another horse."

"She has before," Julia pointed out. She smiled when he shrugged his shoulders and then patted Sapphire's neck before Beckett was going by again. Glancing at her father for a moment, she couldn't help smiling at the way he was staring after her mother. For a second, she wondered if she should let him know he was doing that but decided it didn't need to be said as her mother was slowing down at that point as she was nearing them again. "Was that fun?" she asked before her mother noticed that Castle was still staring at her.

"Of course," Beckett said. "You want to go with me?"

"Sure," Julia said, nudging Sapphire forward. "How many times?"

"Just three," Beckett said. "Rick you'll come with me after."

"I don't need to," Castle said immediately.

Smiling Beckett told him, "I'd like you to." After he had nodded, not surprised at the flash in his eyes in response, she turned and she and Julia started to go faster as they were going around the outside of the field until they were galloping. Though she trusted her daughter, she was watching the girl to make sure they didn't get too close. After they'd gone around three times, she had them slow down until Julia was going out and her husband coming in. They rode around a little more than she had with their daughter and when they slowed down she told him, " _D'fhéadfá a fheiceann tú_ ," which meant she could see him.

"I don't know what you mean," Castle said, speaking in English and expecting a look from his wife for that. He was startled when she merely smiled, and he was tempted to ask her why she was looking at him like that when she spoke.

"Beidh _cithfholcadh orm_ ," Beckett commented under her breath though she knew he would hear. It meant the phrase 'I will need a shower' and she had emphasized the word will. She wasn't surprised seeing her husband's shudder in response, but she said, "I think everyone's here guys," in English to distract them.

Julia turned Sapphire; so her parents wouldn't see her smiling at their exchange though she hadn't heard anything and had just watched them. She went over to where she could see everyone else and she called out as soon as she was close to them.

"Was the baby horsie born?" Eliza asked her big sister eagerly.

"It was, come see," Julia said. She thanked Louis for taking Sapphire's reins and got down with her father's help. "Oh… do I need to-" she said as she recalled the need to get the horse rubbed down and brushed.

"Santiago is here," Louis told her. "He'll take her."

Nodding Julia said, "Tell him thanks."

"I will, go on and show them," Louis said.

Going to her little sister, Julia took her hand and then said, "Where are Gram and Grandpapa," since it was just Alexis and Eliza with the McDouglases.

"They're staying with your baby sister," Skye explained. "And my dad."

"They want you to take pictures though," Marie commented.

"I will," Beckett said with a smile when Julia turned to her. They walked over to the stable and she said, "Don't run over there," to Eliza.

"I won't," the little girl said, trying to contain her excitement. "Is it a boy or a girl?" Eliza asked her sister.

"I'll say when I tell you the name," Julia replied before they were reaching the stall. She watched her sister looking in at the colt and wasn't surprised at the look of awe on her face at the sight of it.

"Oh… Jules, did you give it a name?" Eliza asked.

"I did," Julia replied. "And his name is Helios."

"That's pretty!" Eliza gasped, keeping her voice quiet so she wouldn't scare the horses. "That's really Josa's horse?"

"Yeah," Julia said before she realized their parents weren't with the group behind them.

"They went to take care of their horses," Alexis explained to her.

Nodding, as she wasn't surprised they had done that, Julia moved out of the way for the others so they could see the colt as well. She took Eliza's hand and they walked together to the entrance of the building telling her, "I saw Helios being born and everything."

"Oh… was it scary?" Eliza asked.

"No, just funny to see," Julia said. "But he's cute huh?"

"Yeah… why did you ask me that?" Eliza said.

Smiling, not surprised her sister had realized there was a reason why she'd asked what she had, Julia said, "It's gonna be Josa's horse."

"Yeah," Eliza replied. "She can't ride yet."

"Oh good, I thought you would be mad about that," Julia said.

Eliza; spotting their parents coming over to them; shook her head firmly before she smiled widely and ran over to them to hug them.

"Hey sweetie," Beckett said, picking her up first.

"Hi!" Eliza said eagerly. "Did you have a fun ride?"

"It was, want to go on a pony?" Beckett asked her.

"Yeah!" Eliza said eagerly.

"What did you think of Helios, before we go?" Castle said as he took the little girl from his wife and hugged her.

"He's so cute! Josa will love him," Eliza said with a wide smile.

"She's right," Mary said as they were walking over to them. "That's is a beautiful animal."

"You two don't want to ride?" Beckett asked the women.

"I'm good, still tired," Skye said with a smile. "Are you riding again?"

"No, just Eliza," Beckett said as Castle was setting their daughter down so he could get a pony for her. "What about your girls."

"Just Eliza," Skye echoed before she smiled. When she saw the surprised expression on her friend's face she explained saying, "They want to head back to your home and play."

"Okay," Beckett said with a nod before she turned to see that Castle was coming back with Louis. She smiled at the pony the latter was leading and Eliza next to her jumping up and down. "Who got her boots for her?" she asked her oldest.

"Your dad," Alexis said. "He was the only one who could grab her and calm her down."

"That's not a surprise," Beckett said quickly and with a smile on her face before she turned her attention to helping Eliza onto the pony. Once she was seated she said as she led her daughter to the corral they were near, "I'll let you ride by yourself a little sweetie."

"Really?" the little girl asked happily.

"Really," Beckett said. She then let her take the reins and said, "Nothing faster than a walk."

Nodding, since her mother was talking to her seriously, Eliza then nudged her heels gently into the pony's sides to get it walking forward. She was watching the fence of the corral to gently tug on the reins to keep the pony walking alongside it and she went around several times until her mother was telling her to stop the horse. She waited until she got around to her again and stopped at Beckett, looking up at her with a smile. "Was that good?" she asked.

"Very," Beckett said, taking the pony back outside before stopping it. She let Castle help her dismount before she said, "Let's go wash our hands and then head home."

"Time for dinner?" Eliza asked.

"To make dinner," Castle corrected her with a smile.

Eliza giggled before she walked with her parents to the nearest stable and she waved to the others as they passed.

As she and her husband were washing up, Beckett was going over what they would need to do for their meal before she felt him grabbing her hand. "What?" she asked, looking behind them to see their daughter was leaving the building.

"Just this," Castle told her before he kissed her. He kept that gentle before she was wrapping her arms around him and he deepened things before they were clinging to each other.

"Wait," Beckett said, stopping him. "We have to go home."

"Yeah… let's go," Castle said as he realized they had their shower still. He took her hand before he could kiss her again and they walked together out to their family and friends so they could get home and begin their Thanksgiving festivities.

* * *

"Here," Beckett was saying to her husband, reaching for his shirt. She was smiling as he stood still suddenly; on the threshold of the bathroom; and watched her unbuttoning his shirt before it was opened. She pushed it off his shoulders when she'd finished, and she took his kiss as he was left in his undershirt. She then pulled away before she said, "Come on."

Castle let her pull him into the bathroom fully and he said, "I feel weird."

"Then take it off," Beckett said with a smile. She looked on as he was doing that and stepped forward the second he turned his head to toss the white shirt aside. With him distracted she opened the fly of his trousers before he was gathering her up in his arms.

Kissing her as passionately as he could, Castle slipped his hands underneath his wife's shirt and once he held her back he was bringing her flush against him. "Love…" he breathed against her lips. "You're fucking incredible."  
"So are you," Beckett said in pleasure at his touch. She was pulling off her polo shirt then, having to regrettably step away from him, and she then tossed it aside before she was removing her trousers. She was relieved when her husband was divesting himself of his own pants and undershirt, leaving themselves in their underclothing before she couldn't stop herself.

Ready for his wife, Castle pulled her into his arms and held her tight before he kissed her hungrily. Their tongues were meeting shortly after that and they were fighting together for some time. When their need to breathe became too great they parted and he was gasping for air as she was grasping at the bulge she had caused in his boxers. "Kate," he groaned.

Beckett didn't say anything to that, instead reaching up behind herself for her bra so she could get it off which she managed until she was grabbed by her husband again. "We need to hurry," she told him, stopping him from kissing her again.

Though he didn't want to admit it, Castle let her go and he watched her go to the shower before she removed the last of her clothing. He followed rapidly seeing her naked and he took off his boxers before slipping inside the stall with her. As soon as he stepped in he was in his wife's arms, kissing her hungrily again as they stood together underneath the water.

When they had stopped, Beckett stayed close to her husband and whispered, "Just our hands love."

Nodding, Castle kissed her again but kept it short as he wanted them to start which they were doing with him pushing her back against the wall. "My goddess," he breathed to her huskily as they were staring at one another. Beckett was cupping his face and he leaned down enough to kiss her with a brief brush of his lips before he pulled back. Reaching down, he gently rubbed at her sex, finding her clit and focusing on that for a while as he watched her reaction. He wasn't sure what exactly he could do after that just yet, when she was grabbing his wrist and telling him.

"At the same time?" Beckett said. She wasn't surprised to see the conflict on her husband's face before he kissed her, and she knew he was agreeing. While they were doing that she reached down to him and grasped his erection before he was pulling away from her with a curse.

"Love…" Castle started to say before he trailed off and then reached down to her. He rubbed at her sex while she was running her hand over his length before he used both his hands as she'd begun doing. He kissed her again, but it was quick as he was trying to keep pleasuring her while she was doing the same to him as well. "Do you want me to-" he started to say after they'd been doing that for some time.

"Yes," Beckett said, knowing what he wanted already. She gasped when she felt his fingers slide down to her folds and he was rubbing over them at first. He did that for longer than she was expecting and she was going to move him when he did that himself. She bit at her lower lip and let go of him so she wouldn't squeeze his length as his fingers slipped within her. When he started to move them, she was holding onto his shoulders and she told him, "I can't…"

"Don't worry," Castle said. "I'll help you first."

Though she wanted to ask him about his wording, she was instead saying, "No, don't kneel," as he was doing that in front of her.

"I'm fine," Castle said.

"But…" Beckett started to say when he was going straight to her clit suddenly. She cried out as his tongue was playing with the nub and she felt heat shoot up her body from that. Her hands went down to him in reaction and she threaded her fingers through his hair before his fingers were working on her as well. She wasn't sure how long it took exactly, but it was very shortly after that she was hitting her back against the tiles as she cried out his name. She could feel his tongue slipping around on her, what seemed like everywhere, though she soon came out of her daze to realize he was rubbing it through her folds. That realization aroused her slightly; though she was recovering from her ecstasy; and she reached for her husband to get him up off the floor. "Do not stop me," she told him.

"I-" Castle started to say before she was on her knees and grasping his member. He couldn't speak then, her mouth taking him swiftly and her tongue quick to begin moving over him. He was reaching down to her hair and threading his fingers through the locks before he was swearing as her hands were working along with her mouth. "Fuck… Kate I won't… you're going to make me come," he hissed as he was clenching his teeth together hard. But she wasn't stopping and he was letting her pull him over the edge as he'd been aching to for some time by then. He called her name once and reached for the wall behind him so he wouldn't pull at her hair accidentally. When he came to himself after the haze of pleasure she'd had him in he tried to get her to stand when she slapped at his hands.

Only when she was sure she was finished did Beckett allow her husband to help her up and she wrapped her arms around his neck before they were falling into a deep kiss. She would have smiled at the way he held her; tightly but not too intimate; but their tongues were rolling together until they were slowly parting. "Hmm, that's it until Monday," she told him with a smile.

Sighing, as he knew they needed to turn their attention to their dinner, Castle brushed his lips to hers and said, "It's going to be hard to resist you but… we'll be-" before she kissed him and stopped him.

"I'll make it worth it," Beckett said when they had finally parted, a slight smile on her face.

"Me too," Castle said before he was smiling himself as she was laughing. "Let's…" he started to say, not finishing as he was leading her over to the water so they could stand under it together.

Beckett was relieved when her husband focused on them both washing their hair and bodies and only briefly kissing her. She knew that if he started something she would do anything he wanted and she really wanted to wait until Tahiti for anything more intimate than what they'd had. When they'd finished, she allowed him to dry her and she made sure to do the same to him before they went out into the bedroom and she was going straight to the dresser.

"Kate, that's my-" Castle started to say when he saw she was opening one of his drawers. He stopped himself seeing that she was taking out one of his spare braces and he said, "I'll-"

"Put it on now," Beckett told him firmly.

"I will," Castle said, taking it and removing his towel. He was hoping his wife was watching him but saw that she was going to the closet. Sighing he then shook himself and turned his attention to his brace to pull it on as quickly as he could. He dressed before his wife was coming into the bedroom; dressed herself; and he said, "You were going in there fast."

Giving him a brief look, Beckett took a moment to speak before she said, "I didn't want to risk it."

"I'm still confused as to how me putting on my brace does that," Castle said after thinking that over for a moment.

Shaking her head, Beckett went to the bathroom and wasn't surprised to see him walk by her in the mirror. "Look, we have family and friends here."

"Sunday isn't that far away," Castle said as he set down his comb. "Though I'm still not happy with Monday."

"Neither am I," Beckett said with a nod, knowing he was talking about the girls' first day at school. She was relieved as well since he was turning the conversation from them and she added, "But if we brought this up with Julia again," before looking at him in the mirror.

"Why do our daughters have that much hold over us?" Castle asked her, finished getting ready but staying in front of his sink.

"Our oldest has had that hold over you for twenty-six years," Beckett commented. "Did you ever figure out why?" She smiled when her husband shook his head and then started to braid her hair swiftly before she tied off the end. Looking back up in the mirror she commented, "You're not that quiet."

"Believe me when I say I wasn't intending to scare you," Castle commented. He had her turn to him and said, "I'm fine. Really." He wasn't surprised when she shifted in front of him and he said, "If you want me to jump around or… over the bed I can do that."

"Don't," Beckett said, rolling her eyes as she was fighting a smile at the same time. She patted his chest before she was taking his hand saying, "I want to make sure Julia's ready."

"Go ahead, Alexis was talking about helping," Castle said, letting her lead them out into the bedroom. They went together out into the hallway in time to see Julia leaving her room a second before she spotted them.

"Hey, I am gonna change later right?" Julia asked, walking over to them.

"Yes, your sister shouldn't be dressed for dinner," Beckett said, checking her hair as she knew her daughter had put it up into a ponytail herself.

"Did you wash behind your ears?" Castle asked.

"Dad," Julia said in mock annoyance.

"Come on, we need to get started," Beckett said before the girl stopped them.

"Wait, what about a horse for Lizzy?" Julia asked. "She's the only one who doesn't have one."

"We'll take care of that another day," Castle said. When the girl frowned at first him and then his wife he glanced at Beckett before saying, "Would you mind if she had a full-blooded Andalusian?"

"Nope," Julia said quickly. "Is that what you're waiting for?"

"Yes," Beckett said. "Now let's go before we have to order pizza for dinner."

"That would be cool," Julia said, taking her father's hand so they could go down the stairs.

Beckett wasn't surprised to hear her husband teasing their second oldest before she realized her phone in her hand was vibrating. She turned it on quickly and then said to Castle and Julia, "I need to talk to Skye for a second. About the apples."

"We'll be in the kitchen," the latter said before he led his daughter down the hall.

Turning to the backyard; knowing that everyone except for Josie and her father were there; Beckett was about to go to the door leading out when the investigator came in.

" _This way_ ," Skye said in Russian before she went over to the family room. "I'm guessing; by that look on your face; you got the e-mail."

"I saw the first line," Beckett replied once they were in the room. She opened it and swiftly read it before shaking her head, "I told-"

"It's two outfits for spring," Skye commented. "And I was going to suggest she take them out here."

"She said no?" Beckett asked in surprise before her friend was looking at her phone.

"Ah… London," Skye replied. "She… well you'll be there for the recording, right?"

"It's planned; yes," Beckett said. When her friend looked at her she sighed saying, "You said I'd do it already didn't you?"

"I wasn't about to do it on my own," Skye scoffed. "Again, two outfits, two pictures. Our daughters won't be in them and we're in the pictures together."

Breathing out Beckett said, "Alright. Will Mary be allowed to go."

"Haven't told her yet," Skye said. She saw the expression on her friend's face and said, "Oh, don't pretend you know me."

"But I do," Beckett replied, a slight smirk on her face. "Rosie."

"Piss off," Skye said in mock annoyance before they were starting to laugh. "Okay, so you're in the kitchen with them then?"

"I am, but we're sending Julia out soon," Beckett replied as they left the room.

"Anything we can do to help?" Skye asked.

"We're fine," Beckett said. "But we will need to add the leaf to the kitchen table before we have our food."

" _They'll notice_ ," Skye commented in Irish.

Shrugging Beckett said, " _I don't think they'll care in the end_."

"I'll see you in a bit, bloody cold out there," Skye said.

"Welcome to New York," Beckett replied. She smiled when her friend stuck her tongue out at her before going to the backyard and she headed to the kitchen where she saw Julia was watching her.

"Why did Skye stick her tongue out at you?" the girl asked.

"It's because they're sisters," Castle commented.

Giving her husband a look, Beckett said, "It was just a joke. Is the water boiling?"

"Yeah, finally," Julia said, rolling her eyes. "Why can't I cover it?"

"You know already," Beckett said wryly. "Ready to put the pieces in?"

"Yep," Julia told her simply. "Dad let me cut them myself."

"I told you your mom told me to," Castle commented.

"Be careful," Beckett said, bringing over the cut sweet potatoes to Julia. "Did you get everything washed?" she then directed to her husband as he'd gotten the vegetables for side dishes out.

"Yeah, I left you the cranberries," Castle said, slightly distracted as he was peeling the last potato he needed.

"That's last," Beckett told him, watching Julia at the same time. "I'll work on the rolls then."

"And me?" the girl asked.

"You can go out and play," Beckett said.

"But that's not fair for the two of you," Julia said in protest.

"We'll be fine; it's not the first time we've done this," Castle said.

Julia did her best not to frown and she turned her attention to the rest of the pieces of sweet potatoes before she started to stir them. Since she had made the dish so many times before she knew what she needed to do and when and was soon mashing the orange vegetable until it was ready. "The best part," she said happily as her mother walked over to her with the bag of mini marshmallows.

"Don't sneak any," Beckett said sternly. She sighed when Julia was just smiling at her and she leaned over, kissing the side of her head.

"Mom," the girl said with a laugh before she was shaking the sweets on top of the potatoes. "Okay… it's ready."

"So is the _colcannon_ ," Castle said, finishing his dish he'd been working on.

"Isn't it weird we have two mashed potato dishes of some kind?" Julia asked her parents as she was washing her hands.

"We'll have others," Beckett replied. "Now go outside."

Julia wanted to protest but she knew her mother wouldn't let her before she said, "Thanks for letting me help!" When her parents said goodbye to her she ran out of the kitchen to go to the door outside, pausing to put on her boots and coat.

"Hi," Mary said as she saw Julia racing over to her and Skye.

"Hi, listen," the girl started to say. "My parents are making a couple other dishes and they're alone."

"We'll go in," Skye said. When Julia looked at her in surprise she smiled and told her, "We'd been planning on it; feel a bit guilty they're on their own."

"Oh… thank you," Julia said in relief.

"You're welcome, head out and play now," Skye began.

"Or fly your kite," Mary said. She smiled when her wife glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and then said, "We'll head in now but tell your sister."

Nodding, Julia raced down to her siblings and friends to join them in flying their kites in the wind above the beach.

" _Should you have told her when we're going in_?" Mary asked her wife in Japanese.

Shaking her head Skye said, "Leave them be for now. Kate'll kill me if we head in without giving them a few minutes." She smiled when her wife laughed softly and then glanced back momentarily to the kitchen before looking at the kids again with Mary.

"You're right," Castle said, looking out the window down at the two women after Julia had left them. "I'd say… ten minutes?"

"Maybe," Beckett replied, cutting the last green bean and putting it into a bowl with all the vegetables she'd cut for the medley her husband was going to make. "Hey Dad," she said as he was coming down the hall. "Is she okay?" she added as she'd seen Josie in his arms.

"She just woke up," Jim said. "And weren't you going to serve snacks?"

"We will in a little," Beckett said, looking at the clock on the wall. "Rick?"

"Getting it," Castle said as he was in the fridge. He took out a long platter and then a container saying, "Could you call them in, in about ten minutes?"

"Sure," Jim replied. "Is it alright-"

"Go ahead Dad," Beckett said with a smile, watching him take a celery stick. When he left them for the parlor; to let Josie look outside at the kids she knew; she said to her husband, " _Are you sure_?" speaking in Irish.

" _I promise you, my knee is fine_ ," Castle said, cursing himself for the second time for kneeling on the shower floor. " _We should have done that after_ … _on our bed_."

Shaking her head Beckett said, " _I should have stopped you_."

With a brief shrug, as he was checking on the turkey, Castle said, " _And I should have stopped you. We're both stubborn and we'll most likely continue to be_."

Sighing, Beckett wanted to tell him not to kneel like that again, but she was very aware he wouldn't know what he'd do in Tahiti, so she merely nodded at him. "Is everything ready for later?" she finally said.

"Yeah," Castle replied, looking over their side dishes. "Good thing too, I'm starving."

"Pervert," Beckett said simply and swiftly before she heard her father calling to the others outside distantly. They washed their hands before she was going to the door first, watching the kids coming in. "Dad-" she began when he handed her Josie.

"I'll take care of the coats," Jim replied easily as he went to Eliza first.

Beckett, watching him, turned her attention to Julia who was coming in and taking off her own coat. She was going to apologize for her having to come in so soon, but her daughter was speaking first.

"Don't worry," Julia told her mother. "We'll play tomorrow. It's supposed to be sunny still, right?"

"It will be," Beckett said with a nod. She watched her second oldest hang the coat and then told her, "Don't forget to wash your hands."

Nodding, Julia went to the kitchen with everyone and took her turn to wash her hands before she going to the table where the vegetables were. "We can go back outside now, right? After we eat," she asked her father.

"No," Beckett answered before Castle could say anything. "It's almost sunset and it'll be getting colder."

"Really?" Kathleen asked, looking outside.

"Yeah, you didn't think it was getting dark for no reason, did you?" Julia asked with a smile.

"It doesn't get dark this early back at home," Marie said.

"What time does it get dark in California?" Eliza asked.

"She's kidding," Skye said, shaking her head. "It's only about… a twenty-minute difference."

"Sorry," Marie said with a smile as her friend looked at her. "But really, it's early still."

"That's the bad part about winter," Julia said, not surprised when her little sister nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Mary said. "That's enough for now, you won't be hungry for dinner."

"Thanks for the vegetables," Kathleen said, her sisters saying the same after her. "But what can we do now?"

"Go to the family room and decide," Skye said. "We're staying with you two," she told Castle and Beckett.

"We know," the latter said. Beckett smiled at her when she looked slightly startled and said, "We guessed."

"Anything we can help you with?" Mary then asked.

"Well… the rolls need to go in the oven," Castle began.

"Cranberry sauce?" Mary said.

"I take care of that," Beckett said before she looked at her husband.

"Oh, okay," Castle said with a sigh. "You guys know how to make risotto."

"You know already we do," Skye said simply.

"We're planning on having squash risotto with the side dishes," Castle told them. "I have the recipe here."

"We'll take care of that," Skye said quickly. "Just show us the paper."

Beckett was smiling at the two women as they were swiftly working, as they'd done when they were cooking back in Santa Monica. But she turned her attention to what she needed to do as they were running out of time before dinner started though she and her husband were talking to each other and the two women while they were moving around the kitchen together.


	54. All That Is Nearest And Dearest (Part 2)

"Kate?" Castle said, knocking on the door of their room. Since he was alone he opened the door and walked inside before he saw her stepping out of the bathroom.

"What?" Beckett asked as her husband walked over to her.

"You look amazing," Castle said as he reached her. He gathered her in his arms and pulled her close, not surprised when she wrapped her arms around him in turn. They kissed, deeply at first, before he recalled she'd stop him soon for dinner and he slowed things down. He was relieved when she followed him, and they parted slightly breathless before he nuzzled her nose with his and said, "I'm thinking what I just said."

Laughing softly Beckett said, "Thank you. Hurry and change though."

"Are you staying?" Castle asked, not letting her go though he knew he should.

"I'm going to get Josie," Beckett replied, letting go of his neck so he would let her go. "But we'll come back."

"Thank you," Castle said before they shared a brief kiss and then watched her go. He let his gaze linger on her legs until she was out of sight and shook himself before he went to grab his shirt.

"Can we go with you too Mommy?" Eliza was asking Beckett as she was taking Josie from Martha.

"Alright, but what about your guests?" Beckett said.

Julia wasn't surprised when her little sister looked at her questioningly and said, "They're fine if we go with you for right now."

Beckett didn't say anything, merely made sure that Josie's sweater was on straight before she heard the chime for the door in the gate ring.

"We'll get it, come on girls," Martha said, smiling at her daughter in law before she led them out of the room.

Leaving herself, Beckett went the opposite direction and into the master bedroom where she saw her husband was just leaving the bathroom. "Interesting timing," she said with a smile, letting him take the baby.

"She looks so cute," Castle said, groaning when Josie grabbed at his nose and then hair as she was laughing.

"I'm not sure if that means she approves of you or not," Beckett said, trying her hardest not to laugh as she watched her husband struggling with the baby as Josie was grabbing at him again.

"It's my best shirt for dinner sweetheart," Castle said to the baby, finally lifting her up above his head as she was laughing again. He lowered her to hold her on his hip and when she merely looked at him with wide eyes he told his wife, "Okay…"

"We should go; they're here," Beckett told him, using that as a distraction as it was becoming more and more difficult not to laugh.

"Wait," Castle said, reaching for her and grabbing her hand. He pulled her to him and they kissed sensuously, their tongues just rubbing against each other before he had to let go of her. "She's eager to eat," he commented since Josie had started to move in his arm.

"And you," Beckett said simply before her husband was giving her a look. She smiled at him and led the way out of the room before they went downstairs. "Thanks for coming," she said as she saw the Watersons and Lennoxes walking down the hall.

"Mom," Julia said, going over to her. "Thanks for inviting them!"

"You're welcome," Beckett told her. "How is it being back?" she asked, sharing a quick hug with Genevieve.

"Great," she said with a smile. "But Peter is ecstatic to be back in his room and at the house."

"I'm not surprised," Beckett replied. She then greeted Isaac and Clive and said, "Dinner is ready, we just need to get everything out and then we can get our food."

"I'll take Josie," Martha said, going over to them.

Once the baby was set with her grandmother, Castle and Beckett were then getting everything ready in the kitchen. Skye joined them while the older kids were getting the two tables set and once they had everyone was getting their food though they had to take turns since Josie needed to be held.

"Since we're in two different rooms," Castle was saying when they'd finished and were gathered around the kids' table; which was the kitchen table. "I'll say my toast here. Happy Thanksgiving and we're all grateful for being together tonight and this season of _Dancing With the Stars_ which ended with Skye and Derek as champions. _Sláinte_."

" _Sláinte_ ," Beckett said with a smile, tapping her cup to her husband's first. She did the same with as many of the others as she could before she said to their daughters, "Behave yourselves," jokingly.

"I agree, no food fights," Skye said, looking at hers and Mary's daughters.

"We'll keep an eye on them," Alexis said with a smile.

"What? I wouldn't start a food fight," Louis said in mock annoyance. He smiled when his girlfriend looked at him and said, "We'll watch them."

Going to the dining room, Castle put Josie in her highchair between himself and Beckett and sat with the others before they began to eat. He looked at the table, which only had the adults there and he said, "I wonder if it was a good idea not to have some of the younger kids here."

"They'd have a riot," Mary said with a laugh.

"At least Alexis and Louis are there," Genevieve was saying.

"Is he responsible?" Isaac said.

"Oh, we didn't tell you," Beckett said standing up and getting her phone that was on the credenza behind her. "Julia's horse's pony was born today."

"It's…" Genevieve started to say as she was looking at the pony.

"A colt, Julia named him Helios," Castle said with a smile.

"And Louis was there for the birth," Beckett said.

"He… really?" Isaac asked in surprise.

"He has a doctorate," Martha commented. "And a way with horses."

"Then I guess he'll be good with the kids too," Isaac said, smiling. "And now I can say it; this food is excellent."

"He's right, who made the _colcannon_?" Skye asked.

"I did, but Kate is really good at it," Castle answered.

Smiling, Beckett said, "Luckily we're all competent cooks."

"But we didn't make the risotto, that was Skye and Mary," Castle pointed out.

Smiling as the others were complimenting them on it, the latter said, "It's their recipe but thanks. I hope our kids are enjoying it."

"And not just eating the marshmallows on the sweet potatoes," Skye said with a smile. "That Julia made."

"I'll check on them," Beckett said as she stood. She wasn't surprised when Genevieve and Isaac protested but she merely smiled at them before walking down to the kitchen.

"Hi Mommy!" Eliza said, seeing her mother first.

"Hello sweetie," Beckett said. "And everyone else," she added with a smile, squeezing Julia's shoulder. "Are you enjoying the food?" She couldn't help laughing after her initial surprise as the kids all started to talk at the same time. But she was able to tell they were saying yes and she said, "Good, if you want seconds make sure either Alexis or Louis are with you."

"Mom," Julia said quickly before she could leave. "Did you tell Peter's mom and Clive's dad about Helios? I told them," she said, motioning to the boys at the end.

"I did, they think he's cute," Beckett said. "And remind me about the pictures after dinner so you can show them." When her second oldest nodded she smiled at all the kids and went back to the table. She wasn't surprised when the other parents were looking at her and said, "They're eating. Talking too," she said after pausing when they could hear the kids laughing together. "But they're eating everything."

"Even the vegetable medley?" Isaac asked. "Clive's iffy on some of them."

"He is," Beckett replied. "They all are which I'm going to credit Alexis and Louis with since they've had luck feeding their siblings."

After they were eating for a bit Genevieve asked, "You two are leaving again."

"Yeah," Beckett said with a smile as she looked at her husband. "But it's just for a few days. Are you guys planning on taking trips in the future?"

"Not at the moment; not until summer… or Spring Break," Isaac said. "Though Clive told me you were heading to Mexico City."

"Did he explain to you about the show?" Skye asked.

"Yeah… so… you can actually do that," Isaac said.

"To be honest it's not doing anything," Skye replied. "It's what I can see."

"And… Julia too," Genevieve said.

"Yes, but we'll also go around the city a bit," Skye said.

"That'll be fun," Mary said. "The kids will love it."

"And you'll be safe?" Isaac asked slowly.

"It's not that dangerous, there are millions of people there and they're fine," Skye said after taking a drink of her wine. "Plus, it's like any other city. And the people are very nice. And the food is amazing too." She noticed that both Genevieve and Jim were looking hesitant and she was going to tell them what she knew what they were thinking when the latter was talking before her.

"Have you ever eaten bugs?" Beckett's father asked. "I've heard they can be good. And full of protein."

"I have," Skye said with a smile. " _Escamoles_ since I'm not quite sure about crickets yet… perhaps next time."

"What are those?" Isaac asked in confusion.

"I don't know if I should answer that," Skye commented, looking at all the plates.

"We're already talking about bugs," Martha said. "And we know they're not part of dinner here."

"Ant eggs," Skye said with a sigh. "It was part of a dish and I didn't know until after the fact that I ate them."

"And were you… sick?" Genevieve asked.

"No, they were safe to eat," Skye replied. "But if I want to do that again… I'll see when we go."

"Don't mention that to kids," Beckett said with a laugh.

"Already have, I'm sorry Josie," Skye said in a mock apology to the baby who was hitting her hand on the tray of her highchair.

"I guess she's telling you to stop," Isaac said as Castle was taking the baby out of her chair and sitting her on his lap. "That brings back a lot of memories," he then commented with a smile. "You're lucky to have done this three more times."

Beckett shared a glance with Skye; sitting directly across from her; and then said with a slight smile, "You've got a lot more to go with Clive still. But Rick and I have been wondering if he's going to keep dancing?"

"I'm not sure," Isaac said, scratching his cheek. "He's really enjoyed it so…"

"And Mari?" Genevieve asked.

"No, he's not at that stage yet," Isaac said with a laugh. "He's fine dancing with Mari but he's really looking at her like a sister."

"They do tease each other," Skye said, as she'd noticed it being around the kids so much for the past three months.

"They do," Isaac replied. "If you will excuse me, I'd suddenly like to check on my son, and get more of the turkey."

Beckett; left alone with her husband as the others were going for seconds and to see the kids; took his hand across the corner of the table and said, "You're going to do the same aren't you?"

"I've had crickets," Castle said. He smiled at his wife's expression and explained saying, "I've been to Mexico City too remember. It was at a market and they had spicy and not spiced. I tried both and the spicy was a mistake, but it wasn't too bad plain."

"Plain crickets," Beckett stated instead of asking. She smiled slightly when he nodded and then said, "Well… since you liked those lollipops that tasted like soap and the haggis in Scotland… You're well on your way to hosting your own travel and eating show."

"Oh no," Castle said. "I'm not leaving without you."

"Then you're staying home," Beckett said, standing up. She leaned over and they shared a brief kiss on the lips before she said, "What would you like?"

"I'll tell you myself," Castle said, getting up. He wanted to kiss her again, but his mother and Skye were coming back into the room and he instead followed her out to the kitchen. "Hey, how're you all doing?" he to the kids. When they were all answering at once he nodded and said, "Okay, I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves."

"Is Josa having a good time?" Julia asked, smiling at the baby as she was walking back to the table with her plate.

"She is," Beckett said after the baby babbled briefly. "Are you going to get anymore after these plates?" When the girls shook their heads she said, "Then take your plates to the sink and come into the dining room."

After their middle daughters had nodded, Castle followed his wife to tell her what he wanted. When she had her plate ready, they walked back to the dining room and he said to the baby, "I need to put you back in your chair, but someone will carry you once we're finished eating." He took her laugh as assent and took her to the highchair, setting her in before he sat to eat. He and Beckett started talking with the others about their plans until the McDouglases needed to leave and they would head to Tahiti as they finished their meal.

* * *

"Where's the toy Josa?" Julia was asking the baby with a smile.

"Can she find it?" Fleur said.

"Hold on," Julia told her before they watched the baby looking around herself. She then pushed the foam sphere she'd been playing with over to her and watched Josie grab it once it was next to her knee. "Good job Josa!" she said, hugging her and laughing when her baby sister did.

"Dessert's ready," Castle said, walking up to the doorway of the family room where the kids were with Martha and Jim watching them. "Bring Josie," he told Julia.

"Sure," she replied before standing and leaning over to get the baby. "Oh, I don't think you can take this with you," Julia told her baby sister as she was still holding the sphere.

"Let me tickle her," Eliza said, hurrying over to help. She started to tickle at Josie's neck, making her smile before she managed to get the sphere and they were walking with the other kids and their grandparents.

"You guys can have a slice of both pies," Castle told the girls. "But very small pieces."

"Did Mommy say it was okay?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"I did, but I'll cut the slices for you," Beckett said firmly.

"I want both," Julia said, turning her head as Josie was grasping at her cheek.

"Do you want me to take her?" Martha asked with a smile.

"No, it's fine," Julia said while they were watching her yawning. "When does she have to go to bed?"

"Soon," Castle said since his wife was cutting the apple and pumpkin pies they had. "Kate-"

"Here," Beckett said, giving two plates to the girls. "We're eating here but wait and sit at the table."

"Okay," Eliza said happily, carrying her plate carefully over to the table and setting it down.

"What do you want Rick?" Beckett asked her husband.

"I'll take care of it," Castle said simply. He was glad when she let him take the knife she'd been using, and he cut two pieces of pie. "Love?" he asked her.

Shaking her head and smiling, Beckett said, "I'll take that."

"Why are you lot playing with knives?" Skye asked, having been watching the two as she'd been dishing out the other two pies for her family.

" _Not that kind of playing_ ," Beckett said in Irish. She glanced at her friend and smiled before she got her slices of pie and said, "Are we ready?" looking around to make sure everyone had some of the dessert.

"Yeah," Peter said.

"Go ahead and eat," Castle said laughingly as the other kids were laughing. He and Beckett had gone to the table; as his father in law had put Josie in her highchair; and they were eating while watching the baby. "Don't," he said with a smile to Eliza as she was pretending to feed Josie some of the apples in her slice.

"Sorry Josa," the little girl said with a wide smile. "Daddy says no."

"Abababa," Josie babbled before she was yawning widely.

"We'll put her to bed when we're finished," Beckett said, smiling at the sight of the baby growing more obviously tired.

"We'll take care of the dishes," Skye said.

"You-" Castle began to say before he was interrupted.

"We are guests," Isaac said, as he and Genevieve had helped Skye and Mary with the dinner dishes.

"And you're giving us leftovers… for some reason," Genevieve said.

"We had a lot of food," Beckett then said. "But thank you for wanting to do that for us, it helps."

"Do we need to?" Clive asked.

"No," Isaac said, shaking his head with a smile. "But behave please."

"They'll be fine," Skye commented. "And they're done, girls. Plates to the sink if you please."

While the guests were taking everything into the kitchen, Castle and Beckett looked on while their parents and then daughters kissed Josie goodnight before Alexis turned to them.

"No bath tonight?" the young woman asked her dad and mother.

"Tomorrow, you guys can give it to her," Beckett answered. She took the baby and said, "We'll be back down once she's set. Stay here Max, Molly," directing the last to the dogs as they were watching them. She led the way up the stairs and when they were at Josie's room she turned to her husband.

"What?" Castle asked, slightly surprised at her stopping and turning to him.

"Go ahead," Beckett said, handing Josie to her.

"Stay with us?" Castle asked as he took the baby.

"Yes," Beckett said, unable to help smiling at that. She followed him inside before she paused and then turned. "I thought I said stay."

"Can you really say no to them?" Castle asked, smiling as he watched the Setter and Hound come into the room. "And they are Josie's."

"Alright," Beckett said with a slight sigh before she went to the dresser and got the baby's pajamas for that night.

"No leaves for her?" Castle asked.

"You're lucky this one was on top," Beckett said wryly as it had a pattern of pine trees over it with little foxes in between them.

"Yeah, Christmas is coming Josie," Castle said, smiling at the baby as he was taking her sweater off. "And your first one this year."

Beckett was smiling herself, at the baby reaching for Castle and gurgling at him before she smiled. "She takes after you," she told her husband with a smile.

Glancing at her, Castle said, "It doesn't matter if she's like you Kate."

Shaking her head Beckett kissed his cheek as she took the baby's outfit to put in the hamper and told him, "She'll love Christmas, her sisters will help her with that."

"If not me?" Castle asked, changing the baby's diaper.

"If not you," Beckett echoed as she walked back to him. Once Josie was in her onesie she said, "Let me take her." Holding the baby Beckett said, "Your first Christmas is also going to be your first British Christmas."

"Actually, that's for all of us," Castle said, sitting on the edge of the bed as she had gone to the rocking chair.

"Do you mind?" Beckett asked him.

"No, she'll be fine with her mom," Castle said. He couldn't help laughing softly at the look she gave him and then said, "Did you notice they haven't asked about it yet?"

"We just got home yesterday," Beckett reminded him. "Just give them a little time."

Nodding, Castle looked on as Josie's eyes were soon closing and he stood once his wife had to lean over to press his lips to the top of the baby's head. "I love you sweetheart. Sweet dreams," he whispered before they walked together to the crib.

"I love you too Josie," Beckett told her. "We'll play with you inside tomorrow. But for now, sweet dreams." She kissed Josie's temple tenderly and then set her down in the crib, making sure she was well covered before she and Castle stood there, watching their daughter fall asleep.

"Come on," Castle told her, taking her hand after he realized they'd been there for a while. He let her get the web cam on before they stepped out into the hallway, leaving the door open just enough for the dogs. "Wait," he told her when they were passing Eliza's room.

"Rick," Beckett said simply though she didn't try to stop him.

"I'm not sorry," Castle replied as their arms were coming around each other. He leaned down, capturing her lips with his own and giving her a sensuous kiss.

Holding onto her husband, Beckett responded to him swiftly and they spent some time like that until they parted. "We-" she started to say before they turned as someone was coming up the stairs.

"Mommy, Daddy! Are you gonna come and play?" Eliza asked eagerly, doing her best to keep her voice down.

"Right now," Castle said, letting his wife go. He went to their second youngest and picked her up saying, "Are we playing UNO again?"

"No, Life," Eliza said with a smile. "And we're gonna play in pairs. You and Mommy are together."

"That would stand to reason," Beckett commented when her husband turned to her as she was coming down the stairs. "Who are you playing with?" she asked once she was on the first floor with them.

"With Jules," Eliza said.

"I thought you might play with Alexis," Castle said.

"She's gonna play with Louis," Eliza said, her brow furrowed as she wondered why her father hadn't known that already.

"Rick," Beckett said.

"Yeah, that stands to reason too," Castle said quickly before they went into the family room. He quickly noticed the game wasn't on the coffee table and said, "We're playing in the dining room, aren't we?"

"With this many people?" Alexis asked her father. "We didn't want to go there yet so you wouldn't think we'd left you."

Gathering around the dining room table, the twelve that were playing the game started at one end of the table while the others were watching and having a drink. They were cheering the game players until it ended and once Castle had totaled up everyone's money he announced the winner.

"It doesn't need to be dramatic Dad," Alexis said, shaking her head.

"Okay, then Kate and I won," Castle said.

"That's not fair," Clive said jokingly. "You two are way past us in real life."

"Yeah, you have four pegs in the car behind you already," Peter said before they were all laughing.

"Okay, let's get another game," Beckett said when they had calmed down. "One that everyone can play."

"Not me," Liam said. "I'm keen to just watch you all."

"I'll join him," Jim said.

"Me as well," Martha said. "But what could you really play with seventeen people?"

"Charades," Castle said quickly. "For kids though of course."

"Do we have to do that here?" Ivy asked. "It's a small room."

"No, we'll go to the family room," Julia told her. "We need space to act."

After they'd gathered in the family room; and Castle and Beckett had checked on Josie; they divided into three teams two with six each and one with five and Julia and Eliza got the game board set up.

"We're first!" Fleur said happily, with Skye and her sisters.

"You have a verb," Castle said when Iris, who was going to act out the first word.

"Can you find it?" Mary asked, with the Watersons, Lennoxes and Louis on the second team.

"This one?" Iris asked, pointing to the second word on the card.

"Yeah," Julia said since she was showing her. "That's not cheating is it?" she asked her team; her parents and sisters.

"No, it's okay to do that," Beckett assured her. "Ready?" she asked as she was holding the hourglass. When the little girl nodded, she turned it over and they looked at her to see what she would do for her word.

Iris started to skip around in front of the others, her cheeks growing red, before she heard her twin cry, "Skip!" "That's it," she said with a laugh.

"Okay, roll and then it's the Castles' turn next," Skye said, looking apologetically at her friend, smiling when Beckett shrugged.

"Do I go?" Eliza asked.

"Of course," Alexis said. "The youngest is going first in the teams."

Nodding, Eliza took a card and looked at the word she needed to act before she looked at her parents.

"Can you do it?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah," Eliza said a little nervously.

"Go," Beckett said before she turned over the hourglass. She looked at the little girl and saw that she wasn't moving, making her frown a little before she glanced at her husband.

"Blinking?" Julia guessed since she could tell her sister was doing that. "Blink! It's blink!" she then said when Eliza looked hesitant. When her sister squealed and hugged her tightly, she laughed before she said, "That was close."

"Clive?" Isaac said to his son.

"Yeah," the boy replied as he got a card.

"Will you be able to do it?" Peter asked him.

"I will," Clive said, nodding. "I can start," he then said to Beckett.

"Go ahead," she told him, turning the hourglass.

Feeling her little sister grabbing her arm, Julia smiled as she could tell what her friend was doing as he jerked forward but wondered if the rest of his team would be able to guess too.

"Throwing up?" Peter asked. "What?" he said when his friend gave him a glare. "That's what it looks like!"

Watching the boy make the motion again, Louis and Peter both said, "Sneeze!"

"Good thing you put your hand to your nose," the former said to the boy. "Otherwise we wouldn't have known that was a sneeze."

"I forgot the first time," Clive admitted sheepishly.

"What do we have next?" Kathleen asked since it was hers and her team's turn next.

"It looks like… a noun," Castle said. When no one said anything he asked, "What?"

"Do the youngest know what that is?" Martha called to her son.

"Oh, it's an object," Castle said. "Just an object in this case since it would be hard to do a name too."

"Are you ready?" Skye asked Ivy.

Beckett, in the time it took for the little girl to get her card, looked in on Josie again and saw that she was alright. She felt her husband taking her hand and squeezed it tightly before they entwined their fingers. She looked with him as Ivy took her turn, smiling as the kids were obviously enjoying themselves as the game continued.

* * *

 _November 26_ _th_ _, 2020_

 _Happy Thanksgiving diary!_

 _I get to write in you for a second day in a row which I haven't done in a long time (now I'm home I'll be able to do that a lot more often) but it can't be for too, too long since it's almost my bedtime._

 _So this morning Louis got a call from the stable owner Charlie that Lottie was just going into labour (I know there's no u in that word, but they spell it this way in England and Canada… and it's my diary too!). I went with Mom and Dad and we were racing to get to where Lottie was in the… I think it's called a birthing stall. It's weird (and I stopped for a second 'cause I'm not sure if it's okay I write this) but when we got here you could see the legs sticking out of Lottie's… back. But luckily it didn't take her too long to give birth (Mom said for humans sometimes it's more than like a half hour) and she had a colt! So Josa's going to have stallion to ride when they both grow up._

 _I named him, since Josa's still so little, and I decided to call him Helios. It means the sun and has to do with the god Apollo who brought the sunrise with his chariot. And it's kinda a royalty name like our other horses' names are since Cleopatra's second son's middle name was that. I think, if Helios had been a girl, I would have called her Selene (that's the moon and that was her only daughter's middle name and Helios' twin). But Helios is fine and so cute, and I can't wait to see him again!_

 _I got to ride with Mom and Dad and got to gallop in the field outside there before we went to see everyone. They went to see Helios, but Josa wasn't there since it was cold. I asked Mom and Dad later and they said we might take her in the spring… which is so long but Mom reminded me that Helios needs to grow up and so does Josa. And it needs to get warm too, but when I told Josa all about her horse I whispered to her that I would tell her everything about him and take videos with my camera. And then she laughed, and I hugged her tight, my sister is so cute I couldn't help it! But she's a McCollough definitely, I can tell already!_

 _After Lizzy got to ride a pony on her own (she's doing better and better, I heard Mom tell Dad on the way home she should be able to start on mares next year once she's six and taller. But she's not going to be alone for a while of course, like me) we went home and then we kids got to play. Oh, I almost forgot, I took a shower and so did Mom and Dad we smelled like our horses (I'm going to need to wait until next summer to ride Lottie… :( I know Dad wouldn't like me to put that but that's how I feel. That's a looong time to get to ride my very own mare, but Mom did remind me Lottie's a new mother and she had to wait to get back to riding herself so she wouldn't get hurt so it's the same for Lottie). But when I finished my shower I saw they'd been kissing; their lips were all weird. I'm just saying that 'cause I'm so happy they're still in love like that. So the kids played outside and I made the mashed sweet potatoes while Mom and Dad were starting on the side dishes._

 _Oh, and I forgot, Peter and Clive had dinner with us and their parents! Mom and Dad divided them since it would just be each kid and parent on their own, Mr. Lennox doesn't have any family and Ms. Waterson (actually she told us tonight it's going to be Sayer which was her name before she got married and it'll be Peter's name too) doesn't either. So at least we got to see them again. Dinner was really good and since there were so many kids there we ate at the kitchen table that was made bigger._

 _After dinner Mom and Skye told us that Stella wants them to take pictures again for her collection, for her spring collection. Just two pictures but still, that's so cool that Stella thinks my mom and my aunt (yes, I'm calling her that though it was a past life) are good models and_

"Julia?" Beckett said, walking into the room then and seeing her daughter at her desk.

"Hi," the girl whispered, looking at her.

"Finish your entry okay?" Beckett asked. "If you have to you can add what you missed tomorrow."

Nodding, Julia turned back to her diary and started to write furiously to head back to her bed.

 _Sorry diary, I kinda lied when I said I have time to write. I was in bed before I snuck over to you, so I need to make this fast. We played games- Life that Mom and Dad won together and then charades that Skye and the McDouglas girls won- all together. The three youngest kids- Lizzy, Ivy, Iris and Fleur- went to bed and us older kids played Yahtzee that Clive likes before the Lennoxes and Wat- Sayers went to their homes. Then I played with the McDouglas twins, 'lexis and Louis a bunch of games of Clue before we had to come to bed (it was the Disney Clue for fun). And then I came to you._

 _I gotta stop, Mom's stroking my hair and now I really feel tired (if you were a real person, I'd hope you have a mom that makes you feel so safe just touching your hair like mine's doing right now). Oh no… I'm sorry about the blots diary, I yawned so wide just now my pen fell out of my hand. Goodnight diary, I'll try and write tomorrow!_

"Sorry Mom," Julia whispered as she put her diary away.

"It's alright, I had a feeling you'd want to get back to that," Beckett told her. When her daughter, after standing up, turned to her and embraced her tightly she hugged her back and asked, "What's wrong sweetie?"

"Nothing," Julia said softly. "You're the best mom."

"Thank you," Beckett said, caressing her hair gently. "And you're a wonderful daughter."

"Best second oldest?" Julia asked as her mother led her over to her bed.

"Exactly," Beckett said before her daughter was laughing softly. She sat on the edge of the bed; Marie and Kathleen on an air mattress near them; and shared a kiss with the girl. "Get some sleep, you have a lot of playing to do in the morning," she gently admonished her.

"I know, thanks for letting me finish Mom," Julia told her.

"You're welcome, get some sleep," Beckett told her. Standing up she watched her daughter lay down and leaned over to press a kiss to her hair before telling her, "I love you sweetie."

"I love you too Mom," Julia replied, smiling. She watched her mother walk to the doorway, waving slightly before she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

Sure that her daughter would be sleeping, Beckett left the room for her own, closing the door behind her. "I was right," she commented when her husband looked back at her.

"She was writing?" Castle asked.

"I told you she would want to get back to writing almost every day," Beckett told him with a smile, walking around to her side of the bed. She took off her robe and then told him, "She was just finishing when I got to her."

"I wasn't disagreeing with you about her doing that," Castle said, raising the covers for her. "But I thought she might have written already and you would have caught her sneaking back into bed."

"That's the writer in you," Beckett commented. She wasn't surprised when her husband pulled her against him and she went willingly before kissing him on the lips. They both kept that brief and she pressed her forehead to his saying, "There's something I didn't tell you."

"About what?" Castle asked in surprise. He wasn't surprised when she got onto his lap and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm a little unsure about this."

"It could go either way?" Beckett asked him with a smile. She laughed briefly when he nodded seriously, and she leaned down so they could share a quick kiss. "It's not bad. I got another e-mail from Stella; so did Skye; she wants you and Mary to join us for one of the shots."

"You're still doing two?" Castle asked her.

"A third, the other two will just be us," Beckett replied.

"But…" Castle started to say. "Do you want me to be there? Could be just you and them." He realized what he'd just said and told her, "I didn't mean it like-"

"I know," Beckett said, pressing her fingers to his lips. She smiled when he kissed at them and she said, "It's up to you, Skye's going to ask Mary."

"In the morning," Castle commented. "Ow," he said with a laugh as she pinched his ear lightly. "Well?"

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Anyways, it's up to you," to change the subject.

"I'm fine with it," Castle said. "But… what am I going to wear?" he asked.

"She told us," Beckett said. "And sent a sketch of the four outfits."

Taking her phone that she'd grabbed, Castle looked at the picture she opened and frowned saying, "Mary?" as it was a floral print dress cut to wear in the spring.

"Mmm-hmm," Beckett said, kissing the side of his head gently. She watched him swipe over the picture and said, "Skye."

Nodding, since the sketch was of Capri pants and a shirt and blouse, Castle said, "I think it suits her." He swiped again and said, "Huh, never thought you'd wear-" before his wife pushed his chest gently to his laughter. "It's nice… she's thinking of starting a men's line, isn't she?" he then asked, looking at the trousers, shirt and blazer with a vest.

"Yeah, Skye said she's getting practice with her outfits," Beckett replied. She watched him swipe again and said, "It's like a… formal spring party she said," as hers and Mary's dresses were slightly more formal in cut.

"It's beautiful," Castle said.

"You're imagining me in it?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"I am, tell her I'm in too," Castle said.

Beckett leaned over and kissed him gently before she pulled back and said, "I will, in the morning."

"Sleep?" Castle asked his wife.  
"No, I wanted to read," Beckett told him, getting off his lap. She wasn't surprised when he stopped her and said, "And you?"

"Mind if I read to you?" Castle asked her.

"No," Beckett said with a smile. She got off his lap to get her book and once she was settled she gave it to him. As he started to read her book, about Elizabeth I, she leaned against him and listened to him as he read a few pages.

"That's it?" Beckett asked him.

"I think it's enough," Castle replied. "The text is too small to read this for long." He wasn't surprised when she was frowning at him and he stopped her from speaking by kissing her. They were quick, as before, and he was about to ask if she wanted to go to bed then when she covered his mouth with her hand.

"Would you even be able to sleep?" Beckett asked him.

Breathing out, as he knew she had felt how he'd reacted to her while they'd been kissing, and Castle said, "Not yet. But we have to sleep at some point."

"I know," Beckett said calmly. "Come here," she told him, taking his hand.

Though he knew already what she wanted to do, Castle followed her off the bed and got his robe and slippers on before they left the room and went over to Julia's room, looking inside to make sure their daughter was asleep. Seeing she was, flanked by Macca and JoJo, he led the way over to Eliza's bed and saw she was fine too, Rita and Rosie on either side of both her and Fleur. When they got into Josie's room though, the baby was whimpering, and he hurried ahead of his wife since he had an idea of why she was going to start crying.

"Thank you," Beckett told her husband, smiling at him as he proceeded to change the baby's diaper.

"That was just a guess," Castle said, slightly distractedly as he was focusing on Josie.

"Does she need another onesie?" Beckett asked, preparing to head to the dresser if she needed to.

"No, she's fine," Castle said, getting her new diaper set before his wife nudged him aside. He let her take over and then went to wash his hands after he'd gotten everything into the trash that he needed to. When he came back out into the room he said, "Is she asleep?"

"She is," Beckett said, smiling at her husband's surprise. "She's tired and it didn't take you that long to wash your hands," she told him teasingly. When he shrugged, she did her best not to laugh and she waited for him to kiss Josie before she did the same and set the baby into her crib. When she was satisfied their youngest was set, Beckett took her husband's hand and they went quietly back to their room where she closed the door again staying there for a moment. She soon realized her husband had remained close to her and she turned to him with a slight smile saying, "I thought the idea was to get some sleep?"

"How do you know what I'm going to do?" Castle shot back to her though he was wrapping his arms around her. He kissed her, as her arms about his neck tugged him towards her, and their tongues met briefly before they parted, and he murmured, "I'm afraid to do more than that."

"Then let's go and lay down," Beckett told him, letting go of him and pulling him after her to the bed. She let him get on it first as she turned off the lights before she followed, laying against his side and not surprised at all when he caressed her hair. "What do you want to ask me?" she eventually said.

Groaning Castle tried to turn his head to bury his face into his pillow as he said, "I hate you can read me."

"Ask Rick," Beckett told him, reaching up with one hand and running her fingers through his hair.

"Are your… are…" Castle tried to say before he hesitated.

"My breasts?" Beckett asked him with a smile. When he nodded she said, "They're fine, keep going."

Another groan left him and Castle said, "Would I be able to take them in Tahiti? If you'll let me?"

Leaning up, Beckett kissed her husband tenderly and wasn't surprised when he was responding to her swiftly. When they needed to part she then said against his lips as she smiled, "I want you to."

Holding himself tense Castle said, "I don't want to assume-"

"You're not, but I don't want you to hold-" Beckett told him.

"It's not that, I don't want to-" Castle began.

"Believe me, you're not forcing me," Beckett said, smiling again. "Luckily you take what you want-" He interrupted her, not by speaking that time but by his lips which she allowed, kissing him back as passionately as she could. When he laid her on her back she wondered if he realized he was proving he would take the initiative sometimes, but she soon forgot that as she was wrapping her arms and legs around him. As soon as she had done that she was gasping loudly and ending their kiss as he looked down at her worriedly.

"Are you-" Castle started to ask before she was drawing him back to her. He kissed her back deeply with a slight groan before their tongues were meeting in his mouth before he broke off to speak. "Kate… if we don't stop…" he said warningly.

"Just…" Beckett started to say as she moved against him.

"But our-" Castle started to say in slight dismay.

Shaking her head, Beckett kissed him again and cupped his cheek at the same time as their tongues fought against each other for a moment before they slowly parted. "Keep on your clothes," she whispered.

"We're still celibate?" Castle asked, knowing she meant that for them both. When she nodded he kissed her again and then started to thrust against her, groaning as she gasped in pleasure at the same time. They had to stop kissing as they were continuing to react vocally, and he eventually said, "Why… you wanted to…wait."

"I can't… I wanted to feel you… somehow," Beckett was moaning while he kissed around her neck. "I can't wait for Tahiti."

"We will," Castle said though he wasn't stopping. He kissed her again and they did that for some time before he was speeding up. Her cry of joy made him continue before they were both freezing in their movements and he thought for a moment he should be frustrated at how fast they'd been. But it left him soon after as he focused on how it annoying it was to have clothes on.

"Oh… I should have just caved in," Beckett said in amusement when they'd stopped orgasming.

"We're not that far from Sunday," Castle commented.

"No, but now we're both a mess," Beckett said, looking at him pointedly.

"You know I have to ask," Castle said as he pulled away from her so they could get up.

"Don't," Beckett said simply.

"But I must," Castle told her pulling her up off the bed. At her glare he said, "Why?"

Rolling her eyes, though she knew he'd be questioning her about that, Beckett said, "In the bath, now."

Castle didn't say anything to that, following her over to the bathroom where they took turns getting undressed. She was watching him as he divested his clothing after her and he looked at her closely when he could. "Come here," he said once he'd pulled off his boxers and pajama pants. When she took one step into his arm that wrapped about her waist he looked on while she was running her index fingertip over his skin that had his release over it. "Kate-" he started to say, breathing a little heavily.

"I don't know," Beckett said, her response the same as the few other times he'd asked her that in the same situation. She breathed out hard and said, "Maybe…"

Castle kissed her then, deeply, before he murmured against her lips, "The next time we do anything that'll be in you," knowing what she was going to say.

"Pervert," Beckett said with a smile before they were kissing and holding each other tightly with both their arms. After they parted she looked down at herself and said, "Every time," in a mock-grumbling tone.

Kissing her a second time, but making that much quicker than the first, Castle said, "Which is why we're taking a bath."

"And because you left your brace on, I'm getting the water," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband's eyes widened for a moment and she smiled before she ran the water until it was hot enough and then plugged up the tub. She worked swiftly so she could turn and watch him while he was taking off the last bit he was wearing.

Setting the brace on the shelf by the sinks, Castle went into the shower to quickly rinse off. He glanced back and saw that his wife was slipping into the water and the sight made him move swiftly so he could follow her.

Leaning against the side of the tub, Beckett was waiting for her husband to step out and she said, "Don't run."

"Why would I?" Castle asked, drying himself off briefly before walking over to the tub. He went into the water with her, not surprised she was there to meet him with her arms going around his neck. They kissed deeply as soon as he was on his knees before they were parting and he was kissing around the side of her neck to her soft laughter.

"We're really risking it," Beckett told her husband when he pulled back to look at her. She brushed her lips against his and said, "Just sit."

Giving an exaggerated sigh of frustration; which he knew his wife was aware wasn't meant seriously, Castle settled against the back of the tub and wrapped his arms around her once she was leaning against him. "You don't think we'll risk it like this?" he murmured against the side of her head.

Moving away, Beckett smiled after she had turned to face him saying, "Then maybe you should just sit."

"Screw it," Castle said, reaching for her and pulling her to him. He kissed her, and though they were trying not to push things too far he was sinking his tongue into her mouth. He was relieved when she responded to him and they were doing that for a while before they needed to part to breathe. "I…" he said, studying her.

Though everything in her body was screaming at her to move to let him touch her, take her against the side of the tub, Beckett moved to grab one of the washcloths on a shelf on the other side. She wet it and proceeded to lather it up before she washed her husband's body. She went over every inch of him, letting him wash around his groin himself, before he was grabbing a second cloth and washing over her. They kissed every so often, but she was relieved when they didn't do anything more than that.

"You're a goddess love," Castle said when they were out of the tub a short time later. He'd dried himself while she was watching, and he held out her towel for her. Wrapping it around her he embraced her, not caring that she was still wet as he just held her.

Though she was enjoying her husband's hold, Beckett said, "It's getting cold."

"Oh, sorry," Castle said. He hurriedly let her go and dried her off before he pulled his brace back on. When they walked together out into the bedroom he realized something and said, "Love, the door?"

"I locked it," Beckett said.

"Did you plan for that to happen?" Castle asked in surprise.

Beckett couldn't help smiling as she turned to him, kissing him briefly and saying, "To be honest I didn't, I thought that something might happen so…"

Kissing her that time, Castle said when they parted, "I don't blame you." Before she could call him a pervert he was kissing her, holding her tight to his body.

"Oh… wait," Beckett said after they'd been doing that for a while. "We should get dressed."

"Yeah," Castle said slowly as he knew that he needed to let her go. Reluctantly doing so, he went to get his pajamas on while he did his best not to look back at his wife while she dressed. He watched her going to the door and unlocking it, but not opening it which made him smile as she turned to him. He had gone around to her side of the bed to wait for her and once she was with him he wrapped his arm around her, kissing her gently. "I love you Kate," he said seriously.

"I love you too," Beckett said. "Rick?" she asked him with a smile. When he just looked at her questioningly, she pulled him to the bed before they climbed onto it. She waited until she was settled in his arms again and she told him, "The girls."

"I know," Castle said, nuzzling his lips to his wife's forehead. "And we'll play tomorrow…"

"But?" Beckett asked him, looking up at him.

"We have time," Castle said simply as he made sure she was well covered. "Love," he breathed to his wife, kissing her tenderly.

Though they didn't make things very rough, Castle and Beckett kissed for some time until they were settling down to sleep. It took them a bit for them both to relax to nod off, their minds torn between their daughters and their upcoming trip. But they knew they would focus everything on their girls until Sunday, so they dreamed of each other until the point when they would finally be in the South Pacific and on their own.


	55. Warm Sea, See Right To The Bottom

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: Loved getting the feedback for the last chapter I did so will get to my thank yous. MsNYC (It was great you were glad that they got to ride in the end. And I had to laugh at your saying Castle and Beckett can have hormones like teenagers, lol, just seemed it needed to happy. Glad you enjoyed the shower scene and that you thought it was tastefully written too. Not surprised you're glad they're home too. And I did want to convey that they had fun playing their games. So pleased you thought Julia's diary entry was sweet and funny since I wanted to make it that because of the holiday. I'm not surprised you laughed at Castle and Beckett at the end basically dry humping, but I'm not surprised either you thought they needed to cave in, lol. Really happy seeing you thought it was tastefully written as usual and that you thought it was great writing too!),

TORONTOSUN (Nice to see you thought it was great writing!) and

Mb (I was really happy to see you thought the chapter was nicely done. And I'm glad you loved seeing them riding their horses and thought it was a fantastic experience seeing the foal being born too. It was nice too to see you mentioned their Thanksgiving with friends and family too. Not surprised you laughed at mentioning Castle and Beckett should have a system down torturing themselves before vacations, lol, but I figure the desire gets to be too much, lol. Nice to see you thought the first half was a sweet updated. And you're welcome for it too! I was also happy to see you thought the second half was as you put it a wonderfully sweet filler chapter. And it was nice to see you loved how sweet, loving and funny they were all together. I also was really pleased that you had the reaction you did for Clive, Isaac, Peter and Genevieve being invited, I figured it would be nice of them to do that since they were just in LA with the boys. I'm not surprised you laughed at the self-imposed torture Castle and Beckett did in the chapter. I'm also not surprised you said that when they get to Tahiti their lovemaking is going to be extra intense and then I laughed at your mentioning that was saying something since their lovemaking is already intense, sensual and loving and of course I'm glad you think that! Happy to see you thought it was wonderfully done. You're welcome for the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, loved reading all of them and of course I'm grateful for the time taken to write them all out and send them my way!

A/N #2: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Gone Troppo_ by George Harrison, from his album with the same name as the song.

Warm Sea, See Right To The Bottom

Walking from the living room into the bedroom, Beckett smiled at the sight of her husband laying on his back. It was the thirtieth of November; their first full day in Tahiti; and because it was so warm he had nothing covering his body so he was fully exposed to her. She paused just past the doorway to stare at him, but the smell of fruit reaching her reminded her that she was carrying the bowl she had prepared and she walked over to the bed.

"Rick," cut into Castle's dream and he groaned briefly before he felt something brush against his hair. "Kate," he said, turning his head to his right and seeing his wife. "Thank you."

"For breakfast?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"No, for the view," Castle said, reaching up and running his fingers through her hair.

"You're welcome, but you don't have to spend all day kissing my ass," Beckett said as she turned to the nightstand to get the bowl. Before she could reach it, she felt the bed shifting as her husband was moving and she looked over at him as he was cupping her cheek.

Kissing her gently on the lips Castle said seriously, "I'm not trying to get anything. I'm serious."

Smiling slightly, Beckett leaned into him and they kissed again before he said, "I love you."

"I love you too Kate," Castle said. He was about to speak again when his stomach suddenly growled, and he groaned in annoyance before his wife was squeezing his arm.

"Don't worry, I'm hungry too," Beckett replied. "And I made some tea; I'll be back."

Watching her go, Castle's eyes were literally feasting on her clad in the only dress shirt he'd brought with them. He could tell his mouth was watering from the sight of her bare legs and he did his best to control that before she was coming back with two mugs. Luckily he had to grab his glasses so once he saw her again he was calmer and he said, "Is that my shirt?"

"Do you want me to leave it on?" Beckett asked with a smirk as she handed him one mug.

"No, it needs to go," Castle said seriously before sipping at his drink.

Biting at her lower lip for a moment, Beckett set her mug on the nightstand next to the bowl before she was taking off her husband's shirt and setting it on the dresser across from the bed. "Better?" she asked him.

"Much," Castle said, holding his hand out to her as she neared him.

"Oh no," Beckett told him with a smile.

"No?" Castle asked in surprise.

"Lay down," Beckett said.

"Uh… that stuff is sticky," Castle commented as he knew what his wife wanted to do.

"And you would have done this to me," Beckett told him simply. "But I think it's my turn," she said, watching him obviously thinking that over.

"Okay," Castle said simply.

"Pervert," Beckett told him though she was smiling at the same time. She got on her knees once her husband was laying in the middle of the bed, kneeling close to him before she was getting the bowl. She started out by feeding him a lychee from what they'd bought at the produce stall the day before and she wasn't startled at him sucking her finger into his mouth as soon as she'd done that. "Easy," she told him as his hand reached up to slide around her side. "We need to eat."

"Quickly I hope," Castle commented, reaching into the bowl. Getting a piece of dragon fruit, he fed it to her before they were feeding each other for a little bit.

Once she felt they'd eaten enough, Beckett then took out a piece of starfruit, laying it on his chest. She looked at him for a moment, leaning down after their eyes met and eating it off him to his heavier breathing.

"Wait… let me," Castle said, looking into the bowl and then taking out another lychee. He then proceeded to run it over her index finger and popped it into his mouth before he pulled her down to him. They kissed, the juices from the fruit escaping his mouth and going down their chins before they parted, panting hard as they stared at each other. "Goddess," he breathed to her as she trailed her index finger over his lower lip.

As she had been hoping; and knew he wanted to do; Beckett was biting down hard on her lower lip as he was taking her finger into his mouth and sucking at it. When she slipped it from him she said, "There's not much left."

Castle sat up and then leaned over, kissing her on the lips before he murmured, "We'll finish." Though before they could do that they were kissing again, much more passionately than they had before.

Beckett didn't mind that before they slowly parted and she breathed out heavily saying, "Shouldn't you lay down?" she wasn't surprised when he shook his head and they were feeding each other and kissing hungrily after until they slowly parted and repeated the process again.

Drinking the last of his tea, Castle said when the bowl was empty, "Are we going to eat like that tomorrow?"

"If you'd like," Beckett replied. "But just breakfast."

"I don't know," Castle said, pretending to appear thoughtful. "Eating fish off you-" He was cut off when she nudged his side and said, "Then I guess I won't." Glancing at the bowl he said, "All gone."

"I know," Beckett replied, finishing her tea.

Watching her, Castle didn't move until she was setting aside her mug and turning back to him. He grabbed her and laid her down on the bed where he'd been before telling her, "I can't wait anymore Kate… I need you," speaking desperately.

"Don't worry," Beckett said with a smile, wrapping her arms around him. "I need you too," she said as he was studying her. She pulled him down to her and they were kissing, their bodies pressed tightly together until they had to breathe. She saw he was struggling with something and she knew what it was, about to tell him when he suddenly buried his face in her shoulder and spoke though it was slightly muffled.

"Please tell me what I can do," Castle told her. He raised his head when her nails gently raked over his scalp and seeing the expression on her face he leaned down, kissing her. He made it sensuous, their tongues meeting in her mouth for some time before they slowly parted. Looking into her eyes again he knew she wasn't going to tell him anything and he felt a thrill go down his spine at her trust in him. With that in mind, he leaned down and started to kiss around her neck, feeling her pulse racing when his lips brushed against it. Drawing his tongue across her skin, he felt her trembling underneath him and he murmured her name against her collarbone before he allowed himself to move lower.

Beckett was holding onto her husband tightly as he was kissing around her necklace and pendant before he nipped at the hollow of her throat to her gasp. When he was looking up at her she was breathless for a moment, the desire in his eyes intense before he was moving again. Her heart pounding, she looked on when he reached her breasts and she was gasping when he brushed his lips over each mound. He was frozen for a moment and she wondered what was going through his mind when he took her right breast with his mouth. Her eyes were rolling into the back of her head as he immediately began suckling at her nipple and the pleasure was literally an explosion.

Doing his best not to focus on what he was feeling at that moment; Castle brought his hand up to fondle her other breast gently. He wasn't sure what was making him focus on the nub there, but he could tell his wife was enjoying it as she was letting out short gasps and cries that were literally intoxicating him. He moved to her other breast and repeated the same there before he finally pulled back and moved up to her lips. He breathed out her name before their lips were meeting hungrily and he wasn't surprised when she wrapped her legs around him.

Pleased when her husband took her hint, Beckett helped him slide his length into her which made them both groan loudly in joy. "Oh… Rick you don't need to wait," she said as she knew he could feel for sure then how aroused she was.

"I know," Castle said though he still didn't move. "Could you-" he started to say before she was grabbing his hand and brought it to her chest. He'd been about to ask her to touch herself but feeling her left mound beneath his hand he decided her idea was better. He took the chance to fondle her breasts gently before he set his hand down on the bed and began to move.

Beckett was crying out as her back arched in response to her husband filling her and moving within her. At his very slow pace she knew what he wanted and that he was giving her a chance to protest as he was looking down at her. But she was amenable to them taking things slowly so she said nothing and brought him down to her so they could kiss. His tongue slid past her lips quickly before they were dueling, a stark contrast to the way their bodies were moving as he was going even slower brusquely. Her nails dug into his back, the sensation making her body feel as if it were burning, and she wasn't surprised when he pulled away from her as they needed to breathe.

"Kate…" Castle began before he paused for a moment to withstand sliding into her again and the sensations that accompanied it. When he recovered, he said, "You don't… don't want more… than this?"

"I…" Beckett began before he cut her off inadvertently as he'd leaned to her neck. She tilted her head back and nearly forgot about his question as he was sucking at her pulse. "Don't," she breathed. She gasped when he playfully nipped at it and was soon pulling him to her for a kiss.

When they'd managed to stop; going slower again to delay their approaching peaks he could feel; several kisses later Castle asked, "You don't want me to… fuck you," speaking rapidly so he would ask the question without stopping.

"You will… not now," Beckett replied, sighing as her husband's hand had come up to gently cup over her breast. She let out a short cry as his thumb flicked over her nipple and she pulled him back to her so they could kiss again. They were rough that time, their heads tilting back and forth so hard she hadn't realized he'd stopped moving in her and managed to stop her too. When they pulled away, she then noticed how still they were and she looked up at him.

"Just once," Castle told her, not surprised her expression was a mix of frustration and surprise. He withdrew from her; to both their groans; and he slid down her body to reach her clit. He sucked on it a few times before he had to tear himself away and move back up to enter her again. As they were moving together, he wasn't surprised when she whispered into his ear, "Don't do that again." He nodded rapidly before he kissed her and lost himself in moving within her though he was slowing down more often to draw things out for a little longer.

Beckett was a bit lost after that, her husband would stop moving sporadically but never for very long. They would kiss and he would touch her breasts or run his hand down her side before they were focusing on moving together. She was running her nails over his scalp and back, but as everything in her was building up to the point where she couldn't ignore it she couldn't help herself. Hearing her husband's use of the word fuck in Irish she breathed out, "I'm not letting go," as she'd grabbed his ass firmly.

Not replying, Castle grabbed her arm next to his right side and brought her hand up to his mouth. He nibbled at her palm; having stilled his thrusts so he could do that; and then went to her wrist. The second he nipped gently at the inside of it his wife was crying out and letting him go. "A little more," he breathed as an explanation as to why he'd done that before he started to thrust again.

Shaking her head Beckett breathed, "It's been…" She lost her train of thought as her husband reached in between them and proceeded to rub at her clit, making her cry out shortly after. "Don't," she said, tugging his arm.

"You don't want to come?" Castle asked her, surprised she'd done that.

"Just with your cock," Beckett said.

"Vixen," Castle breathed out to her before he crushed her lips underneath his. He was struggling to keep his thrusts at the same even pace, and he knew they were both close. He kept their kiss short because of that and he murmured against her lips, "Tell me you want me again," making sure that wasn't a demand.

"Oh… yes… I want… I want you Rick… please," Beckett said, beginning to writhe a little as her husband was thrusting down into her a little more forcefully. It wasn't fast, but she could feel their hips pressing hard together and him doing the same against her clit. "I'm…" she started to say, writhing more in earnest. She was raking her nails across her husband's back before everything culminated and she froze for an instant before crying out his name as her orgasm took her over. The ecstasy was intense, and she wondered if she would have to fight to hold onto her consciousness when her husband was calling her name. Her eyes were rolling back into her head for a second time that morning as she could easily feel what she had done for him and she was trembling as it nearly coaxed a second climax from her. She wasn't able to achieve that but didn't care, loving how her sex was throbbing in the aftermath of her pleasure while she focused on her husband going through his own.

After one harder thrust than he'd meant, Castle was doing his best to hold himself up above his wife as he was satiated in that moment. He realized she was still throbbing and tried not to focus on that as he was getting his strength back. As soon as he felt he could move he moved to lay next to Beckett and took her into his arms before they were kissing deeply. He couldn't stop himself and reached up, carefully cupping her left breast in his hand before she was pulling back with a smile.

"You waste no time," Beckett said.

"Not really, not when you're begging me to with your mind," Castle commented before he laughed as she lightly pinched his side.

"They're fine," Beckett said in amusement as her husband had started to caress each mound. "You weren't too rough."

"There's a lot of red," Castle commented, brushing his fingertips over her right nipple.

"When you suck…" Beckett said teasingly. She glanced outside with him as a seagull flew by with a cry and she sighed saying, "We should get up."

"Is it ten?" Castle asked in surprise since they had planned to get up early their two full days there.

"No," Beckett said, taking his phone off the nightstand. "Almost eight thirty."

"Okay," Castle said. "Beach?" When she nodded he leaned over, kissing her lovingly before he forced himself away from her so they could get dressed. Finishing before her he went out to the main room of their hut and made sure they had everything for the beach before his wife was walking out to him. "What about that lagoon?" he asked as they were picking up the two bags they had and he slung the umbrella holder's strap over his shoulder.

"After we talk to the girls," Beckett said.

"Still worried about Julia?" Castle asked her.

Nodding, as he'd opened the door and they knew there was one other hut that was occupied, Beckett waited until they'd walked around and were on the sand before she spoke. "It's a transition between staying in your one classroom to multiple ones," she told him.

"But we both went over the classroom map with her," Castle replied as he was helping her with the blanket as they quickly found their spot on the beach. "And made sure she knew the best way to get to each class." He wasn't surprised when his wife slowly nodded and he added, "And at least her school is all in one building."

"I know," Beckett said with a smile as she recalled Skye and Mary telling them how their daughters would be going to a junior high school with multiple buildings. "And she has Peter."

"How did they get the same schedule?" Castle said while she was pushing the sand back to hold the umbrella.

"Luck," Beckett said simply. "And I hope their lunch at the elementary school will work out."

"We'll find out," Castle said. "Water?" he asked as they were sitting in the shade.

"Thank you," Beckett said. She opened the bottle and was just bringing it to her lips when a yell just behind them made her jerk in surprise.

"Come on and fuck your slut."

Castle's eyes went wide as he looked at his wife and they turned to the backs of the huts above the beach behind them. "Second from the water," he muttered as a man as swearing at the woman who was crying out.

Nodding, as she could see the open window of what she knew was the bedroom, Beckett said, "Should we tell them?"

"To stop? Would you honestly do that if that's what you- wanted," Castle started to say, pausing as the couple was yelling again and speaking vulgarly once more.

Looking at her husband Beckett asked, "Do you want to stay?"

"Not really," Castle said, glancing at the umbrella and blanket they'd just set up. "Maybe we should go to the lagoon now? Give them a chance to…" He trailed off and looked over at the hut before he shuddered and turned back to his wife.

"Come on," Beckett said, smiling at him before she stood up. Since they had nothing that needed to go with them except for their towels, she let him take the bag with them; and their blanket; and they walked over to the pool further back from the beach.

"Kate, I just realized we could have gone swimming in the ocean," Castle said to his wife when they'd reached it.

"Oh, I know," Beckett replied easily and with a smile. "But I did want to come here too." She watched as her husband set out the blanket and once they'd weighed it down together asked, "That bothered you didn't it?"

Pausing, Castle hesitated for a moment before he nodded and then told her, "It did." He knew she was going to ask why but he held his hand up to stop her as he got the towels and set them on the edge of the blanket. He took off his shirt before he watched Beckett getting off her sundress in case she needed his help. Taking her hand, they walked into the lagoon together telling her, "My mother told me that if I wanted to be respected by a woman I would need to do the same to her. When I started having sex I realized that calling a woman a… what they were saying was not the way to do that. Even if the woman wanted it would I really think she was? I've never said those words because it's never come to a point where I thought a woman I was with was a…"

"Don't worry," Beckett said quickly, squeezing his hand. "You don't have to say them. But you've never said anything like that to a woman?"

"No," Castle said. "There was one that begged me to talk like the guy in the other hut to her, but I was quiet." He studied her and asked, "Have you ever wanted me to talk to you in that way?"

"No," Beckett said, looking out on the water.

"Kate has someone talked to you that way?" Castle asked. When she inclined her head once, slowly, he swore heavily in Irish before he said, "Who?"

"No one you know," Beckett said. "It was back in college, when I was realizing my pleasure was not being realized." She glanced at him momentarily and said, "And being called a whore really doesn't help."

"Who was he?" Castle asked, unable to keep the outrage from tingeing his voice.

"He died about… twelve years ago," Beckett said calmly. "From a drug overdose. So I'm not very concerned about him anymore and neither should you." She gasped when he turned her and pulled her against him. "It's okay Rick," she assured him

"How? When he called-" Castle started to say.

Covering his mouth with her fingers Beckett said, "He didn't know me. I was conservative with who I ran into bed with after becoming aware I wasn't going to be feeling much of anything from the men I was with. And that was the only time I was with him. I'll remind you that there was nothing for me at the end and I never talked to him again."

"Please tell me you confronted him about it…" Castle said. He watched her swim away from him and said, "Why not?"

"It wasn't worth the effort," Beckett said easily. "Now, I'm going under and you need to join me." She was relieved when he followed her, and they went into the clear water together before they resurfaced at the other end of the pool. "Now you need to tell me," she said, smiling as he paused and stared at her with slightly wide eyes before she waited for his response.

"Why can't I hide the small things from you?" Castle said in mock annoyance.

Beckett merely smiled and then said, "Tell me."

"Would you?" Castle asked.

"You work with words Rick, use them," Beckett told him firmly.

"You're not making this easier for me," Castle said.

"I'm not supposed to," Beckett replied with a smirk. She laughed when her husband jumped at her before she wrapped her arms around him tightly, kissing him. They kept it short and she then whispered against his lips, "Say it."

"Take off your bikini top?" Castle asked.

"What makes you think I'd risk it?" Beckett said teasingly.

"Why would I ask if it was a risk," Castle said.

"Stop playing with the tie," Beckett said firmly as she'd been able to feel him doing that easily.

"But it's fun," Castle said in a mock complaining tone. He let her go and swam after her back to where their blanket and towels were. He stood with her before his eyes widened momentarily as she reached behind her to take off her top. "I didn't think you were really going to do that," he said, trying not to stare at her breasts as they were exposed shortly after.

Beckett didn't respond to that, instead she went into the water and swam away to the middle of the lagoon. She wasn't surprised when her husband followed her and as soon as he reached her she told him, "We-"

"Don't worry," Castle said. "We can just swim and then get our stuff before going back to our hut."

Smiling, Beckett leaned over and then asked, " _Ba mhaith leat dom dul gan barr ann_?"

Tensing, as she was brushing her lips to his and had asked him if he wanted her to go topless there, Castle didn't reply until they were parting and he said, " _Ní cúram liom cad a dhéanann tú_." He wasn't surprised when she just looked at him, since he'd said he didn't care what she did, and he leaned over to capture her lips with his own to instigate a deeper kiss. When they parted, he said, " _Ba mhaith liom ach tú_ ," which meant he just wanted her.

"Funny, so do I," Beckett replied in English before she ducked under the water. She was relieved when he swam around with her and didn't protest when she eventually put the top of her bikini back on as they would need to leave soon.

"Hey," Castle said when he heard his cell phone alarm ringing an hour later.

"I hear it," Beckett said, as she'd been on the other side of the lagoon where there were some hibiscus flowers.

"If you hadn't woken up before me I would have picked one for you," Castle said as she walked around the water, one of the reddish yellow flowers tucked behind her left ear.

"Another time," Beckett replied before she started to get everything packed up. They were able to finish at the side of the lagoon swiftly before they went to the beach and raced to do the same with their umbrella and other bag as the couple was still yelling out the window. They hurried over to their own hut, doing their best to ignore what was being said before they were stepping inside. She was about to suggest they get things set up on the deck outside; since they hadn't gotten a text from his mother or her father; when he was speaking quickly.

"Let me set things up outside," Castle was telling her. "Let me know if they text."

"I'll help you," Beckett said firmly. "The phone can go on the table."

Though he wanted to say she didn't need to do that much, Castle nodded as he knew she wouldn't budge from that. They went out onto the deck together and he set the two beach umbrellas into the holders that were there, moving them with his wife over to the stairs down to the water. "I'm still wondering about that tiny dock," he commented as they were setting a blanket onto the edge of the deck and he grabbed some towels to cover the three steps.

"You don't want to guess?" Beckett asked him teasingly.

"Tiny helicopter? Tiny speed boat? Tiny jet ski?" Castle said.

"That's it?" Beckett asked. She laughed when he shrugged and was about to turn back to the deck when she heard the text alert on his phone.

Castle followed his wife into the house and straight to the TV where he set up her tablet so he could call their home on Skype.

"Hi Mommy! Daddy!" Eliza said eagerly when she saw them on the TV screen.

"Hey girls," Beckett said, smiling at them as their four daughters were sitting together in front of the screen.

"We're here," Martha said from behind the girls.

"What about Louis?" Castle asked.

"He's talking to his parents," Alexis said, moving Josie's hand from her hair. "How's the weather?"

"It's nice," Beckett said.

"Your hair's wet Mom," Julia said with a wide smile. "I can tell you went swimming."

"We'll go at Brennan and Clara's," Beckett reminded her.

"I know," Julia said.

"I can't wait!" Eliza said.

"Now that we've told you what we've done so far today," Castle said. "We really want to hear how your first day of school went."

"And your first day back at dance class," Beckett added.

"I learned about when to use who, what, where, when and why," Eliza said. "That was English and that was first. And then we did math and we were adding up to the number twenty. That was hard but then I remembered how Grandpapa taught me how to do that."

"Good," Beckett said, smiling at her father.

"We did some reading after lunch and then we were writing sentences we made up about things we did on the weekend," Eliza continued. "Miss Thurston said I could write about being in California. And then we read, and everyone asked me about Knott's and Disneyland. Oh! And Universal too!"

"I'm not surprised they were interested," Castle said, squeezing his wife's hand. "How was recess and lunch?"

"I played recess with Emmie and Quentin," Eliza said. "That's Emmie's friend and he's really nice."

"And lunch?" Beckett asked. She wasn't surprised when the little girl giggled and shook her head and she glanced at Julia before she began talking about her day next.

"I was able to get to all my classes on time," the girl said with a smile at her parents. "I figured you would be worried about that first."

"We were," Castle confessed. "But at least that worked out. What about your classes themselves?"

"Homeroom is okay, it's whatever subject I have first and the teacher just takes attendance and we hear the announcements for the day," Julia replied. "P.E. is first, and we were playing tennis but that was fun and I got to do that with my friends."

"That's good, are you swimming still?" Castle asked as the school had a building with an indoor pool.

"Yeah, but not until the spring when it warms up," Julia replied. "Second was science and we were learning about plants and photosynthesis," Julia said. "Ms. Benetti said I'm a little ahead so that made it an easy class for me. Oh, me and Peter are ahead. For third period I had English and we're reading _The Outsiders_ now."

"We were never told you-" Beckett started to say.

"No, it's okay, they just started it. Before this was poetry like you taught us," Julia said. "And then we worked a little on dangling modifiers."

"Oh, I remember that," Castle said, shaking his head.

"Next we had Study Hall and Peter and I were catching up where we needed to," Julia continued. "But it didn't take that long."

"So… what did you do after that?" Castle asked.

"Homework, that's usually when kids do theirs," Julia said. "That's why I can't wait until we have that period last."

"Who has it with you besides Peter?" Beckett said, not wanting to ask her about the schedule rotating during the week since she and Castle had already talked to her about it.

"Natalie, Dawn and Ava," Julia said. "Dawn and Ava have our same teachers, but Natalie has a different math teacher."

"After that was lunch, right?" Beckett asked her.

Nodding quickly Julia said, "We were all together, us with Mari and Eliza."

"What about your friends?" Castle asked the little girl.

"They didn't want to come with me," Eliza replied with a frown. "They were shy, but Jules said she'll come with me to talk to them tomorrow."

"Don't take so long you miss lunch," Beckett told her second oldest gently.

"I won't," Julia said. "I'll just see what they want. After we ate we all went to the playground for the middle school… does that seem weird to call it that? There aren't any slides and everything's metal."

"No, that's what it is still," Castle said.

"We played handball," Julia said. "Against a wall they have there."

"I remember that," Beckett said. "From the gold rush days."

"Yeah, and then we went back to school when the bell rang," Julia told them. "But we stopped early so Lizzy could make it back to her classroom. French was after and that was fun, though I'm still having trouble with the verbs."

"Those are always the hardest," Beckett said.

Julia nodded before she said, "Sixth was math and it was word problems with equations," before she playfully made a face. "Seventh was history and we learned about the New England colonies after they got settled."

"So you're ahead with that," Beckett told her.

"Yep, and I remember science is first tomorrow of course," Julia said. When her parents didn't say anything she smiled and said, "I know already, History in room 267, P.E. at the gym outside, Science in 130, English in 106, and then lunch. Study Hall in the library after that, French in 210 and Math in 201. So I know how I'll walk."

"Good, now how are you liking it?" Castle asked.

"It's nice, I have homework for my last three classes but," Julia said with a shrug. "I can do it here. And good thing I'll have Study Hall too."

"I agree," Castle said with a smile. "That's always good to have to be able to catch up."

"You had that too?" Julia asked.

"I did too Jules," Alexis said.

"And me," Beckett added.

"I did," Martha and Jim said at the same time before they were all laughing together.

"We're glad you had a good first day," Beckett said. "But we're still taking you to the middle school on Friday."

"Just to the quad Mom, the parents that take their kids leave them there," Julia said.

Wanting to say that she could take her to the door at least, but knowing her daughter was old enough to be left at the middle of the schools, Beckett nodded before she then looked at hers and Castle's oldest and asked, "How was your day?"

"Good," Alexis replied. "I had an appointment this morning with a new child, they have a little social anxiety, but we had fun coloring and talking. And I worked with my first patient after lunch, they're doing well now."

"That's great to hear," Castle said, seeing his wife nodding out of the corner of his eye. "Josie?"

"She's fine," Jim answered.

"I'm afraid I was seeing some friends," Martha explained. "But just for some coffee this morning down the street."

"That's fine," Beckett said quickly. "Did you do much with her Dad?"

"We watched _Sesame Street_ ," Jim said, since his daughter and son in law recorded episodes to talk to their daughter about letters and numbers to get started on her education that way. "And today was M and 5."

"Good, especially if you can do the same tomorrow morning," Castle said. "So… what about Louis?"

"His day was fine, though he mentioned one of the stallions had an abscess he had to take care of," Alexis said, knowing her parents would understand her boyfriend hadn't had a good day since he hated the procedure for those. "But he's looked in on Helios and the colt is thriving."

"Mom, 'lexis said if it was okay with you then we can stay the night tonight," Julia said eagerly.

"Who's we?" Castle asked before his wife could answer. "You need to ask us both."

"Sorry Dad," Julia said to him with a smile.

"That's alright," Castle said, looking at her expectantly.

"Just me and Lizzy," Julia replied. "We wanted to get Josa to stay too but Gram and Grandpapa said she has to stay with them."

"Which is what we say too," Beckett said firmly. "But you two can stay over there since you were invited."

"They didn't say anything," Alexis said told her mother with a smile. "I talked with Louis and we agreed it was time for them to stay with us. Though we're having dinner here and I'll get them to bed at their regular bedtime. We will."

"Good," Beckett said. "But you two need to listen to your sister and Louis-"

"Tonight and tomorrow so you're not tired and late for school," Castle finished for her.

Smiling Beckett then said, "And don't make a mess."

"Nope, we won't," Eliza said, shaking her head.

"Okay, we'll want to hear how that goes when we call you tomorrow," Beckett said. "What about dance class?"

"We worked on Contemporary dance-" Julia started to say.

"Everyone clapped for all of us when we started," Eliza said. "And Ms. Grey said that we did a really, really good job."

"Especially with their Contemporary," Alexis said. "And Lizzy did great in the dances she got to do too."

Smiling at the sight of their middle daughters with their cheeks flushed red, Beckett said, "I'm not surprised. How was your lesson?"

"It was fun, it was that and ballet steps since I told Ms. Grey that I needed to learn to go _en pointe_ more," Julia said. "Besides that… it wasn't much since she didn't want us to get too tired. Though tomorrow it's back to normal."

"And we want to hear about that too," Castle said, Beckett nodding next to him again. "For now though we need to let you go… homework?"

"I have some!" Eliza said eagerly. "Real homework now, not just worksheets!"

"Good, I hope you'll keep enjoying that," Beckett said with a soft laugh. "Julia?"

"Math and French," the girl began. "And a little bit of reading from the history textbook about Vermont and New Hampshire," Julia added. "Could we go there?"

"Maybe, we'll see what happens in the future," Castle said.

Glancing at her husband Beckett then said, "He wants to try… somehow to get us to all fifty states one day."

"We'll see," Castle said with a laugh when the two girls looked surprised. "That's it?"

"That's it," Julia said.

"Okay, then we'll let you two go," Beckett said. "What's for dinner?"

"Fish, I bought some halibut after getting the girls to school," Jim replied.

"Bababa," Josie suddenly babbled.

"She went with me," Jim said with a smile.

Smiling herself Beckett said, "Hello sweetie," waving though she wasn't sure if the baby could see her.

"Hey Josie, say mama for us," Castle said. When the baby just laughed, he smiled widely and then told the others, "I hope you'll enjoy that, we're having fish too today."

"Fresh?" Julia asked.

"Fresh but the right size, don't worry," Beckett said, knowing the girl would be worried about that.

"Do we need to say goodbye?" Eliza asked in disappointment.

"You have homework sweetie," Beckett told her gently. She then smiled and said, "But I love you girls; all four of you."

"Love you Mom." "Love you Mommy," Julia and Eliza were saying.

Waiting until Josie had stopped laughing suddenly, Alexis said, "I love you too Ma. I hope you have a great day, you and Dad."

"I love you guys too," Castle said with a smile.

"Love you Daddy!" Eliza said.

"I love you too Dad," Julia then added. She looked over at her baby sister as she was cooing then and said with a smile, "Josa says the same."

"I love you Dad," Alexis told her with a smile. "We'll text you tomorrow."

"We can't wait to hear from you," Beckett said. She and Castle said goodbye to their parents and after telling Alexis to say hello to Louis for them they turned off the connection. She watched her husband disconnect the tablet and said, "They're okay."

"I know," Castle said, smiling. "Swimming? Or what about snorkeling?"

Standing up, Beckett hesitated for a moment before she then grabbed her husband's hands and pulled him over to the bedroom. She turned to him as soon as they crossed the threshold and she was wrapping her arms around his neck. Their lips met shortly after that and their tongues were doing the same a moment later. They dueled for a long time until they needed to breathe and parted. She was biting at her lower lip as her husband's hands ran around her body and she pressed against him, wanting to ask him to fuck her when he beat her to that by asking something of her.

"Can I undress you slowly before I fuck you?" Castle was asking.

Smiling for a moment, Beckett bit at her lower lip before she said, "How slowly?"

"Not that slow," Castle said hurriedly as he knew what she was asking with that. When his wife stood on her toes he leaned down and met her for a kiss that he was startled to find was sensuous. He grabbed her and picked her up slightly so she wouldn't have to continue to hold herself up. When they parted he said, "Good?"

Beckett laughed and said, "Yes but I'm stifling."

"I know, too many clothes," Castle replied seriously before he kissed her and forestalled any response by doing that. After he had ended the kiss he moved his hand over her bare back as he'd been able to unzip her sundress. He then took the chance to untie the top of her bikini and said, "I'm going to leave everything here."

"I know," Beckett said simply before he let her go and they worked together to get her sundress off and she took care of her bikini top. "You?" she asked. Her husband never answered her as he reached up and cupped her breasts obviously eagerly once she was facing him again.

Castle managed to stop himself after a while and he said, "You're going to need to expect that."

"I was aware you were going to do that already," Beckett told him with a smile. She shared a brief kiss with him and said, "You did that last time."

Nodding his head rapidly, Castle couldn't help feeling a thrill race through him at the way she laughed and he reached down to hold her hips. When she grew serious, he slipped his hands under the bottoms of her bikini and he got them off her before letting her take them to set them with the rest of her clothes.

Taking off her husband's shirt as soon as she was looking back at him, Beckett let him put it on the dresser before she was running her hands down his chest. "Love," she said when a smile as his eyes fluttered closed.

"Kate you're…" Castle said before he shook himself and took her wrists with his hands. He kissed at her palms before letting her go as she went straight down to his trunks. He had to help her, but he didn't care as she was cupping him under his erection before he turned to her. "Wait," he said as she was fondling a little.

"Why?" Beckett replied. She cried out when her husband suddenly picked her up and took her the short distance to the bed. "I have to have a chance," she said teasingly.

"You do," Castle replied. "But," he said as he carefully turned her around so she was on her stomach. "You push me too far with that."

"Do you think I should be punished?" Beckett asked as she knew what he was doing. She bit her lower lip when her answer was his hand running over her ass reverently and she had to regain herself before she said, "You should."

Not waiting, Castle raised himself enough so he could slap her and listened to her cry of joy that made what felt like his entire body start to throb. "Do you regret that?" he asked her, running his hand gently over her skin that was slightly red.

"No," Beckett said firmly before he hit her again. She let her head tilt back in pleasure as she cried out again and was pleased when he did that two more times. "Oh…" she breathed in joy as he leaned down and was kissing where he'd hit. "Rick… will you… _Déan mé foinse_ ," she begged him, telling him to please make her faint.

Moving up so he could brush his lips over the small of her back, Castle then asked, " _Ba mhaith liom iad… tar éis_ ," telling her he'd like them and adding the word after when he'd paused. As she reached back to him he took her hand, kissing the back of it and knowing he had his answer in that move. After she turned around so she was on her elbows he went to her back and proceeded to kiss over it, making his way down until he was at the small of her back.

Letting out a gasp as her husband was tonguing her skin, Beckett managed to tell him, "Don't, don't make me wait lover. Please."

Kissing her shoulder, Castle moved so he could press into her, sliding his length in her slowly to her moan of pleasure. Feeling how aroused she was he had to fight himself to not start thrusting immediately and instead kissed at her shoulders again before he felt he'd waited long enough. Taking a deep breath, he then made his first thrust and feeling the heavy shock of pleasure within him that didn't stop. He could hear his wife was nearly yelling to him and he leaned down murmuring into her ear, "You… you need to help me. I can't find it o-on my own," as she was tilting her head back towards him.

"Go… go down a little more," Beckett said. When he did so on the next thrust she nearly collapsed to the bed, nails digging into the sheet and mattress under her as he'd found her g-spot. "You don't need me to tell you now!" she almost cried out in indignation when he didn't move.

"No, but-" Castle started to say.

"You don't need to make this last," Beckett said. "I've wanted to feel you fucking me since I woke up. Hurry!"

Since his wife's desperation was in her tone as well, Castle nodded and then started to move again. He didn't speed up, he started out roughly immediately and he listened to her reactions closely so he would be able to tell when she would reach her peak.

Though it was a short amount of time before she broke, it felt far longer as each of her husband's thrusts in her was intense and she struggled to keep from losing herself too soon. Her orgasm was even rougher than the friction between herself and Castle and she wasn't sure how long she managed to withstand it before everything caught up with her and she was passing out.

Moving as soon as he felt his wife's body growing limp, Castle turned her onto her back and he kissed at her shoulder though he couldn't stop. He felt her pulse under his lips as he'd gone to her neck and he paused as she was suddenly moving.

"Rick?" Beckett whispered, opening her eyes and looking at her husband. "What were you doing?" she asked with a smile.

"Kissing your neck," Castle said seriously, hoping she wouldn't think he'd been doing more than that.

"I could tell," Beckett said reassuringly, knowing he was concerned. She placed her hand on his shoulder and when he came up to her they kissed deeply, which she used as a distraction to wrap her right leg around his waist.

"How can I start?" Castle asked though he was moving to lay on her.

"Don't worry," Beckett said, wrapping her other leg around him. She was moving her hips then and gasped when her husband reached down to stop her by placing his hand on her hip. "Not like that?" she asked with a smile.

"No," Castle said before he kissed her hard. When she responded to him he slid his hand over her abdomen and then down to her sex, searching for her clit. For a while he pretended not to be able to get to it, though it was easily felt as it was so swollen. But he wanted to make sure his wife would be aroused once they were coupled again so he played around with that until he finally went to the nub. He was careful not to be too rough with it but used her reactions to judge that.

"Oh… you don't need to wait," Beckett finally said shortly after that. She bit her lower lip when he looked at her in surprise and she said, "You forgot."

For a moment Castle had no idea what she was talking about when it came back to him swiftly. He then grabbed his wife and turned them around so he could sit up. When she got on her knees immediately and wrapped her arms around him he placed his hands firmly on the small of her back. Glancing up into her eyes, he shuddered when her fingers brushed against the edge of his hair on his neck and he lowered his head while she watched him.

Breathing out in joy Beckett moved her right hand to gently caress the back of her husband's head as he suckled at her left breast. She was still watching him but her eyes fluttered closed as he pulled back slightly to blow on her nipple, moist from his ministrations. "Let me…" she breathed as she couldn't wait anymore. Luckily he didn't try to stop her, and she was soon lowering her body on his erection until it was sheathed inside her firmly. For a moment she was leaning against her husband as she was taking in everything he was making her feel and she was about to speak when he was lowering his head again.

Doing the same to her right breast for some time, Castle had to tear himself away from her chest as she was rolling her hips. "I won't be able to fuck you," he said, trying to be joking but his voice was broken up by the elation he felt in her movements. He then kissed her and took hold of her hips before she was tilting them down further than they were already. They were both cursing in Irish together; different words; as they were feeling how he was getting deep within her at an odd angle. But that only happened once as she was moving again, and he said, "Kate, you're going to kill me."

"I want to," Beckett said, raising herself before she was still and then working her muscles around him a little furiously. "You did the same to… me…" she breathed, her voice breaking up as she was beginning to push herself up and down on him. She cried out as her husband called her name, holding onto the small of her back, and she was doing that for some time before she had to stop. "Let me," she said simply before she then rolled her hips.

"Ah… I didn't think you'd take that literally," Castle hissed as she was moving around him and pulling him in directions he only experienced when she did that to him. It was highly stimulating, and he had to grab her by her hips telling her, "I'm going to come too soon."  
"It's what I want to feel," Beckett said. She looked at him then and they were crushing each other's lips, tongues meeting and rolling together. When they started to rub them, she let that go on until they had to breathe and she whispered into his ear, hoping he would take her request.

Though he wanted to point out that she hadn't been above him for all that long, Castle knew she was serious and he moved. Flipping her around onto her back he wasted no time, thrusting hard into her. He groaned while she was crying out and he moved as fast as he could since it was what she'd asked. Not bothering to worry about time, he was kissing her repeatedly until he felt her faltering underneath him and he drove against her until she was calling his name. Feeling her orgasm around him for a second time, it took very little to persuade him to follow her and he was groaning out her name in an almost chant as the waves of ecstasy seemed to be unending.

Holding onto her husband tightly, Beckett kissed at the side of his head and said, "Close?"

"Yeah," Castle breathed as he'd found himself wondering if he was losing touch with his consciousness a few times. "But… we finally fucked."

"Watch your mouth," Beckett told him though she was smiling. She took his kiss and then murmured against his lips as they stayed close together after they'd stopped, "We're not going to swim much are we?"

"We can now," Castle said. Though he saw the time when they got off the bed and realized they weren't going to be for that long until lunch. He'd paused seeing that, but his wife's hand was on his shoulder and he looked at her before she was kissing him.

"We have all day," Beckett commented when she pulled away shortly after.

"True," Castle said, smiling at her. "Let's get dressed and go," he said when they were lingering, staring into each other's eyes before he shook himself. He then moved to get off the bed and jumped when his wife slapped him on the ass in passing. "Vixen," he growled to her playfully as he helped her up.

"You'll get more of that later," Beckett said jokingly. She then bit at her lower lip and said, "Lover."

Though he wanted to grab her and pull her back to the bed, Castle forced himself to go to his clothes and dress so they could say they'd spent some of their day exploring the Pacific Ocean right outside their door.


	56. Warm Sea, See Right To The Bottom (Pt2)

Leaning against the wall, Beckett was looking absently out on the ocean as she was focusing more on her thoughts. It was after lunch by then and Castle was on the bed inside sleeping as they'd come together in the bath they'd had. She smiled as she thought of the way her husband had been grumbling about his fatigue, but she had pointed out to him she wasn't letting him keep her above him for very long. She wasn't sure why she was doing that but since he hadn't really protested she knew it was likely to keep happening. They had gone swimming in the ocean off their deck, intending to go snorkeling but since they'd both become hungry they'd decided to leave it for later.

Biting at her lower lip as she recalled them eating together on the steps down to the dock, Beckett tried not to think too much about how she had felt when they'd fed one another. But it was impossible not to and she shook herself before looking behind her at the bed where Castle was turning onto his back. She hugged herself a little tightly, recalling their bath and their lovemaking there which affected her immediately.

Trying to tell herself that she needed to let him sleep, Beckett couldn't stop herself and she walked over to her husband. She slowed down once she was by the bed and studied him, unbuttoning his shirt that she was wearing again. After she tossed it onto the nightstand she climbed onto the mattress before reaching down to his length that had been growing erect again while he was sleeping. Gently rubbing it she watched him to see if he would wake up and tried her best not to smile when his eyes shot open.

"Ah… Kate," Castle said when he came to the realization that her hand was on him. "You… you didn't sleep?"

"I couldn't," Beckett said, smiling at him. "I was thinking about you."

"I was dreaming about you," Castle said hurriedly. He sat up and grabbed her so he could wrap her up in his embrace a second before they began to kiss. When they slipped into their second one he tried to get her to lay down when she stopped him. "You don't want to-" he asked, startled.

"No," Becket replied. She murmured to him as she pressed her forehead against his until she had finished and was looking at him. "We've only done that a few times," she said, not surprised at his hesitant expression.

"True," Castle said, hissing when her hand was moving his erection around a little. "Yeah… you… I got you want it. Luckily me too."

Beckett was nearly shocked at that but had no time to react as her husband was laying her down. She expected him to move to straddle her but found there was no great surprise when he moved down to her sex. "I didn't want-" she started to say.

"Don't worry. I just want a taste," Castle assured her. Before she could say anything, he buried his face between her legs and lapped at her folds before dipping his tongue between them several times before her nails were digging hard into his shoulder. Then he straddled her head and said, "I still don't like the position by the way."

"Don't worry," Beckett said with a brief smile up at him. "Rick," she said firmly as he was holding his length in his hand but not moving. "Now," she said in the same tone before he slipped it into her mouth. She proceeded to bob her head, luckily he was above her enough to be able to do that far on him when she was moving down. She knew he was enjoying it as he was holding onto her hair but she could tell; when she reached up and held onto his legs; that he was holding himself stiffly so he wouldn't thrust into her. She had expected that, since he'd done that before, but she knew he would still enjoy it as she brought her tongue into play as much as possible.

Watching his wife soon move her tongue around the tip of him; so he could see that since her mouth was open; Castle could feel something around his erection constrict and he groaned, "I'm going to come love," in warning. She didn't stop, and he looked on while she was moving her head up and down one more time before he hit his peak and he groaned out her name once. He couldn't say anything more, his focus on trying not to hurt his wife though she was moaning around him until he was completely satisfied. When she pulled away from him, he said, "I… hate that but… you do that so well."

Beckett, waiting for him to get off her which he was carefully doing, soon said, "Thank you, that's the point. But-" She was cut off by her husband kissing her and she hurried to respond before she realized his hands were all over her body, especially between her legs. When they stopped to breathe she pushed him playfully and told him, "Get down there."

"Okay," Castle said eagerly before he smiled at her laughter. He didn't stop moving though and he took a moment to kiss around her inner thighs for a bit before he went to her sex.

Moaning her husband's name in joy as he was sucking on her clit first, Beckett arched her back and prepared herself for her husband's tongue which he was luckily soon using. She felt him sliding his hand up her body and gasped as it was cupping at her breast he could reach. She moved her own hand to help him and they played a little with her nipple until he moved away and sought her clit. "I'm not going to… l-last," she moaned to him in pleasure as he was trying to get his tongue as deep inside as possible.

Mumbling against her, Castle wasn't surprised when his wife was climaxing then and he hurried to make sure he was feeling her pleasure as well as tasting it. He was trying not to become aroused at the same time but it was difficult since it was almost overwhelming.

Cupping her own breasts by the time she had stopped, Beckett sighed as her husband spent a while licking at her sex before he slid to her. "Should we… stop?" she asked, pausing in her question as he was lightly fingering her clit.

"We were going to go snorkeling, weren't we?" Castle asked her.

"We were," Beckett said with a smile as he stopped. "We have afterwards."

"Yeah," Castle said, letting her go so she could get up first. He was about to speak when he paused and then said, "We have all night I think you mean."

"I don't know," Beckett said coyly, pushing her hair behind her shoulders as her husband got off the bed and stood up in front of her. "I like fooling around in the daytime."

Castle's response to that was to wrap his arms around his wife tightly and kiss her, starting out slowly before he deepened it and slipped his tongue into her mouth. He lost track of time while they were casually rubbing their tongues together, but they had to eventually stop. As they were catching their breath he said, "We'll swim and then fool around after sunset?"

"You mean after dinner?" Beckett asked. When he nodded she laughed slightly and said, "Alright," though she had an idea already in her mind. Glancing at her husband, she thought he might as well but didn't say anything as they reluctantly let go of each other and got dressed in their bathing suits again.

Walking after his wife out onto the deck once they'd put on sunscreen Castle said, "Can I jump right in?"

Looking at him, Beckett smiled and then said, "Yes but not from the railing, go down to the dock."

"Jump with me?" Castle then asked. He was startled when his wife merely smiled at him and he was racing to follow her over to the steps. Since they were just wearing their bathing suits they were going to the little dock, setting down their snorkeling gear. "Thanks for indulging me," he commented as they stood at the side facing the open water.

"I wanted to too," Beckett said simply before she was pushing herself out and jumping into the water.

Castle waited for his wife to resurface, smiling at her when she swam away from the dock. "Cannonball!" he said before he was jumping in.

Turning her head away at the large splash of water that came her way, Beckett quickly ducked under the water and swam over to her husband. He had his eyes open so he saw her, and she pressed up close against him while they were resurfacing.

"I would say that that backfired but… not really," Castle said with a smile.

"Pervert," Beckett said in amusement as he slipped his hand under her bikini bottoms to grasp her ass. "And you're giving the fish a show."

"They'll enjoy it," Castle said before she was pinching his side and he let her go with a laugh. He let her lead the way to the dock and they climbed onto the edge in turn to sit and put on their gear.

"Are you going to let me make dinner?" Beckett asked him.

Glancing up at her in surprise, Castle then became aware of what the question was meant to do for them both and he said, "Why don't we make it together? It isn't much, but I don't want to be…"

"Say it," Beckett told him with a smile. "It doesn't make you less of a man if you admit that."

Waiting for her to slip in next to him, Castle brushed his lips to hers and told her, "I don't want to be too far from you now."

Beckett was kissing him firmly, but she kept it brief as they were treading the water still. "Neither do I," she told him. "But for now-"

"Time to see if those fish were horrified at my groping," Castle said. He smiled when his wife laughed but controlled himself as he put his goggles over his eyes and the snorkel in his mouth before they were slipping below the water and swimming down next to each other.

When they were far enough, Beckett saw the reef that was a bit ahead of their hut they'd seen the year before. When she was close to it she spotted what she knew was a Regal Angelfish, admiring its brightly colored stripes before it swam away. Swimming up so she could get a breath of air she said to her husband who was with her, "We should have come out here sooner."

"I know, did you see the Flame Angel?" Castle asked. "Two of them."

"I did," Beckett said, smiling as she knew he liked those. "Let's go back."

Nodding, Castle ducked under the water with his snorkel back in his mouth and they swam down to the reef. He became worried for a second when he saw his wife moving back but spotted what she had. If he hadn't needed to keep the snorkel in his mouth he would have smiled as he wasn't surprised she had reacted the way she had to the seahorse. It disappeared into the shadows and he got a quick look at another cavity in the reef where there was a large eel before they went back up. "Did you see the eel?" he asked his wife when he had caught his breath.

"I did, I'm glad it was there," Beckett commented. When her husband looked at her questioningly she said, "No skinny dipping."

"You didn't want to?" Castle asked with a smile.

"Not really," Beckett said.

"Although you do have a point," Castle then said. "I've seen a video of an eel snapping off a guy's finger in a second."

"I think it would be more it might think it was its brother," Beckett said with a smirk as she glanced down at him momentarily. She put her snorkel back in her mouth as her husband was looking at her with wide eyes and ducked under the water knowing that he would be joining her shortly.

Shaking his head after a few seconds, Castle hurried to put the snorkel back on and then went under after his wife, seeing she was facing him on the other side of the reef. He swam over to her quickly and squeezed her hand for a moment before she pointed to the surgeonfish that that was swimming below them. They then moved down the reef, seeing some fish he knew already and some species he didn't. They were heading up every so often to breathe but finally they went up and stayed there. "Should we head back?" he asked her.

"I think so," Beckett said with a smile. She watched him look around and told him, "I was having too much fun looking at everything," as they'd gone a little far.

"Me too," Castle replied as they started making their way back to the hut. He was desperate to ask her what she'd said about him earlier, but he had to focus on swimming. As soon as they were sitting on the dock with their gear off he grabbed her and then pulled her onto his lap. "Did you mean that?"

"I did," Beckett said, knowing immediately what he was talking about. When he breathed out hard she pressed her lips to the top of his head before he was pushing the cups of her bikini top off her breasts. She pushed her straps off and said, "I wanted to do this," she said.

"Me too," Castle said before he leaned down and captured her right breast with his lips. He sucked lovingly at both mounds before she was taking hold of his head and tilting it up to him so they could kiss. When her tongue plunged into his mouth before it enticed him back into hers. He followed her swiftly before they were tangling together, and he helped her turn so she could straddle him. "This is so much better than skinny dipping," he breathed to her while she was opening the front of his trunks.

"But we're still fooling around tonight," Beckett breathed out, reacting to her husband pulling aside the bottoms of her bikini so he could reach her sex. He was also fondling it and she was crying out heavily as he first entered her. When they were coupled fully she squeezed her knees tightly into him and said, "This should be fast."

"Very," Castle said as he recalled for some reason then that they were on the slightly moving dock. He held onto her hips and he was rocking his hips the best he could though he had no leverage to help him at all. But the friction between them was strong immediately and he was groaning while their hips were slapping together.

Thrusting as hard as she could, Beckett wasn't sure where the desire had come from but she could tell her husband had no complaint as he was kissing around her neck and fondling her breasts until she was orgasming first. He luckily followed her and she continued to move until her body was limp against him, feeling him continuing for a little more as he was obviously struggling to continue to move. "Hmm, I'm glad we came out here," she said.

Groaning Castle said, "Me too, but I really wasn't expecting this." He shared a kiss with her before he was moving the cups of her top back over her breasts. " _Have I mentioned I love these_?" he asked in Irish.

"I can tell," Beckett said wryly in English. She then brushed her lips to his and they got up to go to the steps, sitting together. " _But I enjoy what you have as well_ ," she commented in Irish after they'd been watching the water for a while.

Taking her hand, Castle entwined their fingers and said, "Then we're okay?"

"I think so," Beckett said with a smile before she leaned over as he was, and they kissed. Because of their positions they weren't doing that for very long before they parted, and she said, "Keep swimming?"

"What did you want to say?" Castle asked her.

"Now who can read who?" Beckett replied with a question. When he gently ran his fingers through her hair she said, "I realize why I've been wanting this continuously." At his questioning expression she smiled and told him, "I love feeling you fill me as much as you do."

Breathing out hard, Castle brought her hand to his lips and he was kissing it all over the back before he said, "I fucking adore you love."

"I adore you too Rick…" Beckett said before she let him pull her onto his lap. They began to kiss, and it was no surprise that it became rough instantly though she was relieved he was soon slowing down as she wasn't sure they'd do anything but make love.

When they were apart Castle pressed his forehead against hers and said, "Are you feeling the same I am?"

"Torn between the water and the bed?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yeah, let's jump in again," Castle told her.

Beckett laughed softly before she went down to the dock and she waited for Castle to join her before they were jumping into the ocean hand in hand. They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and taking breaks on the steps, talking when they were doing the latter and kissing as well. They were able to keep things calm before they were heading to the outdoor shower to rinse off.

They dressed together in the room though Castle left for the kitchen first to start the meal before Beckett joined him. They talked about their kids while they cooked together and when they finished, they went to the table out on the deck where they sat next to each other and started eating as they watched the last of the sun's rays disappearing.

"Do you worry," Castle told his wife in the middle of the meal. "That Josie might do something and we'll miss it?"

"I have," Beckett said with a nod. "But I keep trying to tell myself that it's only a short amount of time."

"Still though," Castle said, not surprised when his wife nodded. He then reached out to her hand and squeezed it gently before saying, "I think she'd repeat what her sisters have been telling us."

"More than likely," Beckett said slightly laughingly. They let go of each other's hands and she then said, "I would love to see how things go tomorrow morning for them."

Nodding in agreement immediately Castle said, "I know, their first time staying the night with their sister in her new home." He became thoughtful and then asked, "Do you think we can let Josie join them?"

"When she's past two years old," Beckett said after thinking about that for a moment. "Maybe once she's in preschool."

Castle was quick to say, "She's not going to like that."

"I know, but I'd prefer her home until that point," Beckett said.

"I agree," Castle said. He looked out at the ocean with her and then said with a smile, "And I don't think they'd like us talking about them."

"Of course," Beckett replied. "But luckily they're not here to direct the conversation."

Castle nodded and then said, "Remember the first time Eliza started to crawl?"

"Yes," Beckett said, not surprised he was going to memories. "But do you mind if I switch to tomorrow."

"No, what about it?" Castle asked.

"You said the owner told you the couple was leaving tomorrow," Beckett said.

"By eleven," Castle said. "And he'll come in with maids to get the hut ready for the next people staying there. Were you thinking of going to the beach?"

"I'd like to," Beckett said. "As much fun as it is to go into the water here I do like the beach."

"Do you want to wait until after we call the girls to head over there?" Castle asked her. At her nod he said, "I would like that too so I'm in complete agreement."

Studying him, Beckett smiled and said, "What about the lagoon?"

"We don't have to go," Castle said. "We went today anyway."

"We'll see," Beckett said. "But I'm not going topless if we do."

"Sure," Castle said. "What?" he asked in slight surprise seeing her rolling her eyes.

"That's just because I was twice today," Beckett said wryly. She glanced at him and said, "Pervert."

"Oh of course I am," Castle replied with a smile. When she laughed, he leaned over to her and they shared a quick kiss before he said, "I'll be back."

Though she wanted to protest that she would take the plates, Beckett allowed him to do so without a word before she stood up and made her way over to the railing at the water. Leaning her arms on it she looked out at the water though it was getting harder to see and thought of her daughters at that moment. She knew it was likely nearly seven and figuring the time difference out in her head she knew that her two middle children were in their bed at Alexis and Louis' since it was almost one in the morning. And she knew Josie had been asleep for hours by then though she hoped hers and Castle's oldest was asleep as well since she would need her rest.

"Kate," Castle said as he walked out to her. "Okay?" he asked, standing next to her and putting his hand on her back.

"I was just thinking of Julia and school tomorrow," Beckett said.

"I was thinking that too," Castle said. "Hopefully keeping the classes straight won't be too difficult for her." He studied her and said, "But since she's her mother's daughter…"

"Do you really need to kiss my ass?" Beckett asked him in amusement. "After everything we've been doing?"

"It needed to be said," Castle said, kissing her quickly. He turned to look out at the water with her and he squeezed her back before he was pulling her closer against his side. He smiled at her and then said, "You wouldn't want to sit down on the dock?"

"Why don't we sit on the stair?" Beckett asked him, knowing why he was asking that. She was a little surprised when he nodded swiftly in agreement but didn't respond to that as they walked together and sat on the top step. His arm was firmly wrapped around her waist and she said, "You can't stop, can you?"

"My only response to that is would you really want me to?" Castle replied. He held her close to him as she laughed softly and then kissed her temple before he told her, "Let's go in the water. Please?"

"Don't look at me like that," Beckett replied, narrowing her eyes though she knew her husband would be aware there was nothing behind that. "Because I really can't say no to you." When he smiled at her she couldn't resist it and she leaned over, kissing him deeply though they had to keep it short. After they'd parted she stood up and pulled her husband after her to get into the water before they were swimming close to the dock. "I was going to ask you about your glasses," she said as he was still wearing them.

"I wasn't going to go under," Castle replied.

"Your hair?" Beckett said. When he swam closer to her, she was ready for him and they kissed while she reached for his shirt and tugged it out from his trousers. She recalled suddenly he was wearing his only dressy outfit he had with him but knew he would tell her he didn't care about it before she was she reaching for his glasses. She put them on and said, "You should have taken them off."

"I don't know, you look good in them," Castle told her. He laughed when she splashed him and then said, "Can I have them back?" He wasn't surprised when she shook her head and watched her go back to the dock before she pushed herself up onto it. His eyes widened when he saw her body lit from the deck lights behind her and he was able to tell immediately that she was completely naked under her sundress. Thinking of the thin fabric he'd just had his hand on, he swam the short distance to the dock and hauled himself up onto it before nearly jumping up the steps. She was waiting for him and he hurried to put on his glasses she held out to him before he gathered her up in his arms. They were kissing frantically the second their lips met, and he spanned his hands across the small of her back as their tongues were literally fighting together.

When they were slowly pulling apart Beckett smiled and murmured, "My gift to you."

"Thank you," Castle told her. "And I mean that, seriously."

"I got it," Beckett said, brushing her lips to his. "I'm getting a little chilly though, we should head-" she started to say before she felt something on her head.

"It's raining," Castle said as they looked up together. They hurried over to their bedroom and he asked, "Leave this open or close it off?"

"It can stay open," Beckett said as he was indicating the windows that made the wall when they closed it. "I'm intending to warm up."

"You were never cold to begin with," Castle commented as he took the towel that she had gotten for him. He dried himself off quickly before he tossed the towel over to the bathroom and went to the doorway out to the living room.

"Where are you going?" Beckett said in surprise, folding her towel.

"Dessert," Castle said simply.

Watching him go, Beckett frowned slightly before she turned and went to the bathroom to set her towel aside. When she stepped out she saw her husband walking in and she said, "Do we have enough fruit for the next two days?"

Castle gave her a simple nod before he walked around the bed and placed his hands on the small of her back before he said, "Can I?"

Smiling, Beckett shook her head before stepping away from him so she could face away from him. She felt his hands on her back shortly after, biting at her lower lip as she could feel her husband running his hand over her skin once it was exposed. She let out a gasp as she wasn't expecting her husband to slide it down to her ass and she stepped away before saying, "Too much."

"That's all I was going to do," Castle said as he was helping her get the dress off her shoulders. When she turned to him he was about to take a step to her before she was placing her hand on his chest.

"Take that off for me," Beckett said, nodding towards his shirt.

Castle breathed out heavily before he said, "Should I pick that up?" not sure why he'd said that.

Shaking her head, Beckett reached out to him and began unbuttoning his shirt before he started to help her. She moved to get onto the bed as he was taking it off and she lay back, tucking her left hand under her head while she laid her other on her abdomen. She smiled when he turned to her and said, "Keep going," as he'd paused for a moment.

Castle did, but only after he'd run his eyes down her body, and he said, "If I'd had some help…"

"You don't need it," Beckett said as he removed his trousers. When his boxers were following she said, "You really don't."

Moving to lay on her, Castle kissed her deeply while her arms wrapped around his neck before they were doing their best to curl their tongues around each other. He was tempted to move down from her lips before he breathed against her shoulder saying, "I almost forgot dessert."

"We don't really need fruit," Beckett said, a little frustrated when he got off her.

"It's not fruit," Castle said, showing her the small box he'd brought.

"Chocolates?" Beckett asked in surprise, sitting up against the headboard.

"Small ones," Castle said. "And they're filled with fruit, local fruits."

"Are you eating them off me?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"You can do the same to me," Castle said before he watched her look down on him. "I have to point out that wouldn't really work," he said, his voice slightly strangled as he realized she was considering his erection.

"To you it wouldn't," Beckett replied. She was smiling when he breathed out heavily and said, "Me first."

"Sure," Castle said, moving to lay down on his back after he'd given her the box.

Watching him Beckett asked, "I'm assuming the inside is liquid." When he just reached up to her and ran his hand over her hair she looked down at the box and considered it before choosing the one on the lower right. She turned to her husband and after she had looked him over, she placed it on his chest.

His breathing becoming rougher as he watched her, Castle couldn't stop himself from reaching up to her and cupping the back of her head as she picked up the chocolate with her teeth. He felt the edges of them scraping his skin and he hissed heavily before he felt the liquid inside the chocolate spilling out onto him. "I didn't think they were like that," he quickly told her.

"Don't worry," Beckett said, considering him with a smile. She picked up the other half of the chocolate and popped it into her mouth before she gathered some of the starfruit filling on her fingertip. As her husband groaned while she rubbed the filling on his left nipple, she pushed his hand away from her clit as he'd been about to touch it. Before he could protest, she leaned down and started to flick her tongue out to him, cleaning off his skin.

Castle was reacting mostly by hissing his teeth loudly until his wife had finished and he said, his skin throbbing as she'd been thorough, "I may have been wrong about that not really working."

"I think so, but it is your turn," Beckett told him, bringing the box over to him. She was surprised when he hesitated slightly and she squeezed his hand before he was sitting up with a request for her.

"Would you mind if we played with something," Castle said.

"You don't want a chocolate?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"One and then we play," Castle said.

Leaning over, Beckett brushed her lips to his and said, "Let's start."

With that Castle looked down at the three chocolates left before he said, "We'll save those two for tomorrow," as he picked one and gave the box to his wife so she could put it away. He waited for her to turn back to him and once she had he asked, "Together?"

"Will that work?" Beckett asked.

Nodding Castle said, "And hopefully make a mess."

"Pervert," Beckett said before she was waiting for him to place the chocolate between his teeth. Once he was ready, she leaned forward and said, "You're going to pay," teasingly before she bit the other half of the chocolate while their lips pressed together. She jerked back slightly as a little of the liquid spilled over their lower lips suddenly and she hurriedly ate her half.

"Was that a bad idea?" Castle asked her once he'd finished the chocolate and lychee filling.

"Not really," Beckett said, reaching out and rubbing her thumb under her lower lip. She let him lick the filling that had been there off her skin and she said, "So what did you want to play with?" She was a little startled when he smiled at her but waited for him to lean over to her. After they shared a kiss, she bit her lower lip when he leaned over to her and then listened to him whispering, smiling herself when he finished. "I said I would," she told him when he pulled away and looked at her.

Moving around her, Castle got off the bed and pulled her after him before they were going over to the dresser. He turned to find her stepping up to him and by the expression on her face he knew that she was ready. He pressed himself back against the furniture, his heart pounding heavily in anticipation before he decided to speak first. "I love how you look right now," he told her, serious but letting her use that to begin.

"Turn around," Beckett said.

"What did I do?" Castle replied though he was expecting that. When she merely made a turning motion with her index finger he didn't care if it broke their playing and he spun around to face the dresser. He groaned in pleasure when she slapped his ass and he started to say, "I should have followed you here miss-" before he was cut off when she slapped him again. "What do you want me to call you?" he asked her.

Running her hand over the back of his head Beckett told him, "By my name."

"Kate, I should have followed you here," Castle said, looking at her.

"Good," Beckett said, tugging on his hand. When he turned to lean against the dresser, she raised his hand and placed it on her breast.

"Can I use both?" Castle asked her hopefully. At her smile he then used his hands to fondle her, watching her eyes close in response to him. He did that for a while before she was reaching up to grab his wrists and he stopped immediately.

"Turn around again," Beckett told him with a smile, watching him do that quickly. As soon as he had she leaned against him and said, "Touch yourself."

"But-" Castle started to say before he was tensing up as she hit him again. He then grasped his erection before he looked at her for his next instruction.

"Show me," Beckett said simply. She then looked down at his hand as he was moving it rapidly and she smirked before kissing at his shoulder. She let that go on for a while before she said, "Stop." Barely letting him do that, she was pulling him over to the bed and pushing him playfully onto it. "Wait," she said as he'd gotten onto the mattress on his hands and knees.

"Are we done?" Castle asked, wanting to be with her a lot more intimately badly. He hissed when she slapped at his ass again, but it didn't last long as he was realizing suddenly she was climbing onto his back. "Kate-" he wheezed out before her hand was curling around his erection. He couldn't keep himself from moving with her as she rubbed him, but he froze when she was twisting her hand at that point.

Listening to her husband's vocal response to her, Beckett kissed at his shoulders before reaching lower and cupping him firmly. "We're finished," she whispered to him before she was crying out as he flipped her onto her back. She had expected it but the speed at which he moved was startling and she parted her legs as soon as she realized her back was on the bed, thinking he'd enter her. But she was taken aback for a moment when he kissed her instead and she responded before he pulled away, making her wonder what he was going to do with the expression on his face.

"Get up, please," Castle said, his voice strangled before they were getting up at the same time. He then grabbed her ass and said, "You're so fucking amazing," before he crushed his lips down on hers again. "Vixen," he breathed to her when they'd parted.

"I've been too rough," Beckett said. Luckily her husband got what she was asking for and she let out a heavy cry as he slapped her firmly before cupping her yet again. "Oh Rick," she sighed in pleasure as he was suddenly sucking on her neck. "What do you want? I'll do anything."

" _Sampla_ ," Castle said quickly, his voice husky at what she'd said. "But I want us to try and take… ages with them."

"Are you going to time it?" Beckett asked as they were moving together, and she was turning away from him as she straddled him at the same time.

"No," Castle said, reaching up to her and cupping her breasts from behind. "I'll have to judge this… and you, sorry."

"Oh no," Beckett breathed out as she took his hand and lowered it to her mound. "I expect you to do that… I'll be busy with us."

"So will I," Castle said, though he knew in the end they'd both be focusing on each other and not the time. He helped her onto him and their voices were merging together as they were groaning in unison. After he was fully within her he pushed her hair over her left shoulder, kissing around her right before he pulled back when she started to move. They hadn't spoken about it but while they were getting into their position he had stretched his legs out in front of him and he then leaned back on his elbows. He couldn't help himself and he reached up, squeezing her ass with his right hand while she leaned forward onto her hands.

Glancing back at him, Beckett wanted to smile at the way he was looking at her but she couldn't as she was moving her hips back and forth. The effect from that was instantaneous, she gasped and he swore heavily which made her look straight ahead as she proceeded to move. She didn't want to delay, and she was moving fast rapidly as they were both vocalizing their obvious pleasure in the feeling. After a while she stopped thrusting and rocked her hips back and forth repeatedly as her husband was grasping at her ass again but that time to obviously withstand her sex rubbing him hard. She went back to thrusting again when her husband slapped her hard and she looked back at him.

"It was enough," Castle said, pushing himself up. "Get off because I got an idea."

"Our book?" Beckett asked as she turned to him after pushing herself away from him. When he nodded, she gave him a quick kiss and though her sex was already throbbing she grabbed it in the drawer of the nightstand where she'd placed it the day before on their arrival.

"Which was that?" Castle asked her with a smile.

" _The woman of Bhalika_ ," Beckett told him, showing him the painting of the two gods as they themselves had been. "Should we pick at random."

"Random and that we're able to do it," Castle said. He carefully closed the book in her hands. "And with that set, you pick the positions and we don't spend a lot of time talking." Before she could say anything, he then kissed her hungrily until he forced himself to stop and said, "But we can do that."

"Pervert," Beckett said though she was sliding her nails in between two pages and opening it again. " _Splitting the bamboo_ ," she said as his breathing changed in reaction to the painting.

"Yes we will," Castle said, taking the book and tossing it to the other corner of the bed to have it close but out of the way. His wife was laying on her back and he took her right leg so it was pressed on the front of his body. Her other leg spread he got on his knees and rammed into her before he yelled her name and she screamed shortly. He didn't waste time, thrusting as hard as he could and closing his eyes tightly since their friction was a shock after not feeling it while they'd been talking.

Beckett was moving as best she could with her leg up in the air and found that while she didn't have as much mobility as the position before she was still enjoying it. She suddenly reached for her husband's ass and slapped it as hard as she could, making him jump and them both yell momentarily at what that movement made them feel. "Oh… already?" she asked in frustration as he pulled away from her.

"Believe me, I have to," Castle said, reaching desperately for the book. When he went back to his wife, he then leaned over to her and kissed her roughly, their tongues rolling around each other before they were slowly parting. She had taken the book during their kiss and he glanced down at it in her hands, seeing she had it open. " _The rider_ ," he said with a smile.

Half expecting a smart-ass remark for the name of that, Beckett was pleased when he got on his knees and then reached for her. She waited for him to lean back on his elbows and the second he had she was straddling him and pressing her clit against his skin once he was coupled with her. She began to rock on him, gasping heavily and happily as she could feel her swollen nub rubbing against him. She couldn't stop the short cries that were leaving her lips in reaction to that and she was moaning, "I won't… won't last."

"I know," Castle groaned before she was suddenly faltering and stopping. "Where the hell is the book?" he said as he got up and moved his legs so they were stretched out. He watched Beckett lean over to grab it and said when she looked back to him, "I'm fine. Pick something where your clit's not fucking my pubic bone."

"You just wanted to say pubic bone," Beckett commented in amusement though her fingers were itching to touch her sex in some way. She was startled when her husband grabbed her hip and she looked at him in surprise.

"I want your pussy Kate, your sweet… fucking sweet pussy," Castle said, his voice distorted heavily from arousal.

"Don't worry, I want your cock as badly," Beckett said, leaning over so they could kiss passionately. They let that last for some time but finally had to breathe and she told him, "Here," showing him the book that she had opened again. " _Clasping position_ ," reading it for him and looking at him to see his reaction.

"Oh good," Castle said eagerly since the position was more simplistic. He waited for her to lay down again and he followed her into a missionary position, entering her slowly that time before their hips were pressed together firmly. He felt her legs shortly clasping over his own and he then began thrusting, groaning as she cried out with their friction starting up. Since the position had them so close to each other they were kissing deeply and repeatedly for some time before he started to mimic the painting in the book.

Tilting her head back, Beckett was moaning loudly as her husband was thrusting up higher on her. It was stimulating her clit heavily and her eyes started to roll into the back of her before she was squeezing hard on his sides that she was holding. "Let me…" she began.

Since they'd done the same position many times before Castle knew what she wanted, and he then withdrew from her slowly until she was circling her hips. He yelled out her name while she pushed herself back against the mattress and he said, "We have to stop."

"Oh… I'm so glad that we were able to do that for longer," Beckett sighed as she'd expected him to pull away. She cupped his cheek as they were sitting up and she took the book, selecting another page as her husband was kissing his way up her shoulder until their lips met. They lingered for a while before she playfully tapped his chest with the corner of the book.

" _Lotus-like position_ ," Castle read slowly, looking at his wife then to get her reaction. When she snapped the book shut he said, "You-" before she was grabbing him and hauling him on top of her. He waited for her to put her legs into a lotus position and climbed back on her before he thrust hard again. They were both reacting and he breathed out, "I don't know how much longer I can do this," as he proceeded to thrust.

"One more… from the… book," Beckett gasped out, doing her best to move with him though it was hard. "And this can't l-last for much… longer… Rick please," she moaned as the pleasure racing through her body was growing more and more intense.

Thrusting for a little longer, Castle stopped and breathed out, "You're right, one more and then I'm fucking you all over the bed."

"I thought you already were," Beckett said seductively as her husband helped her up. They kissed as he handed her the book and she made sure to rub up against her husband's tongue repeatedly until she moved away from him when he cupped her breast. "Here" she said, showing him the position she'd gotten. "Should I pick again," as it had the goddess's feet against the god's chest.

"No, screw it," Castle said, tossing the book over to the nightstand. "I just want you."

"Fuck me," Beckett said, knowing that was also an unasked question of what their position would be at her request. "I want to feel your cock driving into my pussy."

"Goddess," Castle breathed before he was kissing her again. He was startled when; a bit later; she gently pushed him away and he was going to ask what was wrong when she spoke first.

"I forgot to tell you to fuck me for the rest of the night," Beckett said as she lay in the middle of the bed. "Lover." She was surprised when his expression became serious but she was ready for him when he literally launched himself at her. His erection buried into her and he luckily didn't take long to thrust hard and fast, making her almost scream while she wrapped her legs around him.

Castle and Beckett worked together furiously to make love as roughly as they could, switching their positions repeatedly and using the entire bed to accomplish that. They lost track of how they were, only feeling things between each other with their furious thrusting, kissing and fondling until they were near the end and they parted from a kiss with gasps of air.

"Oh… Rick I'm going to… going to come… please," Beckett begged him.

"Kate… come, I need to feel you come," Castle told her, his body feeling like it was going to explode he was poised at the edge. "I'll fuck you after this, however you want just let me have you."

"I want you already," Beckett cried before her orgasm was striking her. She arched her back for an instant and then was thrusting against her husband crazily as the ecstasy was one long, unending wave that spread from her sex. She let out a short cry of his name when he made her climax a second time when he joined her, and she was completely dazed though her body was moving on instinct. She lost all track of time after that, only feeling when she was limp on the bed, Castle still thrusting furiously before he shuddered above her and collapsed onto his elbows. His breath moistened her shoulder and she weakly raised her hand, running her fingers through his hair as she whispered his name.

"That… that was amazing," Castle said a while later and he could talk. He pushed himself up and then told her, "We need to do that more often." When she merely nodded, he asked, "Okay?"

"Yes," Beckett said softly as her husband withdrew from her to her sigh. "It just took a lot out of me."

"Me too," Castle said.

"Is your knee okay?" Beckett asked.

"It's fine," Castle told her quickly. "But I'm more worried about you."

"Just hold me," Beckett said, moving to lay against his side. She was pleased when he wrapped his arms around her and after a while she realized he was very still. "What's wrong?" she asked him, raising her head to look at him.

"I never really expected you to say that to me," Castle told her. "But believe me I'm glad you do."

Beckett smiled and then kissed her husband's collarbone telling him, "I just need a few minutes."

"So you want to be together again?" Castle asked her.

"Yes," Beckett said swiftly. "And the same exact way we were just now. Except…"

"Different places?" Castle guessed. When she nodded, he breathed out hard and said, "Okay."

Smiling, Beckett turned so she was on her stomach and raised herself up on her elbows before her husband was turning on his side. "Are you happy?" she asked him.

"Extremely," Castle replied.

"Having my breasts back?" Beckett asked him.

"Well… that too," Castle said. "But also the fact you want me as much as you do."

Leaning down, Beckett shared a tender kiss with him before they were parting and she then told him, " _Sásaíonn tú gach rud a theastaíonn uaim_."

Shuddering inwardly in pleasure, since she had said that he satisfied everything she needed, Castle kissed her hard on the lips. When they parted he said, " _Déanann tú sin domsa freisin_ ," which meant she did that for him too.

" _I gcónaí_?" Beckett said, asking always.

" _I gcónaí_ ," Castle repeated as he nodded his head. He then pulled her close to him and they were kissing passionately for a while before they froze at the same time. "Love," he breathed, stopping her as she'd grabbed his erection. "Wait," he told her. "I love you Kate, I swear I always will."

"I love you too Rick," Beckett said with a smile. "And don't worry, I know it's everyday not just now."

"Every minute," Castle commented.

"Every second?" Beckett asked in amusement. When her husband nodded his head rapidly, she smiled and told him, "The same for me." She then pulled him close before their lips were meeting fervently. She had no idea how long that was lasting but after their fourth kiss her husband was slipping away and grabbing the book. She stopped him from giving it to her and she said, "Your turn."

"For everything?" Castle asked in surprise. When she just smiled at him he said, "Sure," before he was flipping through the tome.

After Castle had gotten the page, Beckett urged him to pick where they would be before their plans changed. They decided to give everywhere they could be a number and his phone picked it randomly before they were going out to the dock. As they coupled there they knew they were going to be spending a very long night together exploring where they could in the hut. They were eager for it and it showed in their passionate lovemaking as they worked to satisfy each other yet again while the night continued with little notice from them.


	57. Reasons Why I Love You

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: The opening line of the book _The Outsiders_ belongs to its author, S.E. Hinton.

A/N #2: It was great getting the feedback for the last chapter, considering what it was about, so I want to get to my thank yous for that. TORONTOSUN (It was great to see that you liked how it was just Castle and Beckett in this chapter since I enjoyed writing them alone),

MsNYC (I had to laugh at your mentioning that Castle and Beckett completely caved in, but I wasn't surprised you mentioned that. And of course I was glad that you thought it was a very tasteful description, I do try my best when I have several love scenes. Not surprised you agreed with Beckett not liking being called a whore though some do, I'm with her on that too, it's really demeaning and to me makes it seems like just porn which is a turn off. Not surprised you were happy that the girls enjoyed their first day at school and that you could recall first getting real homework too and being excited. I can a bit myself, lol. And I wasn't surprised you could see that Julia was happy with having study hall since you were too. I actually didn't have study hall in junior high myself so I wanted to include that for Julia since I could have used it, lol. And really happy you think Josie's adorable; I do love writing her. I laughed again at you mentioning that Castle and Beckett were acting like they did before having kids but it's why I like to write them in places like there and Adare, it lends itself to them going back to that. But of course, pleased to see you thought it was tasteful and great as usual as you said! Not surprised you could tell they can't wait to get home with their kids and get back to their routine too) and

Mb (I was really pleased to see that you thought it was a fantastic update. And it was great that you loved Castle and Beckett relaxing together since I did enjoy writing it. I had to laugh at you saying you'd just watch Castle sleeping on the bed naked as Beckett was doing, though I wasn't surprised at that. Very happy seeing you thought the love making was intense and sensual as well for them which I do love writing. I'm glad you could see that Castle would never use the kind of words that other couple was, since Martha raised him I definitely thought she would have made sure he knew not to do that. And I'm really happy to read you could see too that Castle would want to hit the guy calling Beckett that when she was younger, it seems he'd do that. It was nice to read that you loved the Skype call they had with their family, not surprised you're happy too that the girls' first day of school went well for them. And I was glad that you noted that Castle and Beckett were enjoying their time alone without needing to worry about being interrupted, fulfilling their desires and making up for the abstinence as you mentioned, lol. So pleased to see you thought it was wonderfully written. You're welcome for the first half! And of course, I was glad to see you thought the second half was a fantastic update too. It was nice to see you thought everything there was sexy, sensual, loving and passionate as I wanted to convey that. And I agree, Castle and Beckett definitely have a love and passion that's eternal. You're welcome for the second half!).

Thanks for the reviews, I loved reading them all and appreciate the time taken to write them all and send them my way!

A/N #3: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Rocking Chair in Hawaii_ by George Harrison, from his album _Brainwashed_.

Reasons Why I Love You

Opening her eyes, Julia tried looking above and behind to where her window would be when she realized it wasn't there. It came back to her in a rush that she and Eliza were in their room at their big sister's house and she smiled before she turned to push herself up off the bed. Looking at the alarm clock she jumped when it started to go off and she hurried to turn it off. "Lizzy," she said, shaking the little girl's shoulder.

"No," Eliza said, waving her hand slightly.

"You have to get up, we're at 'lexis' and if we're late Mom and Dad won't let us stay here again," Julia said, relieved when her sister's eyes popped open in response to that.

"I thought I was in my bed," Eliza said, sitting up and looking around.

"I know, me too," Julia said.

"It's so quiet, I don't hear the water," Eliza said as her sister was climbing down from the bed.

Julia was going to reply to that when she saw the door being pushed open and she smiled at Alexis when she stepped inside. "We're awake," she said.

"I'm glad to see that," the young woman said with a smile as Eliza was waving at her. "Do you need any help to get ready?"

"No, I can get dressed myself," Julia said quickly.

"Will you help me 'lexis?" Eliza asked.

"Do you mind us doing that here?" Alexis asked.

"Go ahead," Julia said, shrugging her shoulders. She went to the dresser and grabbed her uniform for that day saying, "Think you'll wear the skirt ever?"

"No," Eliza replied since she knew that question was for her. "Not when it's cold."

Julia tried not to grow frustrated at that and said, "No, when it's warm."

"And don't you have leggings?" Alexis asked, helping Eliza into her trousers after she had her button up shirt on. She paused and then said, "Wait, you should have still worn your pajamas."

"I won't spill," Eliza said firmly. "I didn't yesterday at all."

"She's right," Julia said, slipping on her sweater over her white blouse. "But that's because the oatmeal was thick… and Gram gave her a big napkin for the front."

"Then we'll do the same," Alexis said. "Now about your hair…"

"I can do mine," Julia said.

As Eliza gave her her brush, Alexis watched the girl and asked, "You miss Ma, don't you?"

"And Dad, but they'll be back really soon," Julia said, smiling. "And I'm glad they're over there alone. They were with us every day in LA."

"I can't wait until they come back," Eliza said.

"Me too," Alexis said with a smile, braiding her hair. After she had tied it off, she checked Julia and sure the two were ready she said, "Breakfast should be done, so we should go before it's too cold." She walked with them out of the room and they went downstairs together, coming to the kitchen just as her boyfriend was calling out to them.

"Good morning," Louis said with a smile as he watched the three walking up to the island where he was. "How did you both sleep?" he asked as he watched his girlfriend take two plates to the kitchen table.

"Really good," Eliza said.

"W-" Julia started to say before her big sister was grabbing her arm gently. She wrinkled her nose at her but turned her attention to getting the cups of orange juice before Louis was talking to her.

"How did you sleep?" the young man asked her.

"Good," Julia said. "She was answering for both of us."

"I miss my bed," Eliza suddenly. She squirmed when the other three looked at her and then said, "And Mommy and Daddy," in a tiny voice. When Alexis came over to her, she said quickly, "But I want them to stay over there at Tahiti."

"They will," Julia told her swiftly. She then smiled and said, "Don't worry, I miss them too, but it won't be too much longer until they're coming back."

Alexis glanced at her boyfriend, to see if he'd mention they wouldn't be seeing the two until the end of the week, but he was getting the last plate so she turned back to her sisters. "And they won't be taking a trip like this for a while."

"Until their anniversary probably," Julia told Eliza.

"But that's not until next year in the summer!" the little girl said in protest.

"They might take a short trip," Louis commented as they were gathering around the table together. "Isn't there that bed and breakfast you mentioned they liked?"

"We should tell them to go on the weekend," Eliza told her sisters.

"Wait until after the holidays," Alexis said with a smile. She was glad her change of the subject worked as the two were talking about Christmas instead of their parents. She wasn't surprised when the two paused towards the end of the meal and she said, "I know, we need to decorate but because it's our first year we're not going to have that much."

"What about a tree?" Eliza asked. "You gotta get a tree."

"We'll buy a fake little one for this year," Louis said.

"We didn't want to get a real one since we won't be able to water it while we're over at White Mount," Alexis said when the two were frowning. "But I'm sure next year Dad and Ma will want to stay here so we'll get a real tree then."

"Plus, we haven't any ornaments," Louis commented, getting up with his empty plate. "Though we'll start this year."

"Louis?" Julia asked as she went over to the sink after him since she'd finished eating too. "What time do you need to go to the stables?"

"I leave at the same time as your sister," Louis replied with a smile, turning on the water. "But- hey," he said as his girlfriend was pushing him playfully aside.

"We'll clean up," Alexis said simply. "Make sure you have your lunch and everything in your bag."

"But if they need me over at the stables they know to text me," Louis said to the girls.

"You're gonna walk with us to school?" Eliza asked. When he nodded, she then asked, "Do you want to?"

"I do, a bit more time with your sister before we go to work," Louis said as he was setting his container on the counter. "Both lunches are ready Lex," he then said to his girlfriend.

"'lexis?" Eliza asked as he was going over to the entry.

"Yes?" Alexis asked after she had washed the last cup and put it into the dishwasher.

"Do you love Louis a lot?" Eliza whispered.

"I do," Alexis replied with a smile. She squeezed her shoulder and said, "Don't worry. But you should check on your backpack and make sure you have your math homework and book too." She saw that Julia was with her still and said, "You too."

Smiling at her big sister, Julia went over to the entry to her backpack that she had gotten that summer at Disney World. It had cute representations of different items from Disneyland though she wasn't sure why that had been at Disney World. She looked at her sister, digging in her dark blue backpack that had Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto on the front pocket. She'd nearly gotten that one since it had patches for some of the rides, but she had preferred her backpack since it reminded her of Japanese _kawaii_. Shaking herself she was about to tell Alexis that they were ready when she was speaking to them first.

"Don't forget your coats and gloves," she said as she reached them.

"We were gonna get those after," Eliza said. "When's it gonna snow?"

"Hopefully not until next month," Louis commented. He chuckled when the little girl turned to him with a frown and told her, "It's not as fun when you're grown up."

"He's right," Alexis said, getting Eliza's bright blue coat. "But what are you doing after lunch?"

"Oh… we didn't tell Mommy and Daddy," the little girl said suddenly to her sister.

"Tell them what?" Louis asked as he was throwing on his coat.

"That they let me eat at the elementary school cafeteria with Lizzy," Julia said, putting on her fuzzy blue gloves. "It would have been with Lizzy and her friends, but they were too shy. But it was just for yesterday, I need to eat at the middle school one but we'll be playing after."

"What if it snows?" Louis couldn't help enquiring.

"I didn't ask about that," Julia said slowly, looking at her little sister as the young man and Alexis were putting on their outer layers. "I'll do that today, but I don't think they'd let me go over to you," she said.

"Oh, then I hope it doesn't snow for a little longer," Eliza said seriously.

"Get your backpacks on you guys, we need to go," Alexis told them.

"We're still stopping at our house, right?" Julia asked as she and her sister were doing that.

"Of course, we said we would," Alexis said. "And you have to take your bags back," she added, handing them the ones they'd brought their things over in. She let her boyfriend lock the door behind them and said, "I don't think Josa's going to come with us again," as they waited on the sidewalk in front of the home for Louis.

"Yeah, it's cold," Eliza said before she and her sister were turning to the young woman as her phone made a sound.

"Oh, they're not going to come out to see us," Alexis said. "Josa is getting fussy."

"That one tooth is coming out?" Julia asked, recalling the day before and how she and Eliza had spotted the redness on the baby's upper gums.

"Looks like it, they need to deal with her right now so they just said they'll try to come for dance class, but it might just be Grandpapa," Alexis said as she pocketed her phone. "I'll try to be there too," she said while they started to walk since Louis had joined them. "But I'll need to see how things go today. Someone will be there to take you home though and we'll bring your bags when we come for dinner."

Nodding, since there always was someone for them at the school, Julia then said, "We're still walking with Mari, right?"

"Of course," Alexis said with a smile as they were making their way to Ocean Street still.

When they came close to the Foster house; having come in the opposite direction of the beach house; Julia jogged forward to Mari before she asked, "Where's everyone?"

"Inside, Mom said she wants to keep Dani there since it's cold," the girl replied with a smile. "What about your little sister?" Mari said as they were walking down the sidewalk.

"We're going straight to school," Eliza said seriously. "Josa has another tooth and she's grouchy."

"I don't know if you can call that being grouchy Lizzy," Alexis said as Julia and Mari were snorting with their suppressed laughter. "She's more in pain."

"Oh," Eliza said. "Well Grandpapa and Gram are keeping her inside to take care of her."

"Too bad," Mari said, she and Julia calm again. "Are you ready for today?"

"My mom told you to ask me that didn't she?" Julia asked her with a smile. When her friend wrinkled her nose at her she then said, "I am, I told them how the classes were going to be today. I just hope I'm not too tired after P.E. to practice at our dance class."

"You won't be," Mari said as they stopped together at the street they'd come to. "And did Ms. Grey ever say what we were going to do today?"

"No… I guess it's supposed to be a surprise since she didn't say anything to the rest of the class before Thanksgiving Break," Julia said, not surprised when her friend nodded in agreement. They had reached the school and after crossing the street she went with the others to the elementary school before hugging her friend first. "I'll see you at recess," she told her.

"Hopefully they'll let us out," Mari said with a nod. "I'll see you later," she said to the other three before she hurried inside the building to go up to her classroom on the second floor.

"I'll see you too Lizzy," Julia said as they were embracing. "Either at recess or lunch first."

"I hope both," Eliza said.

"We'll see," Julia said with a laugh before she looked at their big sister.

"I'm guessing you want to say goodbye here?" Alexis asked her.

"Is that alright?" Julia asked her.

"Sure, I don't blame you," Alexis replied. "I was the same way but you better-" she started to say before the girl was hugging her tightly. She embraced her back and when they let go of each other quickly she said, "Thank you for that but you better hug Dad and Ma when they say goodbye to you."

"Of course I will," Julia said. "I better go. Thanks for breakfast Louis."

"Oh, that reminds me, do you have your lunch?" Alexis asked her quickly.

"I do," Julia said. "I'll see you later!" She laughed when her sister's boyfriend called a your welcome before the three were saying bye to her. Making her way to the middle school building she went to her science classroom and slipped in before spotting Peter at one of the tables. She hurried over to him and whispered, "This is weird."

"I know," the boy said with a smile at her. "Did you finish the reading for history?"

"Yeah, you better though," Julia said, unable to help smiling as he had their history textbook in front of him. She watched him go back to the book and she started unbuttoning her coat. While she was putting that and her gloves on one of the coat hooks in the back, she couldn't help hoping that the weather was good for her parents before Natalie was calling to her and she turned her attention to her friends before the class was starting.

* * *

Breathing heavily, Beckett let out a slight groan at her husband getting off her before she watched him collapse on his stomach next to her. "Now you're tired?" she asked him teasingly.

"For the moment," Castle said before he turned his head so he could look at her. He saw she had turned onto her side and he moved to do the same, pressing close to her saying, "What about you?"

"I recovered sooner," Beckett replied. She reached over and cupped her husband's cheek tenderly saying, "Though now I wonder if we should really go to the beach."

"Yeah, that's why I was enjoying the deck yesterday," Castle replied. "But maybe we could spend time there after lunch? By the time everyone leaves from the other hut… wait."

"No, I like that idea better," Beckett quickly said. She moved closer to him, not surprised when he rolled onto his back and said, "I don't want to move from this bed yet." She squeezed her hand on his chest; as she was pressed against his side by then; and told him, "And yes I know we were all over last night."

"Don't worry, I got your preference loud and clear," Castle said, running his fingers through her hair. "Do you want to head out right now?"

"A rinse and then we can swim," Beckett replied with a smile before she leaned into her husband and shared a kiss with him. She wasn't surprised when that became deeper quickly and she took him on top of her body again as their heads were tilting back and forth to help their tongues that were crazily dueling. When they stopped, she knew her husband was aching to shift just slightly to couple with her for the third time that morning, but she grabbed his shoulders to stop him. "Let's go," she told him with a smile as he was frowning at her.

"Yeah, I'll follow," Castle said, getting off his wife so she could move. He was walking after her to step onto the deck and head the short distance to the shower outside. He turned on the water and he and Beckett stood together under the spray, wrapping their arms around one another. He couldn't stop himself and he soon after cupped her breast with his right hand, lightly bouncing it before she pulled away from him. "What?" he asked.

Shaking her head, Beckett moved her arms from around his neck and grabbed his erection saying, "You didn't think I could resist, did you?"

"Not really, but I wasn't expecting this," Castle said, though they were blocked by three walls.

"It needs to be fast," Beckett told him before they were touching each other. She didn't really care that they were both a little desperate in their ministrations and she wanted to hurry since they would need to call home soon. A short time later she was climaxing and she nearly bit into her husband's shoulder so no one would hear her, holding onto him tightly though she'd stopped pleasuring him. When she had calmed down, she was trembling still and she said, "You were supposed to be first."

"It doesn't matter," Castle said, running his hand over her back to feel her. "It-" he started to say before he was hissing heavily in pleasure as her hand had reached for his length again. He didn't try to stop her, since he'd been holding himself tense with his unsatisfied arousal. It only took her a few quick motions with her hand before he was climaxing, and he clenched his teeth together as tightly as he could since she hadn't been too vocal before him. He had to lean back against the wall behind him and he breathed heavily while recovering telling her, "Though it's not as satisfying as fucking you…"

"You still like it?" Beckett asked. She couldn't help smiling when he nodded rapidly and she nuzzled her lips to his telling him, "Pervert."

"Your hands are so soft; I can't resist them at all," Castle replied seriously. When she pulled away slightly, he smiled down at her and then moved so they could kiss. That time they were gentle, and he felt his heart thudding in his chest at how something that simple was so pleasurable. When they pulled away, he smiled at her and said, "What are we going to do at the beach?"

"There is the lagoon," Beckett pointed out. She bit her lower lip when her husband shuddered in response and then said, "Let's go, I want to swim."

"Me too," Castle said quickly before they stood under the water and rinsed off before they went to the hut and grabbed the towels near the entry before drying themselves off. He was about to tell her something when they were nearly finished before his wife was pulling him into the hut firmly.

"I know you wanted to dry me off, but we don't have that much time," Beckett was telling him as she went to where her bikini was. "I'd like to be ready for their text."

Smiling Castle said, "Should we ask as soon as we see them how Julia's schedule went?"

"No," Beckett said, though she was smiling. "We'll let them talk first."

With a quick nod, Castle went over to where their sunscreen was as he'd finished dressing first. He went out to the deck and sprayed himself before he waited for his wife to head over to him. "Oh, I can't take care of you?" he asked when she took the bottle.

"Get the one for your face," Beckett said with a smile before she was spraying herself. When she had finished, she took the other bottle and got her face and neck covered before telling him, "This is why we couldn't take that long."

" _Dearbhaím go mbeidh tú níos déanaí_ ," Castle said rapidly as they were walking to the steps which head meant 'I assure you I will later.'

"Pervert," Beckett said wryly. When he shrugged, she smiled and said, " _Feicfidh mé é ina dhiaidh sin_ ," telling him she would demand it later. She went down to the dock before he could react and was diving into the water before she resurfaced in time to see her husband was doing the same. When he swam over to her smiled and said, "We could play like we did last night if you want to."

Shaking his head Castle said, "I know what you want already."

"We did bring our other book too," Beckett pointed out to him. She saw the way he became thoughtful and said, "Oh no… do I want to ask what's going through your head right now?"

"No, what if we leave it up to chance?" Castle said.

"A race?" Beckett asked with a sigh.

"Or I can run back to the hut and get a coin," Castle replied.

"Let's… not," Beckett said before she ducked under the water and swam out a little.

Following her, Castle wanted to ask what she was thinking of instead but didn't have the chance until they were swimming back to the dock and sitting on it. "We're just going to use the book?" he asked her.

"We could do both," Beckett said.

"Why don't we wait and see?" Castle asked her. When she nodded, he leaned over and kissed her on the lips before they looked out to the water. "Love, I just realized something," he said after they were silent for a while.

"About?" Beckett asked him.

"The other book has a lot of oral sex positions," Castle told her.

"We'd have to skip them," Beckett said.

"Are you regretting that?" Castle asked in slight surprise as he'd heard that in her tone.

"Of course," Beckett said firmly. "But… maybe we can work one in tomorrow," she said. "In the morning before we need to get everything ready to check out."

"What about Papeete?" Castle asked her since they were leaving later the next day.

"We have time," Beckett said with a smile, squeezing his hand. When she let it go, she gave him a look as he reached down to her leg and said, "Rick."

"I can touch," Castle said in mock-indignation as he ran his hand in between her legs before he rubbed at her skin.

"Yes, but it's too much," Beckett said with a gasp as his fingers rubbed slightly against her mound.

"Next time I'll ask," Castle said.

"Pervert," Beckett said, pushing him playfully. She watched him let himself fall into the water and then followed him saying, "Though if we're closer to the hut you can do that."

"Or not waiting for their text," Castle said, having to change what he was going to say as they heard his phone making the alert sound. "Now we can ask."

Beckett smiled before they went under the water and pulled themselves up onto the dock to get to their towels. When they were going into the hut once dry, she grabbed the other sundress she'd brought and slipped it on before walking out to the TV with her husband close behind. "If Julia has a lot of homework-" she started to say as she watched him ready the tablet.

"I know, we'll keep this short," Castle said. "Though try telling that to them."

Beckett shook her head, smiling at the same time, while he sat next to her and a moment later they were looking at the screen as their family appeared on it. "Hey girls," she said after their middle daughters had cried out a greeting to them. "We're really glad to see you," she said.

"And we're glad to see you," Julia said. "How's the weather over there?"

"It's really nice," Castle said. "But you knew that already. Now we're curious how school went so you better start."

"Are you threatening them Dad?" Alexis asked teasingly.

"He's been dying to know how Julia did today," Beckett said with a smile. "So am I, but I'm a little less exuberant than him."

"I was fine," Julia said, laughing softly as her little sister was giggling. "But Lizzy should talk about her day first," before the little girl was starting to speak.

"It was a lot of fun," Eliza said. "It was the same things, but Miss Thurston said we have to study our spelling list. We're gonna have spelldowns on Fridays."

"Have you been practicing?" Beckett said with a smile.

"Yeah, Gram was helping me," Eliza replied.

"She's doing very well," Martha said.

"Keep practicing," Castle said. "You'll do great on Friday."

"I get to tell you how I do," Eliza said then. "In person."

"I know, we can't wait for that," Castle assured her. "Do you have any homework?"

"Yeah," Eliza said with a nod. "There's math and then I have to draw the faces of reptiles."

"You're learning about those?" Beckett asked.

"Tomorrow, we have to see if we know what they are," Eliza replied. "Oh, I have to write down what they are too," she added.

"Will you show us the picture tomorrow?" Castle said. He smiled when the little girl nodded, and he was about to turn to Julia when the little girl was talking again.

"We had to stay inside at recess and lunch," Eliza was saying.

"There was rain… really cold rain," Julia said. She wasn't surprised to see her parents looking at each other and said, "It's okay, you'll be back here in this weather really soon."

"We're preparing ourselves for that," Castle commented. "But you had fun at recess and lunch still?"

"Yeah, we played with our friends," Eliza said before she paused and then looked at her sister.

"It's okay, I knew I wasn't going to see Mari before dance class," Julia said. "Now it's my turn?" she asked. When her parents nodded, she smiled and then began by saying, "I found out that in P.E. we're doing rotating sports."

"Then what did you do today?" Beckett inquired, wondering why she was saying that when that class had been last.

"We played badminton," Julia replied. "And it was a lot of fun since I was on a team with Peter and Ava. Natalie, Dawn and Tristan were playing against us and we won."

"Can I ask something?" Castle said then.

"They're still sweethearts Dad," Julia said with a smile. "We teased them that they would play really easy with each other, but they didn't."

"What about Science?" Castle asked.

"Sorry," Julia said with a smile. "I forgot about the order," she explained before she looked confused. Shaking herself she then said, "We were still talking about plants there. In English we read the first chapter of _The Outsiders_ together… did you read that book? Mr. Eaton said it was published in 1967."

"We both did," Castle said after he studied his wife and she nodded. "In middle school too. I enjoyed it and I hope you do too."

"So do I," Beckett said.

"I do so far… it's kinda like _Grease_ but… rougher?" Julia said.

"A little bit," Beckett agreed with a nod.

"Oh, I love the first line of the book too," Julia said. She then closed her eyes and recited, " _When I stepped out in the bright sunlight from the… darkness of the movie house, I had… only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home_." She opened her eyes, startled when she heard applauding and looked around at everyone before seeing her parents were doing the same. "Thanks… I liked the line."

"You did a great job," Castle said. "Now…"

"It was Study Hall," Julia replied. "I had homework for Science and English already, so I was working on that."

"What will you do when you have Study Hall first?" Beckett asked.

"Probably save my reading homework for that day," Julia said. "Some kids are going to save their homework from the day before for that."

"You can," Beckett said, knowing her daughter was asking her specifically since they both knew Castle would be alright with it. "As long as it's not a lot."

"One writing assignment and one reading?" Julia asked.

"If it's not too much for the time you have," Beckett said. "You were okay during lunch?"

"Yeah, I really was," Julia replied. "Mari and I talked about it and we're okay with it. We're not happy but… there's nothing we can do. And after that was French and we were learning things that you would say if you were in a supermarket."

"So you're still ahead," Castle commented.

"Yep, I have homework," Julia said. "I need to translate from our book we have. It's a little story about shopping at the market and the different food that the person buys."

"I'm sorry we're not there to help," Beckett told her.

"Don't worry," Alexis said. "Louis and I know enough to check on it."

Though he wanted to ask his daughter about her day, Castle turned his attention back to Julia as he knew there were two more classes to go.

"In Math it was more about equations," the girl said. "And we started to learn percent of change which is really hard."

"Give it some time," Castle told her with a smile. "And let the teacher explain some more."

"Grandpapa said the same thing," Julia replied. "And I have homework again but not that much," she said with a relieved expression on her face. "Last was History and we read about Massachusetts too, well, the first chapter about it. We're gonna learn about the Salem Witchcraft trials," she finished with a frown. "But good thing I know about it."

"Do you have homework for that?" Beckett asked.

"Yep, reading the second chapter about Massachusetts and answering the questions that are in the book about it," Julia said.

"Now the dance class," Castle said, sharing a look with his wife as their middle daughters smiled at one another.

"It was a surprise," Julia replied. "Peter, Mari, Clive and I taught everyone how to dance the first Jive we did."

"Really?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, she said she wanted the rest of the class to learn those steps since they were really good," Julia replied.

"Don't forget about Mommy and Daddy," Eliza whispered to her sister.

"What about us?" Castle said.

"Ms. Grey said to tell you both that you were really good in the Argentine Tango," Julia replied. "She was going to tell us yesterday but we were a little late going to change for the class so she didn't have a chance until today."

"That was nice of her to say," Beckett replied. "But what I'm really wondering about is how it was for you four to teach."

"Oh! So much fun," Julia said. "And Ms. Grey wants us to teach all the dances we did."

"The other kids will have great teachers," Castle said, smiling when Julia nodded with a blush and Eliza hugged her sister tightly.

"Okay, Alexis? Your dad is fidgeting like crazy, so he wants to know about you now," Beckett said with a smirk at her husband.

"I could tell Dad," Alexis said as she saw the way her father was looking at her mother. "And I had some paperwork and then an appointment after lunch, the first appointment from yesterday again. They need more work since school is going on of course. What?"

"No, I admire you for being as vague as you are," Castle said. "Actually, I'm surprised you're telling us anything."

"I asked Dr. Raleigh and she said she's the same with her husband," Alexis said. "But that's all I had for today. And if you're wondering about Louis, he's talking with his family again and his day was better. That horse with the abscess is doing a lot better already and another mare is pregnant."

"How has Josie been?" Beckett asked as the baby was gurgling on Alexis' lap.

"She had another tooth cut today," Jim said. "So she's been a little upset about that. But she's better now."

"Especially with her mitten," Castle commented as Alexis was showing it to the baby. "Hey Josie," he said when she was looking up at the screen.

"Hey sweetie," Beckett called though she wasn't surprised when Josie looked away. Smiling she then said, "We'll have to say goodbye, that way you two can get your homework done."

"You won't call tomorrow?" Eliza asked.

"We can but it'll be on the tablet," Castle answered. "Since we need to leave very soon after that."

"Which means it'll be quick," Beckett said. "But we will talk." She and her husband then said goodnight to everyone, telling Alexis again to extend that to Louis when she saw her boyfriend. When the screen was off, she stood and said with a sigh, "I want to be home right now."

"I know," Castle said in understanding. "But Friday you can hold her for… hours."

Beckett smiled and said, "Why that day?"

"It was the only day Brad had," Castle said, as he would be heading out with the chief and mayor to play golf and have lunch before the other two men went back to work. His wife was going to be spending that time with Rebecca and Lily and the youngest three kids of each family as well. "I'll likely have to take a nap when I get home," he told her, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly. "Swim?"

"Until we have lunch," Beckett said with a nod. "But first…"

Castle was startled when his wife wrapped her arms around him and he immediately picked her up to carry her over to the bed and he said, "Great minds think alike."

"They do," Beckett said. "Fuck me lover."

"Always," Castle breathed before he was kissing her passionately and they lost themselves in each other yet again.

* * *

"Are you heading out?" Beckett asked her husband with a smile as she watched him sit on the longboard.

"You don't want to go?" Castle said in response as he looked at her.

"No, I'm good," Beckett said. "I might sunbathe."

"Topless?" Castle asked before he smiled as she gave him a look.

"Go and hurry back, I suddenly would like to go to the lagoon last before we head in for dinner," Beckett said.

Castle nodded rapidly; though it was only two in the afternoon; and he picked up the board before he headed out into the water, laying on it and making sure he had the oar so he could swim out. He and his wife had ended up not swimming after they'd called their family, enjoying how comfortable they were in bed and staying until they needed to eat. Stopping and sitting up on the board he looked out at the sea though his mind was on Beckett back on the beach. He wasn't sure why it still happened, but he continued to be amazed that she let him do everything he did to her. He tried not to dwell on what they had accomplished before lunch as he knew he'd have to remain seated on the board; though it was extremely difficult. Shaking himself then he got ready to stand up and started to push himself further out into the water with the oar.

On their blanket on the sand, Beckett had propped her head up with towels so she could keep an eye on her husband. She was in her most comfortable position laying down, her left hand under her head and her right on her abdomen. But as she watched the tall figure of her husband going further from her, she realized that her hand had slipped. She tensed up for a moment, wondering if she should before she focused on Castle again. Watching him made it easy to remember how he had taken her so roughly and her sex throbbed once, deciding things for her.

Beckett touched herself delicately, not wanting to rush things as she knew her husband would want to be out paddling for a while. So she never slipped her hand under her bikini bottoms, searching and finding her clit easily. She resisted the urge to touch her breasts though they were soon aching, but she wanted Castle to be doing that instead of her. Her orgasm felt almost tranquil, and it was as if her body was telling her that she needed her husband for it to be far more explosive. When she calmed down enough, she breathed out heavily and sighed in slight frustration before she lay still to recover. When she felt stronger, she sat up and then looked out at the water, waving at her husband as she saw he'd turned around and was coming back to her. She got up, wondering if he'd seen her, and walked down to the breaking waves to greet him once he reached her. When she looked focused on him again, she started to wave before she froze as she saw a fin behind him before she started to wave both her arms frantically, calling his name.

Seeing his wife doing that, Castle stopped for a moment and turned, seeing the fin as well before he was rowing faster than he'd been before. He jumped off the board as soon as he knew he'd be knee deep and then ran to his wife, stumbling on the sand and turning to see where the shark had gone.

"Are you okay?" Beckett asked, grabbing his shoulder.

"Yeah… that… that was way too close," Castle said, breathing out as they could see the shark had continued going north. When he felt a little calmer he said, "Are you going to tease me about that?"

"No, it looked close," Beckett replied, getting out of his way so he could stand. "Are you okay? You fell-"

"I'm fine," Castle assured her. "Luckily the sand is soft here." He then gathered her up in his arms and said, "Remind me not to go that far."

Beckett laughed softly and squeezed his hand saying, "I'll go with you again later, but we won't go that far."

"Good," Castle said, leaning over and kissing her. They went to the blanket then and he saw the towels that were stacked asking, "You were watching me?"

"Of course," Beckett replied.

"What?" Castle said, noticing her hesitation at the end.

"I…" Beckett started before trailing off. She then smiled and leaning back on her elbows said, "I pleasured myself just now."

"Really," Castle stated, reaching down to her. Her legs parted so he was able to finger her sex through her bikini and he nodded quickly saying, "You definitely did." He slapped the side of her ass; though not that hard since it was a little difficult to; and said, "Naughty vixen."

Smiling Beckett sat up again and pushed her hair behind her shoulders saying, "I was thinking of you."

"Still naughty Kate," Castle told her, reaching his hand in between her legs and squeezing her thigh firmly. "Was it good?"

Leaning over, Beckett shared an intense kiss with him before he literally hauled her onto his lap. They were kissing twice before they parted, and she murmured against his lips, "It was but… my pussy was screaming for your cock."

Shuddering, Castle kissed her a third time before he pulled away telling her, "I had to focus on row- paddling," correcting himself in a rush. "I would have had to sit the whole time if I kept thinking about you."

Turning her attention to the water ahead of them, Beckett suddenly stood and said to her husband, "I want to swim."

"Sure," Castle said, knowing she'd already looked for the shark. He followed her as she smiled at him over her shoulder and he caught up to her just as they were getting into the water. After he was waist deep, he stopped when she directed him to and he said, "Here?"

"Please," Beckett replied though she was already reaching down for his trunks. She laughed softly when he was touching the back of her bikini top but not doing anything. "I would undress but… I don't want to lose this one."

"I don't- want you to either," Castle said, grunting in the middle when she managed to get his erection out. He held her as she wrapped her leg around his waist and he told her, "Let's make it fast."

"It needs to be," Beckett said a second before he was sliding into her. She gasped out heavily and then told him, "But we're not doing anything but… f-fooling around at the lagoon. I want… want you to take your time in the hut," stammering and pausing as he was thrusting into her.

After a short time of moving, Castle's frustration overtook his delight in doing that and he stopped. "This is too difficult," he told her. "We need to go back a little."

Nodding, Beckett let him do that though she was frustrated by how her sex felt so empty once he pulled away from her. But she followed him until they were in shallower water and she lay back, pulling her husband to her though he was already kneeling above her.

Relieved it took very little time for them to couple again, Castle was thrusting as hard as he could while her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. He kissed her as much as he could, and he loved how she held onto him until they were breaking, very close together in timing while groaning and trying not to be too loud just in case. When they calmed down enough, he kissed along her jaw whispering, "Better?"

"So much," Beckett said simply. She smiled when he nuzzled her ear lobe with his nose and said, "Thank you for not going any shallower."

"I know you don't like it being so cliché," Castle replied. He kissed her tenderly and when they parted he said, "Plus I liked the water surrounding us."

"I did too," Beckett said. "But I stand by what I told you, nothing like this until we have a bed or…"

"We're shielded more securely from others?" Castle asked. When his wife nodded, he leaned down, kissing her briefly before he said, "Let's swim… but not too deep." He was startled when his wife shook her head and then realized why she'd done that asking, "Snorkel."

"Great minds think alike," Beckett said, smiling. She wasn't surprised when he kissed her again and responded before he was pulling away. Sighing as she felt slightly empty, she watched him go deeper, knowing he was fixing himself. Since there was nothing she had to fix she got up and walked to the beach to get her snorkel gear. "Are you good?" she asked when he walked up to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Castle replied. "Don't… don't look at it," he told her when her gaze was on his groin. "It needs to go down."

"You'll be fine," Beckett said, standing with her things. "That's why I suggested we snorkel again."

"Yeah, let's do that," Castle said. He was about to go to his things when he felt a hand on his arm and he looked at her saying, "I have to calm down at some point."

"I know, but don't fight it that much," Beckett told him soothingly. She then smiled and said, "For now though, let's go."

Walking after her, Castle put on his goggles before the got deeper and then slipped on his fins while his wife was doing the same next to him. They slid into the water so they could enter it calmly and he dove down first before she followed. They swam together to the small reef they'd visited before, and once they reached it he pointed out the Flame Angels that were around it. He saw Beckett nod before he turned back and nearly yelled at the eel that had appeared in a crevice suddenly. When he was far enough back, he felt his wife's hand on her shoulder and felt her reassurance in her touch. They had to go up for air and as soon as the snorkel was out of his mouth he said, "I almost thought I was going to lose my finger… after I told you about that guy."

"I think he was just looking around," Beckett said with a slight smile. "But that worried me too. We should head back; I want to see more." She then realized her husband wasn't looking at her but over her shoulder. For a moment she was afraid that she was going to see another fin as she turned but then saw it was another kind of animal. "It's a turtle," she said, swimming after her husband towards it. When they were close to the sea turtle she waited to see if it would swim away but it kept going towards the shore.

"Is it going to lay eggs?" Castle commented.

"I don't think so," Beckett replied as the turtle was turning and swimming south.

"Let's follow?" Castle asked. He smiled when she nodded, still looking at the animal, and they swam together after it, snorkeling under the surface so they could watch it. They followed it until they were at the dock in front of their hut and they stopped, resurfacing before he said, "I'm glad it's going in that direction."

"Me too," Beckett replied, smiling herself. "Want anything while we're here?"

"No, I'm good," Castle said before they were beginning to swim back.

When they had gotten to their things Beckett said, "Rest?"

"For a little," Castle replied. "And I really want some fruit."

"Here," Beckett said once they were sitting. She grabbed the bowl they'd brought and had been snacking on saying, "There's not much left."

"Good, I want you to be hungry for dinner," Castle commented, popping a piece of dragon fruit into his mouth.

"Does that mean you're cooking?" Beckett asked him with a smile.

"Of course," Castle said. "Our last night here? My treat."

Beckett, a smile on her face, was about to ask him what else would be his treat that night before he was leaning over, nibbling at her ear before he began murmuring into it in Irish.

" _And I'll be treating you more after_ ," Castle told her. He then nuzzled her ear and whispered, " _Mo bhaineas fastaím leat_ ," which meant 'my goddess I adore you.'

" _Is breá liom tú freisin_ ," Beckett said, telling him she adored him too. " _And I hope you'll let me treat you before dinner_."

Holding a piece of starfruit in his fingers, Castle froze and looked at her before he said, " _I'd love you to_."

Smiling at him, Beckett leaned over so they could kiss though they were doing it briefly. After they had finished the fruit she said, "Why don't we play a little?"

"Sure," Castle said since they had found a paddle ball set in the hut. He grabbed it for his wife and they started to play before he said, "Should we compete?"

"Do you really want to right now?" Beckett asked him. She smiled when he shook his head and then hit the ball to him before she realized she had done so too hard. She expected her husband to let it go past him, but he was trying for it before he was falling back. "Rick!" she said, hurrying over to him.

"I'm alright, the sand is soft remember," Castle replied as he pushed himself up.

"Were you trying to show off?" Beckett asked with a smile.

"Yes," Castle said slowly. When she cupped his cheek he smiled and said, "I know I don't need to but…"

"Instinct?" Beckett said.

"Yes," Castle said more firmly. When she embraced him he followed her and then said, "Keep playing?"

"I'd like to," Beckett said. "But do me a favor-" she started to say.

"I won't try for any more power shots from you," Castle commented. When she gave him a look he leaned up and took her lips, instigating a kiss which he made careful as he didn't want to play while he was aroused. But he couldn't really control it and he could feel the first stirrings when they parted. "We should play," he said in a rush.

"I know, it was fun," Beckett said as she got up and waited for her husband to stand. "Don't worry," she told him with a smile. "I can understand where you're coming from."

"Are you sure?" Castle replied. He expected a light pinch for that but when she instead slapped his ass with her paddle he jumped and said, "Don't… don't do that again."

"I won't, your serve," Beckett said with a slight smile. Her slap was for two reasons, to tease her husband and because she'd wanted to, and the fact that he'd enjoyed it so much made her wonder if she needed to change her mind about that night. Before she could think too much about that though she focused on getting back to where she'd been standing before they started to play again.


	58. Reasons Why I Love You (Part 2)

Castle was enjoying the game and he was relieved when he calmed down enough to focus on it as much as he did before they were stopping after he missed one of her serves. "I wanted to stop anyway," he called to his wife so she could come over to him. When she had he said, "Want to swim again?'

"Sure," Beckett said. "Here or the lagoon?"

Pausing for a moment Castle thought that over before he said, "The lagoon. Though the ocean-"

"We can from the deck," Beckett said. She smiled when her husband nodded and she leaned over, kissing him on the cheek before she said, "Let's get our stuff."

Castle followed her over to everything and they started to pack up before they made their way back to the lagoon. He hurried to help her with the blanket and towels before he told her, "Wait right here," rushing into the water and swimming across to the other side.

Watching him with her brow slightly furrowed, Beckett saw him climbing out of the water and disappearing into the bushes that blocked that side. She smiled and then went into the water up to her ankles, waiting for him to return which he was shortly after doing. "I figured out," she told him teasingly as he went around to her instead of through the water.

"I had a feeling you would, but I don't care," Castle replied, handing her the hibiscus flower he'd picked.

After she had tucked the purplish-blue flower behind her left ear, Beckett wrapped her arms around her husband and hugged him tightly around the neck. He met her for the kiss they shared, and she squeezed him more before they suddenly broke apart at the same time. "Thank you," she told him.

"You're welcome," Castle replied with a nod. They were silent then, recovering themselves after their kiss and the way they held on to each other. Eventually though he said, "Are you ready?" as they'd been putting on sunscreen again since the lagoon was only partially shaded.

Beckett's response was to nod before she took his outstretched hand and they walked together to the water. She had placed her hibiscus on the blanket, tucked away from the wind against their re-folded towels, so she could submerge herself and swim away to the middle of the pool. She smiled at her husband when he reached and her and said, "I was afraid you were going to get me a bunch."

"I know you enough to realize you wouldn't want that much," Castle replied. He ducked under the water and said, "You know what the girls would say right now?"

"Play Marco Polo?" Beckett said. When her husband nodded seriously, she then said, "That only really works if there are more people to find."

"Yet we're always finding each other," Castle commented.

"Which means I'd rather play that with them," Beckett said.

"With me out of the pool for a fair game," Castle asked. When she nodded, he laughed and said, "Try explaining that to the girls."

Shaking her head and laughing gently Beckett said, "I wouldn't be able to. There's something you want to do."

"Nothing really specific," Castle said. "We could just swim laps."

"You did bring that volleyball," Beckett reminded him.

"I'm not sure you can call that a volleyball," Castle said.

"It's close enough," Beckett said, shaking her head as it was more bouncy than hard. "But I think we should swim laps and then play with that." When her husband agreed she started to swim straight across on the longer part of the lagoon. They were soon swimming side by side and after they had been doing that for a while she slowed down and watched him continue.

"I just wanted one more," Castle said once he'd swum back to his wife after he had swum another lap. "I'll get the ball," heading over to the shore. He hit it into the water by Beckett and ran in before going underneath. He came back up next to her and said, "No competing still?"

"Well…" Beckett started to say slowly. She smiled when he looked surprised and she leaned over, kissing her lips gently before she said, "We could, just a little bit."

Castle's response was to duck underneath and then away from his wife so they could begin once he had resurfaced. "Are we going to any number or anything?"

"Ten," Beckett said. She waited for him to suggest another but when he nodded, she got the ball and hit it over to him before he hit back to her. That started their first game and they were hitting for a while until she missed the ball and she said with a smile, "What do you-" before her husband was interrupting her.

"We don't have to do that," Castle said.

"But I'd like us to," Beckett commented.

"Have we switched bodies?" Castle asked her. He wasn't surprised when she splashed him and then looked pointedly at him. He breathed out before he said, "Let me treat you if you do that for me."  
"If?" Beckett asked, her eyebrow raised slightly.

"You don't have to," Castle said though he was a little weak in the force of his words.

"Oh, I know that," Beckett said easily. "But the thing is…" she said, looking pointedly at him.

Shuddering visibly; as he couldn't stop himself; Castle said, "Okay, so yours is the same right?"

"No," Beckett said. "Since it was my plan to do that anyway, I'd like something else."

"Which is…?" Castle asked her slowly when she didn't continue after that.

"After," Beckett said. She stared at her husband when he looked at her, daring him to protest her doing that, and she then smiled before asking him, "Ready?"

"Go ahead," Castle said, wondering who he really wanted to win. He shook his thoughts then as she was hitting the ball to him and they began hitting back and forth once more. When he ended up missing the ball at one point he asked, "What happens if we tie?"

Beckett didn't say anything, merely waited for him to hit the ball to her as she didn't want to reply to the question. She won that next point after they'd played and from there it went back and forth until they stopped, tied at nine points some time later. "So," she said to him with a smile.

"Yeah," Castle replied, tossing the ball up and down. "It's getting later anyways," he commented.

"Hit it Rick," Beckett said, still smiling. She then grew serious as he was serving it and they were hitting back and forth. She would have been amused at how serious he was if she hadn't been as much as him. After some time, she reached for a hit he'd made that was to her left but just missed it, going under the water for a moment. When she came back up, she said with a smile, "Congratulations."

"Thanks, I swear I didn't hit it that far on purpose," Castle told her.

"Don't worry," Beckett said when they were on the shallow edge. "It was fair and you win."

Studying her closely, Castle said, "Can I change my reward?"

"No," Beckett said easily. She reached for his hand and pulled him with her the rest of the way to their blanket. About to turn to him, she was startled when he suddenly walked away before she saw he was going over to the towels. She took the hibiscus that he'd grabbed and tucked it behind her ear before saying, "Fantasy?"

"Not really, I just want to see you wearing it," Castle admitted. He wasn't surprised when his wife almost threw her arms around him and he was quick to do the same to her just as they began kissing. Since she was leading, he parted his lips for her tongue and they were shortly after tangling around each other several times before they parted slowly. "We can just do this," he whispered against her lips.

"Lay down," Beckett said firmly. Her husband didn't move, startling her, and she became a little doubtful for a moment before he was leaning down slightly to her ear to murmur against it and make her tremble in his arms.

"Remember what I got winning the game," Castle told her. When she straightened up suddenly he moved back to look at her before she was lightly pushing him. "I'll say it again… later," he said. He wasn't surprised when his wife didn't say anything and moved to lay on the blanket while she was on her knees next to him. He saw the way she was looking at him and he said, "What?"

"They need to come off," Beckett said, nodding to his trunks.

Pushing himself back up, Castle was about to stand when something came to mind and he instead looked into his wife's eyes.

Though she was asking him what was wrong, Beckett couldn't help reacting inwardly to her husband's stare. Her heart had started to beat faster as he seemed to be caressing her with his gaze and she repeated her question while trying to ignore her sex that had started to throb lightly.

"You should do the same," Castle replied. "If I'm going to be treating you, I should have everything unobstructed too." He watched her reaching for the back of her bikini top and he couldn't stop his mouth from watering as her breasts were exposed. He was aching to take them, but she was standing and he hurried to follow her in that. As soon as they were naked, he went back to the blanket and laid down, reaching for her as she moved along with him. They were kissing and he allowed himself to stroke her breasts before he gently pinched both nipples in turn. When she pulled away, he said, "Part of winning."

"Don't say that again," Beckett told him teasingly. She leaned down and kissed him tenderly before pulling back and saying, "You can do that after. Right now I believe it's my turn." She bit her lower lip when her husband was nodding seriously, and she moved to start kissing around his shoulders and collarbone before she worked down to his chest. Pushing himself up slightly, she caressed his nipples before pinching them as he'd done to her asking, "Good?"

"Yes," Castle groaned out in joy as she'd then begun to rub her thumb around the nub. He was close to stopping her when she did that herself and he opened his eyes in time to see her sliding down on him. Her lips were joining in and he was groaning once more before she reached his stomach where his erection was resting. "You-" he started to say before she was taking his length in her mouth.

Beckett, though she was smiling inwardly at the fact that he was vocalizing his pleasure, focused on him as much as she could before she moved to take him further in her mouth. After she had gotten as far as she could, she pulled back slowly, letting her tongue cup him as she did that. She was bobbing her head back and forth a few times when her husband was suddenly yelling, and she hurried to be ready for him though it took very little time for that. She was a little surprised at how fast he had orgasmed but decided that it didn't really matter as he was calming down and growing limp under her.

"Kate," Castle groaned heavily as his wife was working her mouth up and down him again though he was sated. When she stopped, he reached up for her and pulled her tightly against him saying, "I… I don't know why I protest about you doing that."

"You enjoyed it?" Beckett asked, caressing his chest lightly as she lay on her side against him.

"Very," Castle replied, breathing out heavily. He then reached up and took her hand before he said, "I love you Kate," seriously before he brought it up to kiss at her fingers. When his wife opened her hand, he immediately started to kiss her fingertips until he went back to her index finger and then sucked it into his mouth. "Wait, that's not what I should be doing," he commented.

"I love you Rick. And you're such a pervert," Beckett said laughingly as her husband turned her so she was laying on her back. She was cutting herself off then as her husband was kissing at her neck and though it took her a moment to speak, she was telling him, "Kiss me love." She was pleased when he moved up to her lips and they captured each other's before they were tangling their tongues around one another yet again. Tasting him, she could feel her unsatisfied sex aching and she wasn't sure how long she would last before he was pulling away from her.

Cupping her breast, Castle moved down to her neck and kissed at her before he went lower to her chest. Feeling her arching up he took her right nipple into his mouth and suckled at it hungrily as she let out a gasp. When her arms wrapped around his neck, he resisted the urge to get on top of her and instead moved over to her other breast to repeat the same ministration there before she was stopping him. When he looked at her, he saw that she had her eyes closed tightly and he moved up, kissing her tenderly for some time. After they had parted he told her, "Can I use both?"

"I want you to," Beckett said. "But… I'm not sure if I'd be able to really last that long."

"You don't need to," Castle breathed before he was kissing her again. He made that more passionate and their tongues were meeting again but dueling roughly until he moved away. When he had gone down to her chest, he brushed his lips over her breasts but didn't linger as he was moving again. His lips brushed briefly over her abdomen, feeling it reacting briefly before he was trailing down to her clit. He pressed a kiss to the swollen nub and feeling that he proceeded to suck at it before his fingers were sliding into her sex a moment later.

Crying out, Beckett reached for her husband and her fingers slid through his hair before she was holding onto it until he was moving his own within her. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the sensation and she was doing her best not to move too much though it soon became impossible to stop her legs. She felt her husband putting them over his shoulders and she was pressing herself down into the ground through the blanket until her husband's other hand was coming into play. The twisting motion on her clit was all she needed to lose control and she was calling his name until she was still, breathing heavily. She tried to reach for her husband, but he was lingering and she sighed as he gave a last kiss to her mound before he slid up next to her. "Hmm, I'm glad we did that," she commented as they lay on their sides to face one another and hold each other.

"Me too," Castle said. He then noticed that his wife was looking at him pointedly and sighed saying as he lay on his back, "I can't keep anything from you." When she turned and lay partially on top of his chest he said, "I'd like to swim."

"We can," Beckett said, smiling. "But not for very long." She outright laughed when her husband swiftly started to move, getting her carefully off him before he was running for the water. She hung back to watch him and when he started looking around her she told him, "I had to admire the show," walking into the water after him.

"I…" Castle started to say as he recalled he was half erect. "I hope you enjoyed it."

Shaking her head, as she didn't want to call him pervert again, Beckett kissed him deeply before they were hugging one another tightly. They were spending some time doing that, trying not to let it get too intimate before they realized they had to stop. "I'm getting a little hungry," she told him when he looked at her questioningly as she'd stopped him from leaning into her yet again.

Looking around them, Castle could tell it'd gotten darker even more and he said, "Me too." He let his wife go and they swam together over to the blanket and their clothes to dress before they put on their cover ups. After everything was ready, they headed back to the hut and went into the shower together. He had a hard time remembering not to do too much to Beckett as he needed to get the meal ready. Luckily she was helping him, squeezing his arms every so often until they were stepping out and drying themselves off. "Our next shower I'm doing that," he told her.

"I was thinking the same thing," Beckett said with a smile. She didn't say anything when he paused in drying his hair and focused on herself before she told him, "I'll be getting dressed."

"So will I," Castle said, quickly finishing his hair and following her out into the bedroom. "Can I ask something?"

"Yes?" Beckett replied, turning to him after she had slipped on her sundress and only that.

"You know I can see you," Castle said.

"Of course, you can," Beckett said easily.

"Vixen," Castle nearly growled after he'd put on his spare brace. "How am I supposed to cook after that?"

"Remember we've been using the word treat?" Beckett commented. When he sucked in a breath of air she smiled and then said, "But that's after dinner."

"Yeah," Castle said as he started throwing on his clothes until he was ready for dinner. "My shirt-" he said while she was walking out to the kitchen with him.

"It's okay," Beckett said, grabbing his arm as it was one of his short-sleeved button up shirts. "Dinner doesn't need to be constantly upscale. If it were, I don't think I'd be able to sit at the table."

"I don't know," Castle said while he was getting everything he needed to cook. "What you have on is very nice."

"That's sweet of you," Beckett said in amusement. "But don't worry about your shirt. I'm not."

Glancing at her, Castle didn't comment on that so he wouldn't delay their meal any more than he had to. "You don't have to stay here," he eventually told her.

"I was going to set the table," Beckett said with a smile, not surprised that he'd said that. "And I might watch the ocean for a little."

Castle wanted to reach over and squeeze her hand but since he was stirring the pasta he was making he hoped his smile would suffice as she went around him to get their napkins and utensils. Since he would be taking care of the plates and drinks himself, he knew she would be standing at the railing soon enough. He turned his attention to his sauce then, getting his attention back to the food though it wanted to wander to the deck and his wife badly.

Outside, Beckett kept her eye on the water where she knew the reef was, not sure what she was looking for. But just before her husband was stepping out with the food, she saw a fin and frowned before she realized it wasn't a shark. Turning to the hut she was debating if she would have time to get her husband when she saw he was walking from the bedroom. "Rick," she said. "There are dolphins."

Setting down the plates in front of their chairs, Castle hurried over to the railing with her, seeing the dolphins as some were breeching the water. He wrapped his arm around his wife, and they stood there until they had a hard time seeing the animals anymore. "When we tell them this they're going to be really jealous," he told her as he moved first and reached for her hand.

"They already are that we get to see fish," Beckett said before she looked at the plate. "It looks good Rick," she told him.

"I just need to get the juice," Castle said, squeezing her shoulder quickly and then rushing into the house.

Watching him go, Beckett bit her lower lip as she knew he'd been enticed by something concerning her. She wasn't sure what that was exactly and waited for him to come over to her before she said, "What is it?"

Pretending to be busy with the glasses, Castle waited until he was sitting next to her to say, "I could see your breast."

"And I knew that that would happen," Beckett said simply. When her husband's eyes widened, she smiled and said, "Really, and I don't mind that it did." She looked him over for a moment and said, "Though I'm sorry it's a little difficult for you."

Shrugging, Castle felt her hand on his shoulder and he gazed at her for a moment before he got his glass. After she'd gotten hers he said, "To us love. And to our trips here. _Is mise mo páis_."

Since he'd said the phrase 'you're my paradise' at the end, Beckett wasn't surprised he was staring at her, daring her to say that was too corny. But instead of that she said, " _Is é an rud a thugann tú grá dom_."

Breathing out heavily, as she'd said it was what he gave her, calling him love as well Castle took a moment before he said, "We're not talking about this specific place are we?"

"No," Beckett said. They finally remembered to tap their glasses together and once they'd sipped a little of the mango juice they had she said, "But… it's hard not to call it that."

Castle was nodding in agreement with her, but he knew they needed to eat so he told her, "Try the dish. I had to make the sauce by scratch so hopefully it came out okay. Or edible I should say."

With a smile at him, Beckett turned to her plate and took a bite of the fish and pasta dish and she nodded saying, "It's really good you don't have to worry." She was a little surprised when a slight frown appeared on his face and she asked, "What is it?"

"Just something I've been thinking," Castle said, reaching into the pocket of his shirt and pulling something out. He slid it to his wife and said, "Please accept this."

Beckett picked up the jewelry box and lifting the lid she looked at her husband and said, "Oh Rick, it's… stunning."

"Can I?" Castle asked her. When she nodded, he took the bracelet and slipped it around her wrist which he'd known ahead of time would be bare since she would only have her necklace with her for jewelry. "It's a late birthday gift," he told her, kissing the inside of her wrist delicately.

"You didn't have to," Beckett told him, cupping his face with her hands and leaning down. They shared a deep kiss and she was tempted for her husband to take her on his lap but couldn't forget their dinner. "But thank you," she said.

Castle nodded and then turned back to eating as she was doing though he couldn't help looking at her left wrist where the aquamarines were glinting in the lights on the deck.

Since they were sitting right next to each other, Beckett didn't miss the glances her husband was giving her. She wanted to question it, as she knew it wasn't just because of the wavy silver bracelet with oval shaped aquamarines though she knew he liked seeing it on her as it matched her pendant with the tiny diamonds on either side of the blue gems. But she knew they were both hungry so she kept silent until they'd finished, and they'd cleaned everything up together. When they were walking to the railing she said, "What else is there love?"

"I wish you would let me… give you things a little more," Castle said, not hesitating to answer her. When she turned to look at him better, he was quick to say, "I'd love to drown you in luxury sometimes Kate."

For a moment Beckett couldn't really respond to that as she wasn't sure what she wanted to say before her husband was speaking again.

"You deserve it," Castle told her earnestly, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

"It's not what I like," Beckett said.

"Then you'll allow me to do it once in a while," Castle said as he ran his fingers through her hair then placed his hand with his other on the small of her back.

"Alright," Beckett said with a sigh before her husband was leaning down and pressing his lips to the side of her head. She pressed herself closer, feeling them against her hair before her cheek was against the fabric of his shirt. "If you give me something like this, we'll… we need to… celebrate it," she told him.

"Definitely," Castle said in agreement though he was trying to keep himself under control. "Can I ask for one thing though?" When she moved back so she was looking at him he said, "If we make it to Milan in the future, I want to buy you one thing from… your choice."

"Versace," Beckett said, shaking her head in amusement as he already knew her preferred Italian design house. "But let me pick."

"Of course," Castle told her seriously. They kissed each other and after they parted, he said, "Let's go down to the dock," his voice a little shaky with his desire. "And have dessert."

"Alright," Beckett said with a smile though she was going through the same as he was. They walked hand in hand to the steps and she waited for her husband to roll up the legs of his trousers before she followed him to the dock where they sat together. She was about to ask him if he wanted to swim as they had the night before when he was speaking first.

"I just realized something," Castle told her suddenly. "You never said what you would have wanted if you had won our little… volleyball game."

Her gaze out on the water, though the sky was getting darker and darker by then, Beckett told him, "I wanted to repeat what we did last night when we played."

Castle had to wonder for a moment if he was able to speak at all though he soon found his voice and told her, "The same thing, you a dominatrix?"

"No," Beckett said slightly hesitantly. "Would we need there to be a reason for it?"

"Now I'm wishing that the paddles for the game were ours," Castle said. He was a little startled when she suddenly looked at him with wide eyes and he said, "No?"

"No, no… toys or weapons to hit… please," Beckett said.

"I'm just kidding," Castle said quickly, assuring her. "Your hand is great." He paused and then said, "For slapping me."

Smiling, as she felt better about that, Beckett said, "I got it. Yours is too. So, could we?"

"Oh of course," Castle said seriously. "How we do it exactly just let me know."

"I will," Beckett said.

"Do you want dessert?" Castle said. When she nodded, he held up the box and handed it to her, letting her choose the second to last chocolate before he took the other. Eating it he was pleasantly surprised by the citrus flavor before he looked at his wife asked, "What'd you have?"

"Mango," Beckett said with a smile. When he told her the flavor he'd had, she squeezed his hand and slipped into the water before swimming away from the dock. She was able to see her husband getting up and going back to the deck, knowing he was setting aside his glasses, before he was coming back down to the dock and jumping in. She laughed when he swam right up to her when he resurfaced, and she said, "I was going to ask you about this."

"I did want to," Castle told her seriously. He then said, "But we shouldn't stay for too long, not good for you."

Giving him a look, Beckett said, "While I agree with you, we do have to take a quick shower." When he nodded eagerly, she splashed him and went under the water while he joined her a second later. Though there was some light from the deck, she couldn't really see him that well so she went back up. "I thought I could see a lot more," she said with a smile.

"Me too," Castle said. "Kate?"

Beckett was swimming over to the dock in his utterance of her name, and they got up in turns before going up the steps and then to the shower. She stopped him from heading into the stall and he helped her with her clothes before she went into the stall to wait for him to disrobe. She was pleased that, even though his clothes were wet, he was still able to step up to her a short time later and they were wrapping their arms around each other tightly. Their kiss was rough, and they were fighting hungrily in her mouth until they needed to breathe and when he broke away to her neck she whispered his name as it came out as a moan.

"Goddess," Castle groaned against her skin before he froze.

"What's wrong?" Beckett asked him.

"The water," Castle said in annoyance, turning around so it could turn the knob for it in frustration.

Watching him, Beckett kept him from turning around as she was reaching around and running her hands over his chest. "Hmm, I think I'll just punish you when I need to," she told him as she nipped at the back of his shoulder.

"Now?" Castle asked. He grunted when he felt his wife grasping his ass tightly and said, "Stop." He hissed in pleasure as she was slapping him then and he said, "I hope you stop," before she was making him turn.

Their kiss was fervent, and Beckett wasn't surprised when her back hit the wall of the shower soon after they had started. She was running her hands over his body, as much as she could reach, but she was a little dissatisfied at what she couldn't touch. When they parted from the third or fourth kiss she said, "We're supposed to rinse off."

Castle's response to that was not verbal, he helped her over to the water where they began rinsing off and doing so separately as they wanted to get into the bedroom sooner. After they were finished, he hurried to grab towels and they dried off in a rush before going to the bed together and falling on it as they were kissing passionately at the same time. He was overjoyed he could feel her body a little better and he was doing what he could to reach her sex though he realized she was stopping him.

"You forgot your glasses," Beckett told him. She sat up as her husband went out to the table and she smiled when he had his glasses on coming back to the bed. Wrapping her arms around him once he was on the mattress she was kissing at his neck, making him freeze before he moved away from her. She saw that move for what it was and she reached out, slapping at his ass before he suddenly turned. "Where are you going?" she asked him in surprise as he was going over to the nightstand.

"The book," Castle said, grabbing it and handing it to his wife over his shoulder. He was tensing up and hissing when she hit him with it but didn't move when she called to him. She gave him what he wanted quickly, striking him again and making his eyes nearly roll back in his pleasure. It took him a moment to move, but he finally was able to and was turning to her so he could wrap his arms around her, kissing her deeply as he'd sat up at the same time.

Though the book was pressed against their chests, Beckett couldn't stop the kiss and she didn't until they needed to breathe. "Pick, please," she told him, only able to say that as he was touching her breasts.

Swallowing roughly, Castle took the book and slipped his thumbnails in between two pages before he said to her, "Left or right? You have to say."

Smiling slightly, Beckett told him, "The left page."

Letting the book open in his hands, Castle looked at the position and turned his attention to his wife to see what she would say.

"We can… I just didn't think we'd really move," Beckett said as the drawing was of a couple on a couch.

"I'll grab a sheet," Castle said before he hurried to where one was. Just as he was reaching the small closet, his wife called to him and he turned to her in surprise.

"Will we be able to stop and come back here?" Beckett asked.

"We will," Castle said with a nod. He turned to the closet and got a sheet, watching his wife getting off the bed, setting the book open on the nightstand. Out in the living room he tossed the sheet open and as soon as it was set, he was sitting before she was climbing on top of him. She immediately straddled him, and he held her by her hips as she lowered herself onto his erection that he held for her. They were both groaning and swearing, as she'd decided to move slowly, and he was relieved when she stopped as he'd thought he would climax with just that. He kissed her deeply and then said, "Are you-"

"I am," Beckett said, having anticipated that question as her husband was concerned about her having her feet flat on the couch on either side of him. She waited for him to move and as he made a rocking motion using his feet she was crying out, the way his length was moving in her was making her tense and her sex clench at him tightly.

"Fuck… love," Castle groaned, holding onto her ass so he could help her move with him. He was closing his eyes as that was adding to the pleasure he was already feeling, and he had to stop her though they hadn't been moving for that long. "I should have known but…" he started to say.

"We have our armchairs," Beckett told him reassuringly though she exhaled heavily in frustration when she got off him. She was going to walk over to the bedroom when she was suddenly gasping as she was lifted into the air. She tried to give her husband a look, but his attention wasn't on her, focused on the bed she knew as he was walking rapidly. The second she hit the mattress she went over to the nightstand, getting the book before Castle was kissing along the side of her leg and up to her hip. "Here, hurry," she told him as her sex was throbbing still. "On the left again," she added quickly when he didn't move right away.

Castle was going into the book, opening it and holding it so his wife could see along with him what they would be doing next.

"Oh good," Beckett said happily, the position their favorite. She then moved so she was laying down on the bed and when her husband moved to lay above her, she was wrapping her left leg around his waist. She moaned when he coupled with her again and she placed her right ankle on his shoulder with his help. Once she was set, he was thrusting once and she let out a short cry as he was deep and since he was so hard she felt almost overly filled. "Harder!" she begged him as he was going a little slowly at first.

"What do you want me to do love?" Castle demanded as he was keeping to his original pace.

"Fuck me!" Beckett said, trying not to grow too frustrated. "Fuck my… oh!" she started to say before he was speeding up. She was holding onto his right arm tightly and moving with him the best she could, though it was mostly him that was making their hips slap together. She didn't care though as she could feel the friction between them and it was intense, making her gasp out his name.

"Kate… you're fucking… amazing," Castle was breathing to her. He became a little frustrated then as he wanted to kiss her, but he had to remain above her. But he knew they wouldn't be staying that way for very long so he just focused on moving though he decided to change things a bit. Jerking his hips up while he was pulling back, he had the desired result as her nails dug into his arm. He did that a few more times, loving the way she was close to screaming and turning her head back and forth, before he had to stop.

"That was… perfect," Beckett said when she felt a little stronger and could speak. "But… did you do that on purpose?"

"No," Castle replied firmly as he withdrew from her. "I wanted to try it and I keep forgetting we're not doing this for that long."

"Just for that position," Beckett said teasingly, putting her hands up next to her head while he was grabbing their book. "The right," she told him when he glanced at her.

"Okay, it's-" Castle started to say as he turned to her. He cut himself off when he saw that his wife was fondling her right breast and he said, "Or I can just watch you doing that."

"Tell me," Beckett said firmly as she stopped touching herself.

Turning the book, Castle showed her the drawing and wasn't surprised when she started to get up. "I'll get them," he told her hurriedly before going to the closet and grabbing the two extra pillows that were there. He hurried back to her and set them under her hips as she raised them before he was laying in between her legs. "I love this one, but-" he started to say before she was moving her legs and wrapping them around his waist to pull him directly onto her.

Relived when her husband entered her, Beckett put her feet back to where they'd been before on the outside of his knees. When he was above her; leaning over on his hands; she said, "Should we just come?"

"No… but if you want these to last then I need to either go slow or stop," Castle said. He jumped when his wife slapped at his ass though she was slightly above it and he couldn't stop himself. He started to thrust though he hadn't really had an opinion from her on what he should do. He decided he had to take the initiative as they were enjoying it too much already and knew what he would do as he slowed down not too long after he had started.

Beckett was a little startled when her husband was moving in a rocking motion and while it was making his length press into her more the slower pace was frustrating. But she didn't want him to stop or speed up as she wanted that position to last a little more. She was holding onto him by his upper arms, squeezing them and feeling his muscles as they were working with the rest of his body. "Rick… I… we need to…" she tried saying before he was going harder against her though still slow. Her eyes were rolling into the back of her head again at the sensation of that but when he sped up, she was crying out his name.

Not sure how much longer he was doing that, Castle finally reached the point where he knew he needed to stop as he was feeling too much from her sex around him obviously wanting him. He was breathing hard with her as they were still and it took him a moment to move before his wife was speaking as she touched him.

"I'm tired of this," Beckett said.

"Me too," Castle was quick to say, leaning over and kissing her tenderly on the lips. "And I prefer our _Kama Sutra_ more."

Beckett nodded, smiling, before she said, "Though we've had some interesting oral suggestions with the other book," while he was putting it away with the other book. She bit her lower lip for a moment as he froze, and she became serious as he turned around to her. "Close the drawer," she told him as his arm was stretched out still.

Shaking himself, Castle turned and hurriedly shut it before he said, "You're right… they nearly had your trick with ice cubes."

"Do you want me to do that now," Beckett said while she let him lay her back on the bed.

"No, I just want to… go over the bed again," Castle said. He breathed out as she slapped his ass firmly and said, "You too?" When his wife nodded her head, he could feel his heart starting to pound in anticipation and to distract himself from that he was kissing her, deeply, before he moved slightly. They were both sighing in delight as he was entering her, and he warned her, "We'll have to move… a lot."

"We better," Beckett said firmly. She was throwing her head back as he started to thrust then, and she was closing her eyes while her legs were sliding up to his waist from his legs. Though she enjoyed her husband on top of her she was frustrated by her lack of mobility and she was trying her best to work with what she could do before her husband was moving them.

"Next you decide," Castle told her as he got her up on her knees and pressed against the headboard. Before she could say anything he was thrusting into her, his hand cupping her sex so he wouldn't slip out of her. It didn't stay there for very long and Beckett was grabbing his arm so he was holding onto her hands against the wall as they moved together. "Kate you… I love taking your pussy so hard I can't… think," he groaned out to her, the friction making him speak before he thought out what he'd said.

"Just don't stop fucking me!" Beckett cried out though that hadn't been what she'd intended to say. She'd been focusing so heavily on him moving in her and the resulting sensations that she'd been distracted. After a moment she felt him stopping and she moved with him, touching his shoulder. She was pleased when he quickly sat down, and she straddled him before they were kissing. At the same time they somehow managed to work together to get him inside of her and as soon as her hips were pressed to his she began rocking. That ended the kiss as they were groaning and crying out, and she then whispered to him, "After this you're fucking me, I don't want you to stop."

"Are you sure?" Castle said in slight surprise.

"I want to feel your cock pounding into me," Beckett said plainly. She gasped as he was clutching at her ass tightly and she held onto him tighter while she was bouncing on him and he was moving the best he could with her. She could feel everything at her sex building up before he was stopping her and she was going to ask him what he was doing before he bowed his head. She instantly wrapped her arms around him the second he started suckling at her breast and she felt her eyes rolling into the back of her head. She let him go back and forth between each mound several times before she stopped him and let him flip her onto the bed before her husband was moving as they hadn't broken their connection.

"You're going to come love?" Castle breathed to her after he'd been thrusting for a while and knew they weren't going to be able to fight it. He saw her nod and he told her, "Then come for me my goddess. I promise… it won't be the last time I fuck you. I'll take you as many times as you want me."

"Oh… I want you the rest of the night! Just… I don't want to stop… this," Beckett said, her body writhing as she was just cresting her peak. It felt like, a second later, that her orgasm was striking her full on and she froze briefly before she was thrusting against him wildly. "Rick don't stop… oh I love you! Rick!" she managed to cry out in her ecstasy. She clutched at her husband's back tightly when he was joining her, telling her that he loved her, and she was losing herself again. She was suddenly clenching her sex around her husband, wanting to make him climax too, and was satisfied even more as he was yelling her name in shock.

Castle was hoping he wasn't hurting his wife as he thrust into her almost wildly, aware at some point that she was still below him. He shuddered with his last thrust and was struggling to keep his weight off Beckett as he was doing his best to recover. They were both breathing unevenly but she was moving first, running her hand over the back of his head to his groan. Though he was feeling stronger as time went on, he moved and rolled onto his back, relieved that his wife followed him and lay against his side. They were still silent before they heard rain and looked together over to the deck in time to see a streak of lightning further out in the ocean.

"I'm glad we're inside," Beckett said with a smile as her husband looked down to her. "You know you're fine," she then said, seeing the expression on his face.

"I was worried I'd lay on you," Castle said, not surprised she'd noticed how he was acting at the end. "That took… a lot out of me," he said absently before he froze and then looked down at her.

"I'm feeling it as we speak," Beckett replied with a smile. When his breathing grew a little rough, she leaned up and kissed at his jaw before she said, "What else is on your mind?"

"I was thinking, you didn't sleep yesterday while I was," Castle said. "What were you thinking about?"

Wanting to protest, as she had told him, Beckett realized that wasn't what he was asking so she said, "Something I should have told you about a while ago. It's not bad, I just didn't want to share it with you… yet."

"What is it?" Castle asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"I never told you how I broke up with my last boyfriend," Beckett said. She wasn't surprised when her husband got up a little to reach for the bedsheet and she said, "You think it was essentially amicable."

"I never had reason to think it wasn't," Castle replied, nodding his head.

"Not really," Beckett sighed, relieved he was holding her again as she began with what happened once he'd come into her apartment.

* * *

 _"So you're ready to go?" Josh asked his girlfriend as he saw her suitcases in the entry._

 _"Yeah," Beckett replied. "My dad will be here soon." She had had something planned out to say but when he looked at her she said, "Josh, I'm sorry but… I can't do this anymore."_

 _"This?" Josh said._

 _"You're a great guy, but-" Beckett began._

 _"So that writer finally got you to spread your legs for him?" the doctor interrupted angrily._

* * *

"He said that?" Castle asked, unable to help his body raising slightly in his indignation.

"Yes, but there's a reason he thought that," Beckett said. "I'm not defending him," she added hurriedly as her husband frowned. "But he was stupid enough to think I would cheat on him," she said before she continued.

* * *

 _"I've never cheated on you," Beckett said as levelly as she could though she was angry. "But I can't really put any more into this relationship and you deserve better," she then said though she wondered if she honestly meant that._

 _"I was going to propose to you Kate," Josh said._

 _"I had a feeling," Beckett replied as she held onto the side of the kitchen island as she felt exhausted. "But it wouldn't be what I want. If I'd said yes, then…"_

 _"Why don't you just go to him?" Josh asked, anger seeping back into his tone. "You both want each other."_

 _"My father will be here soon, you better go or you'll be late for work," Beckett said, wondering why she had used two excuses to get him out instead of the first one. But she hadn't wanted to drag things out and needed to get to her father's cabin so she could rest._

 _"You might regret it Kate," Josh then said as he stalked to the door. "Although I guess that would be karma. I was never anything but a shield against him, wasn't I?" When his former girlfriend grabbed the other door in the entry he said, "I could tell when I was in the station and he was there… whenever he was there." He then opened the door and said, "You should hope he doesn't get tired of waiting and just leave you to yourself. Though if this is how you treat men it wouldn't be less than you deserve."_

 _Rolling her eyes at the door slamming, Beckett turned back to her apartment and went to the couch, nearly collapsing on it before she covered her face with her hands. She still could feel the exhaustion from before, so she turned and laid down. She closed her eyes to attempt to meditate and clear her mind as she felt no remorse, only uncertainty knowing that Castle loved her._

* * *

Turning his head, Castle pressed a kiss to his wife's forehead and said, "He was lashing out."

"I know, if he had really wanted to work things out…" Beckett started to say. She trailed off, as she knew her husband would be thinking the same, and then said, "But you did."

"Well… if I had known you were ready when you came into my apartment kissing me I wouldn't have stopped you," Castle told her. "But the way you kissed me… the fact that you did let me know that something had changed." He wasn't surprised when she embraced him tightly then, and he was reciprocating before he caressed her hair. "Thank you for trusting me enough to hear that," he said when they were laying down again. "But Kate," he said.

When he didn't say anything else Beckett sighed and admitted, "Yes, I was thinking about how long it took for us to be together. But my attention turned to… other matters very quickly after that."

"At some point you need to let me call you pervert too," Castle said, knowing she was telling the truth.

"I don't think so," Beckett told him, raising her head. She paused when there was thunder and she said with a smile, "I can't wait until we can do something like this again."

Nodding rapidly Castle asked, "The B&B?"

"Of course," Beckett replied. They kissed then and when they had parted she said, "I get the feeling we're going to head to Italy soon."

"Milan," Castle said. "Well… yeah, Italy but I definitely need to get you to Milan." He then studied her and asked, "Why did you bring that up?"

"Because I'm still amused by what you said before," Beckett replied.

"I want to spoil you?" Castle suggested.

Laughing softly Beckett said, "I appreciate that, but flowers are fine."

"Bracelets?" Castle asked. He watched her sit up and he followed her quickly before taking her left hand. He kissed his way over it until he was down at her bracelet and then said, "I've given you a lot of aquamarines but-"

"I prefer them," Beckett interrupted, making him sit up fully. She wrapped her arms around his neck and then kissed him, their tongues gently meeting before they parted. "I like having you close."

His hands tightening on his wife's body, Castle kissed her before he said, "I love you Kate… let me worship you."

Moving to lay back on the bed again, Beckett drew her husband after her with her simple touch. When he was above her, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and told him, "I love you too Rick. Take me lover and let me feel you."

Castle's response to that was to kiss his wife, passionately, until they needed to stop to breathe and he murmured, "Always love?"

"Hmm… always," Beckett breathed in joy as her husband was touching her intimately before he entered her.

Their conversation after that was directed more to their lovemaking, their bodies aching for each other while they would repeat moving around the bed as they'd done before. It made each bout they spent coupled so tightly last much longer and they were loath to stop as the night continued. But until they needed some rest they took advantage of the time and were showing their complete emotional and physical devotion to each other before the next day and their need to begin their return home to the Hamptons.


	59. Epilogue- Brings Me Back

Genre: Romance, Family, Humor

Rating: M for sexual situations and language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them. And for this story the same goes for Dancing With the Stars.

A/N #1: As it says this is the epilogue of the story. I do have another story ready so if anyone would like to read it look for it next Monday!

A/N #2: The lyrics in this chapter are from the song _Easter Parade_ by Irving Berlin.

A/N #3: I was very happy to see the feedback for the last chapter that I did, so will get into my thank yous for that right now. TORONTOSUN (I was glad reading that you thought the chapter was great writing for everyone!) and

Mb (Happy to see that you thought the update was a lovely one. I'm not surprised that you loved seeing Julia and Eliza's sleepover at Alexis' house. Or that you mentioned them loving the chance to do it but still missing their parents. I am glad that you enjoyed all of that though! Yeah, the first teeth phase isn't always fun, so not surprised you remembered that too. I had to laugh at your comment about Castle and Beckett definitely enjoying their time in Tahiti. And it was nice to see you mentioning they were giving in to their passion and fantasies they have for one another. Happy to read you thought the first half was a fantastic update. And you're welcome for sharing it too! It was nice that you thought the second half was fantastic, amazing, loving, passionate, sexy and fun as well, great the chapter had all of that. I wasn't surprised that you were laughing at how they wondered if they could be boring, lol, and yeah I agree, they never really could be. I was glad that you mentioned their talk about how Beckett broke up with Josh and that you thought it showed how she and Castle have total trust as well as commitment and of course true love. I'm pleased you thought also that the love scenes were hot, sensual and loving, and that they can love and make love with each other always, I definitely agree! You're welcome for sharing the second half too!).

Thanks for the reviews, as usual I loved reading them and appreciate the time taken for writing them and sending them my way!

A/N #4: The title of this chapter is a lyric from the song _Jet Airliner_ by Paul Pena, from the Steve Miller Band album _Book of Dreams_.

Brings Me Back

"Julia."

Turning over, the girl groaned when the person shook her shoulder and she said, "Not yet Gram."

"Julia," the voice said, shaking her gently again.

Groaning once more, the girl opened her eyes a second before she realized she knew the voice. "MOM!" Julia cried, sitting up and throwing her arms around her tightly. "You're back."

"We are, we came in a few hours ago," Beckett said.

"You're not tired?" Julia asked, letting go of her to look at her.

"We are, but we couldn't keep ourselves in the city when we could come back and see you," Castle said, smiling at her when she looked at him quickly.

"I didn't see you Dad, sorry," Julia said, climbing out of her bed. She went to her father and hugged him tightly saying, "Did you sleep after you got here?"

"We did, but then we're going right back to sleep once you and Eliza are in school," Beckett commented.

"Did you wake Lizzy up yet?" Julia asked.

"Put your slippers on," Beckett said as she noticed her daughter was covering her right bare foot with her left. "And no we haven't, we wanted to wake up the two of you together."

"And Josa?" Julia asked, feeling better with her slippers on.

"We're going to after Eliza is awake," Castle answered as he was holding her robe for her.

Julia hurried into it and then said, "Do Gram and Grandpapa know you're here? 'lexis?"

"Just your grandparents," Beckett replied. She took her hand as they were walking out of the room, Macca and JoJo following them. She was going to step out of the way of her husband so he could wake up their second youngest still asleep on her bed. When he shook his head, she gave him a look before turning to Eliza, sitting on the edge before she ran her hand over the back of her hair saying, "Eliza, sweetie, time to wake up."

Blinking a few times, the little girl turned to look at her grandmother before she gasped as she was looking into her mother's face. "Mommy!" she squealed, climbing out from under the covers before her mother hugged her onto her lap. "Daddy!" she said, spotting him then. She reached out to him, holding her hands out before he took her onto his hip. "When did you come home?"

"Earlier," Beckett said with a smile, watching her pressing her cheek against Castle's. "I wish we could spend more time together but-"

"Do we have to go to school?" Eliza whined.

"Yes," Castle said firmly. "But remember it's Friday." He heard her gasp and said, "Have you been studying still for the spelling bee?"

"Yeah but…" Eliza started to say before she squirmed.

"We need to get Josie," Beckett said, standing up from the bed. "Julia-"

"I can get ready on my own," the girl replied quickly. "What about Lizzy?"

"I want to see when Josa wakes up," Eliza said.

"You can," Castle said.

"You don't want to wake her up either?" Beckett asked her husband as they were going out into the hallway.

"Is Grandpapa making breakfast?" Julia asked as she noticed a smell from the kitchen.

"He is, oatmeal again," Castle said. "I'll make us breakfast tomorrow."

"Should we get Gram up?" Eliza asked, noticing that the door to her grandmother's door was closed.

"She's probably getting ready now," Beckett said. "Rick."

"No, go ahead," Castle said as they went into the baby's room. When they got to the side of the crib he said, "That takes care of that," as Josie's eyes were open.

"She knew you were home," Julia said with a smile as they watched Beckett picking the baby up.

Holding Josie close, Beckett pressed her lips against the side of her head and when the baby was cooing she said, "We missed you too sweetie."

After he'd set Eliza down, Castle went to his wife and took Josie, squeezing her gently before he kissed her temple. "Your mom is right, we really did miss you and your sisters," he told her.

"Amama," Josie was vocalizing.

"I think that means she wants you," Castle said before the baby was whimpering.

"Take her love," Beckett said. "I'll help Eliza," she added, since their second youngest was hugging her around the waist.

"Okay," Castle said before the others left the room. He turned to the dresser, seeing the baby's outfit there, and went quickly to the changing table where he lay Josie. He changed her diaper quickly before dressing her in her dress and stockings before he said, "Your gram must have picked this outfit."

"I did," Martha said, walking in. "Welcome home Richard."

"Thank you, Mother," Castle replied. "Take her for me?"

"We'll be downstairs, she'll want her bottle," Martha said, getting the baby.

"Hopefully she'll wait for Kate," Castle commented. He cleaned up the room before he was walking into the hallway in time to see Julia stepping out from her room. "Do you want your mother to do your hair for you?" he asked when they met by Eliza's doorway.

"No, I'm ready," Julia said.

"So is Eliza," Beckett said, coming up to the doorway with the little girl.

"Where's Josa?" Eliza was asking.

"She went with your gram," Castle said, guessing she hadn't seen Martha passing by. "And we need to go downstairs too."

"Did you bring stuff?" Eliza said while they walked together over to the stairs.

"A few things," Beckett said, smiling. "But they're for after school."

"What about tonight?" Julia asked.

"We're going out to _The Narrows_ ," Castle said. "We haven't been for a while and we thought it was time." He was then going to tell them about dessert when Eliza was gasping as they headed down the steps and was speaking in a rush.

"What about 'lexis?" the little girl said. "Can she and Louis come over?"

"I've texted them already," Jim said as he was walking up to the bottom of the stairs. "Good morning," he said before hugging his daughter. "I-" he began before they could hear Josie crying.

"Excuse me," Beckett said, walking swiftly over to the kitchen.

"Here kiddo, she was aware you'd be coming in," Martha said with a smile as she handed the bottle she'd just prepared to her daughter in law.

"Thank you," Beckett said before she was going to the table. She sat with the baby, putting the bottle to her lips and letting her hold it once she had started to drink. Gently running her hand over Josie's hair, she said, "They should be getting here soon."

Castle, who'd been getting bowls for the girls to set the table with, was about to joke about checking on the couple when the chime for the gate opening sounded. "Ah, that'll be Charlie now," he said in a British accent.

"It's a _Whose Line_ game," Beckett told her father. "From the UK."

"Oh," Jim said before his daughter and son in law were heading to the entry.

Though he wanted to open the door, Castle left it closed and watched out the window as his daughter and her boyfriend were getting out from their car. He waited until they were on the porch and then couldn't wait anymore, throwing open the door to Alexis rushing up to him and throwing her arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad to see you!" the young woman said, hugging her father tightly.

"I am too but get inside you're freezing," Castle said. "You don't need to get sick." He and his wife were helping their daughter and Louis with their coats and outer layers before he hugged Alexis again. "I'm so glad you could make it," he said.

"I need to head in after we eat though," the young woman said with a sigh as they let each other go. "I have more paperwork. But we'll be with you for dinner."

"Good, I said our party was nine so it better be," Castle said, smiling when his daughter shook her head before he turned to her boyfriend and shook his hand.

"Are you that happy to be back Ma?" Alexis asked as she embraced her mother.

"I am, we could care less about the weather," Beckett said. "We're just glad to see you and your sisters. Come on, breakfast is ready and the last thing we need is cold oatmeal." She led the way over to the kitchen table, watching the girls hug their big sister before they were sitting together and starting to eat. "Did you do your homework yesterday?" she asked Julia after a while.

"Yeah, Study Hall is last so I can do my homework then," the girl said with a smile.

"What about yours?" Castle said to Eliza. He wasn't surprised when the little girl nodded, as she was eating at that moment, and he said, "Are you still learning about reptiles?"

"Yeah, we're gonna see a chameleon today," Eliza said eagerly. "Miss Thurston has one for a pet!"

Beckett shared a glance with her husband before she was about to change the subject so the little girl wouldn't ask about having one for a pet again. Before she could do that though Julia was speaking then and reminding them about something they'd forgotten to talk about in their Skype conversation before.

"You never asked us how it was spending the night at their house," Julia said.

"We wanted to hear about it in person," Castle said. "How was it?"

"They were well behaved, if you're wondering," Alexis said with a smile as her sisters had looked to her first. "They wanted to make sure they were. But Eliza took a little while to fall asleep that night."

"That's okay," Beckett said quickly as the little girl looked worried. "You had to get used to your bed there."

"It was fun," Julia said then. "But all we did was get ready and then go to bed."

"It was a school night," Castle reminded her.

"If we ever go out for dinner in the future," Beckett said. "Then we'll let you go to the townhouse earlier."

"What about Gram and Grandpapa?" Eliza said.

"We can head out to see our friends," Jim said.

"If I'm here," Martha reminded the little girl. "But if Alexis and Louis would have us over then we can spend time there too."

"You can," the young woman said with a smile. "Just let us know."

After they had finished their oatmeal, the family got up and started to clear the table before Julia was holding Josie. She walked up and down the hallway, her baby sister laughing every so often as the dogs were going with them as well.

"Can Josa go with us?" Eliza asked her parents when they were walking from the kitchen.

"It's a little too cold," Beckett said, taking the baby. She kissed her cheek before looking at the little girl and said, "Though maybe tomorrow we can take a walk after lunch."

"Is she gonna have to turn into a marshmallow?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Yes," Beckett said, laughing softly. "And speaking of that, please get your coat on." She turned to her father and mother in law and said, "Are you both staying?"

"We will," Jim said. "But if you ever want us to go with them we will."

Beckett nodded, though she didn't really think she and her husband wouldn't want to take the girls to the school, and she handed Josie to her father. "What will you both do today?" she then asked as she wasn't sure what the two had planned.

"Harry invited me down to Montauk," Jim said first. "He's going antiquing and he asked me to take pictures for the brochures he wants to make for his business."

"They're giving me a ride," Martha said.

"Thea and Lucy?" Castle asked his mother.

"I haven't seen them for some time so I'm taking the chance while I have it to go over to Montauk," Martha replied with a nod.

"Do they know you're coming?" Castle said.

"We're having lunch together before shopping," Martha said simply.

"We need to go," Alexis said. "But I'll be there for the dance class at least," she said.

"I may be a bit late; Charlie wants us to see a possible mare over in Water Mill before we take another mare down further," Louis was saying. "I'm not sure where but he said it was on the way to Montauk. But I'll be here for dinner."

"It's at six so you should be able to make it," Castle told him. He watched the girls saying goodbye to their sister, hugging her after Alexis had and said, "Have a great day."

"Thanks, I hope you will too," the young woman told him.

After the couple had left, calling goodbye to them, Castle and Beckett watched the girls kissing their sister goodbye before they were leaving for the school. When they had stepped out on the sidewalk they waved at Rebecca and Mari as they were coming down to them.

"Welcome back," the former said with a smile. "You both look tired."

"Thanks," Castle said laughingly. "We're going to sleep once we get back to the house."

"Are you sure-" Rebecca started to say.

"We are, we haven't been able to get together like this for a while," Beckett said. "I haven't seen Lily for that long either."

"I'll be able to golf," Castle said as Rebecca looked at him.

"Oh good," the woman said. "David's been looking forward to this though how you're going to be able to do that in the cold…"

"We have long sleeved shirts," Castle replied.

"Your parents were just there?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, it was a surprise but it was really nice seeing them again," Julia told her.

"I bet," Mari said with a smile.

Wrinkling her nose playfully at her friend Julia said, "I know, it's like when you saw your parents in LA again. But I'm glad they're back."

"Are you gonna tell Mommy?" Eliza whispered then.

"I have to," Julia said, nodding her head. She then smiled and said, "And Dad too." When her little sister was nodding, she had to bite the side of her mouth before she laughed out loud at how smug the little girl looked. But they were reaching the street across the school, crossing it once the crossing guard had stopped traffic for them and they headed to the elementary school. She was just about to speak when Mari turned to her and hugged her tightly. "I hope I see you at lunch too," she said, embracing her back.

"Yeah, but if not we have dance class," Mari told her with a smile. She went to her mother and hugged her quickly before she rushed into the building with a goodbye to the others.

"Mom," Julia said. When both her parents looked at her, she said, "I started saying goodbye to everyone here."

"Instead of the quad?" Beckett asked as the girl looked very unsure. When Julia nodded she said, "That's fine."

"Really?" Julia asked hopefully.

"Yes, at least you will say bye to us," Beckett said.

Julia laughed softly and said, "I knew you would want me to. And I still do." She then turned to her sister and hugged her quickly saying, "We'll see what happens."

"Yeah," Eliza said as she fixed her backpack. "But it's not so cold so maybe."

"If you can play outside Mari will bring you up to the playground again," Julia said, explaining that mainly for their parents since her little sister knew already.

"Yeah, with Emmie and Quentin," Eliza said, nodding.

"Have a great day," Castle said. "Especially with Study Hall last."

Julia laughed and hugged her father quickly before saying, "I will, I can't wait to see you after at the class."

"Me too," Castle said with a nod.

Hugging her mother tightly, Julia said, "Thanks Mom."

"I know," Beckett said with a smile, squeezing her before they let go of each other. "And like your dad said have a great day. We want to hear about it at dinner."

"I can't wait to tell you," Julia replied.

"Here, I almost forgot," Castle said, giving her some money for lunch. "Next week you can use your lunchboxes all week."

"I know, that'll be fun," Julia said. "Bye," she said to everyone.

"Okay," Beckett said, watching with the others as the girl hurried to the middle school building. She felt a hand slip into hers and looked down at Eliza who was looking at her worriedly. "Don't worry, I just wish you and your sister wouldn't grow up too fast."

Eliza nodded, not sure what she could say since she didn't mind growing up, and they went with Castle and Rebecca into the school and to her classroom just past the Kindergarten ones. She let her father take her coat to hang and she hung her backpack on a hook next to it saying, "These are mine," as she saw he was studying the name card that was above her two hooks.

"I see that, your teacher likes reptiles, doesn't she?" Castle asked as there was the shape of a gecko next to her name.

"Yeah," Eliza said with a wide smile. She hugged him and said, "I'm really happy you're back Daddy."

"I am too," Castle said. "Have fun and pay attention."

"I will," Eliza replied seriously before she shared a kiss with him and then turned her attention to her mother. "I can't wait for you to see the class."

"We can't either," Beckett said with a smile. She hugged her and kissed her before saying, "We want to hear all about today."

"At dinner," Eliza said. "Bye!"

Beckett smiled at her daughter's exuberance before she and her husband watched their second youngest run over to her desk to start talking to an African-American boy sitting at the one across from hers. "I think that's Quentin," she commented.

"I think so," Castle said, waving with her when Eliza looked at them. They left then and said, "I'm glad she's so happy."

"Me too," Beckett replied as they went back out to head to the entrance where Rebecca was waiting for them. "And adjusted." She then turned her attention to her friend and said, "You didn't have to wait for us."

"I didn't want to walk by myself," Rebecca replied. They stepped out and she said, "We'll be at your house at eleven."

"I'll be ready but… why is Lily cooking?" Beckett asked.

"I thought they were bringing food?" Castle said before Rebecca could answer.

"She is," the woman replied. "And she's picking it up from the _pho_ restaurant, not cooking."

"Oh," Beckett said. "She never said anything about a restaurant, just that she was bringing soup."

"I think she was almost going to make it herself," Rebecca said with a smile. "Luckily she changed her mind."

They had reached their street then and Castle and Beckett said goodbye to Rebecca before they went hand in hand over to their house. When they had entered, they said goodnight to their parents, kissing Josie and holding her for a bit before they literally dragged themselves up to their room, exhausted after their traveling and little sleep that morning. They didn't bother to change, only tossing off their shirts and pants to crawl into their bed as they'd locked the door after them. Once they exchanged a brief kiss, they were nodding off immediately, letting their bodies recharge to spend the rest of the day with their friends and family.

* * *

"Oh, very nice Richard," Martha said as she saw her son coming down the stairs.

"It's just to keep warm Mother," Castle said.

"Hmm, has your wife seen you?" she asked.

"No," Castle said simply before taking Josie from her. He smiled when the baby laughed and he kissed her temple saying, "I hope-"

"Josie," Beckett said in a mock scolding tone as she was leaving the family room with her father behind her. "You can't have your daddy's glasses."

"Is your friend here?" Martha asked Jim.

Shaking his head, he said, "He's on his way right now so it should be five minutes. Are you ready?"

"Of course," Martha said before she turned to the baby and kissed the top of her head. "Behave for your mother kiddo." She smiled when Josie tried to grab her large blue and green necklace and said, "When you're older I'll get one for you." She leaned over and kissed her cheek before saying to her son and daughter in law, "Have fun but rest. Especially you Richard."

"We're fine Mother," Castle said. "It's why we slept for a couple hours." When she nodded, he let Jim take the baby and was about to go to his wife when he heard the chime for the gate. "That's them," he said. "Or your dad's friend." Going to the front door he pressed the intercom and said, "Who is it?"

"Us Rick," David's voice came from the console outside. "Open up because Becca and I walked here."

Pressing the button for the gate, Castle said, "I guess we're leaving."

"I'm sure they'll want to come inside," Beckett said with a smile as she was waiting at the front door to open it for their friends.

When the four came inside with Sophie and Dani, the entry was loud with both everyone greeting one another and the dogs barking. But they finally calmed down and the men were talking in the entry as the women took the kids into the family room, Jim and Martha with them.

"I was afraid you were going to wear something… weird," Castle said to David.

"Oh, stop it," the mayor said, rolling his eyes. He then smiled and said, "Rebecca would never let me wear something so… garish like we've seen at the course before."

"Yeah, Lils would have my head if I tried wearing… bright green plaid and yellow," Brad said as they'd seen someone in that the last time they'd played together.

"What?" Castle said in surprise when the two men turned to him. "Let's go," he told them. "We're going to be having lunch too late."

"You guys are leaving?" Beckett said after she and the three women walked down the hall to the entry after her husband had called to her.

"Yeah, we'll call when we're on the way back," Castle said, going to his wife before she could reach the foyer and wrapping his arms around her.

"You look amazing," Beckett whispered into her husband's ear.

"So do you," Castle said as she'd changed her shirt when they'd gotten up. When they let go of each other he saw she was admiring his long-sleeved charcoal pullover with a light blue dry fit shirt underneath. He smiled at her as she touched the collar that went up around his neck and he said, "I'm good?"

"Yeah," Beckett said, letting go of him and walking with him to the entry. She watched him grab his waterproof jacket, unabashedly admiring his trousers that were charcoal colored as well with a light square pattern. "Don't go overboard with the game," she finally said to keep herself from getting too distracted by her husband.

"Oh, we're friends we're not making it a serious game," Brad said.

"Plus, the chief of police is supposed to be there too," Castle said before his friend groaned at that. "That'll keep us calm."

"Still," Lily commented. "But really, have fun."

"We will," Brad said with a smile at her.

"He has the rest of the day off," Lily said, looking at their friends.

Beckett smiled as she, Lily and Rebecca walked out to the porch to watch their husbands leave. She had closed the door behind them, crossing her arms over herself, but waved when Brad's car was turning around the tree to leave the driveway.

"Girls," Martha said suddenly, making the three jump. "It's a little rude to stare."

"How long have you been watching us?" Beckett asked her mother in law with a smile.

"Enough, come inside before you catch a cold," Martha told them, leading her in.

"Oh, Dad," Beckett called as the gate chime rang again. She went to the intercom and spoke with her father's friend to make sure it was him before pressing the button. Martha had left them to get one of the babies and Dani trailed behind Jim as she hurried to him to take Josie. "Call when you're on your way back," she told them.

"We will, it should be in time for the dance class," Jim told his daughter. "Have fun."

"We will," Beckett said before the two were leaving the house. Since she had Josie, she closed the door after they'd stepped onto the porch and she looked out the window to the left of to watch them get in the car. "Okay, so we're set," she said to her friends. "Should we let them play?"

"I think we have to," Rebecca said in amusement as her daughter was jumping up and down.

"I wanna play with babies Mommy," Dani was saying.

"You can but we'll be there too," Rebecca told her before they were walking down to the family room.

The coffee table had already been moved and a blanket set in the middle of the room where Beckett and Lily set their babies down. Dani was joining them, and she got on her knees, clapping her hands together. When Josie and Sophie both laughed, she giggled herself and then looked at her mother.

"You need to play with their toys honey," Rebecca said as Beckett came over with some cloth blocks. "And be careful, you don't want to hurt them."

Smiling as Dani nodded seriously, Beckett sat on the couch with Lily before Rebecca was sitting with them and they watched the toddler start stacking the blocks as Josie and Sophie were watching with wide eyes.

"How's she doing?" Rebecca asked.

"Very well, her development is good so… it looks like so far she's fine," Lily said, smiling widely when Sophie tried to bite a block to Dani's squeal.

"Josie," Beckett said as the baby was going onto her hands and knees.

"I thought she was going to crawl," Lily said.

"Not yet," Beckett replied as she helped Josie to sit back up. She was going to hand her a block when Macca was slipping his head under her arm. "Macca," she said with a laugh when the dog licked the baby's face.

Josie's response was to laugh, and she reached out to him before he laid next to her after Beckett had moved out of his way.

"I think we have some extra babysitters here," Rebecca said in amusement while the other five dogs came over to the kids.

"Yes, but watch Dani and Lily don't pull any tails," Beckett told them, having taken away the blocks so the dogs wouldn't think they were toys for them. Going back to the couch she watched with them since the kids were entertained by the dogs. She smiled as Dani was walking around with Max and JoJo following her, the babies watching them as they were surrounded by the other four. Feeling a touch to her arm she looked at Lily and said, "Oh no."

"What?" the woman asked in amusement. "You had to know we were going to ask."

"It was… amazing," Beckett replied with a sigh, knowing they wouldn't push her for more details since Dani would pick up on that. But she had a feeling that once the three were put down for their naps, she wouldn't be able to avoid it. For the time being she then said, "How are you guys with your husbands?"

"Fantastic," Lily said, Rebecca nodding in agreement. "But are you hungry?"

"I am," Beckett said, unable to help smiling at the way she'd changed the subject.

"Mommy," Dani said, hurrying over, the two dogs trailing after her. "I'm hungy too!"

"Then we'll eat," Rebecca said firmly, standing and picking up her daughter. After Beckett and Lily had theirs, they went to the kitchen and once they were feeding their daughters she was about to ask the other two about their kids and enjoying school when Lily was speaking first.

"How are Julia and Eliza enjoying being in school?" the woman said, nursing Sophie. "After being homeschooled?"

"They like it, it took Julia a little adjustment," Beckett started to say, pausing and kissing the top of Josie's head since the baby was having her bottle on her lap. "Because of the classes moving around. But she likes it. I do too because she won't get bored."

"Jake and Eve thought that too," Lily said.

"And Eliza has friends already so they've helped her get used to being in school for so long," Beckett said. "Mari?" she asked Rebecca.

Smiling the woman said, "She likes it but hates not being able to see Julia that much. I really wish they were born in the same year."

"Me too but at least they'll be at the academy together until Julia heads to college," Beckett said.

"Eve's only a Freshman," Lily said swiftly when the two turned to her. She took a moment to switch Sophie to her other breast and said, "Jake is enjoying eighth grade… I mean he hates getting up and going to school but he does see Julia. Actually he said he's sat with her at lunch."

"With his friends?" Rebecca asked.

"A couple, and he's told us her and her friends are welcoming to them," Lily replied. "As for Eve she was a little intimidated, since the schedules don't move around like in middle school, but she's gotten used to that by now and loves having P.E. last."

"Do they have rotating sports?" Beckett asked, recalling her own daughter would be playing indoor soccer that day.

"No, right now they're playing lacrosse until it starts snowing or Christmas Break and she loves it. She might try for the school team, but she wants to think about it first," Lily answered. "Luckily our kids are settled," she said. "How are yours doing though after being in LA for so long?"

"They're fine, they miss the show," Beckett said first before she paused. "Remember Skye is going to be on _Ellen_ today."

"Yeah, I have it ready to record," Lily said with a smile, starting to burp Sophie as Beckett was doing the same with Josie. "When are you going to watch it?"

"After their dance class," Beckett replied. They were quiet then, taking care of their babies while Rebecca was making sure Dani was okay. When the three were finished with their lunches she took Josie upstairs and got her ready for her nap. Her friends were with her since Sophie was sharing the crib with Josie and Dani was given the bed with the net for the side attached. After they were sure their daughters were asleep they left, leaving the door open since all six dogs were staying in the room.

"They won't bother Dani?" Rebecca asked.

"Oh no," Beckett replied. "When I tell them to stay, they'll stay. Now what about this _pho_? I'm starving."

Lily laughed and led the way down to the kitchen where she had placed everything for their meal in the oven. She heated up the broth and once she was sitting with her friends she said, "Luckily I knew what you'd both like."

"I haven't had this in a while," Beckett said, mixing up the noodles, chicken and vegetables in her broth.

"You didn't have it in LA?" Lily asked.

"We never had a chance for it," Beckett replied. "We did have some other cuisines, but it was mostly Dim Sum if we had something Asian."

"Ah, hot," Rebecca said, trying to eat a piece of beef in hers. She frowned at her friends briefly laughing but then smiled saying, "So Kate…"

Groaning as she put down her glass of juice Beckett said, "Come on, really?"

"We have to ask," Lily replied easily. She just smiled at the look her friend gave her and told her, "Did you really end up doing that much?"

"We did, we went swimming and snorkeling," Beckett said. She told them about the fish, eels and turtle they'd seen before talking about the shark.

"Wow," Rebecca said when she'd finished. "You're incredibly brave going back in the water."

"We never went as far as he did on the paddleboard," Beckett replied. "And we couldn't really stay out of it."

"What about that lagoon you mentioned that place has?" Lily asked.

"We went," Beckett replied with a smile. "A couple times…"

"What?" Rebecca said as she and Lily were watching their friend frowning.

Telling them about the other couple that was there Beckett said, "I don't know if it's what you guys enjoy-"

"I don't," Lily said first.

"I really don't," Rebecca added.

"Yeah, I've been called that before I was with Rick and…" Beckett started to say before she shook her head. "We went back to the hut and stayed around there until they left the next day."

"Weird they didn't care that window was open," Lily said.

"We talked about that," Beckett said. "And we think they wanted us to be horrified. Really it was annoying."

"Understandable," Lily said. She heard a noise and she looked with the other two over at Beckett's tablet which was on and had a split screen for the two web cams for the kids sleeping. Seeing her baby was alright, she then said, "But other than that it was a good trip."

"Good weather and being right on the ocean?" Rebecca said teasingly.

"It was," Beckett answered with a smile, shaking her head. She then turned her attention to her food as the broth had cooled down enough and after she had eaten for a while she said, "Are you sure you two are good?"

"I wouldn't lie," Rebecca replied easily.

"Or me, though Brad's frustrated of course," Lily said. She then realized something and turned to Beckett before she hurried to speak.

"He had them back," she said since she knew her friend was talking about her stopping nursing. "And yes, he enjoyed it and we're happy and you two are nosy."

"I didn't say anything," Rebecca said with a smirk.

"You don't have to," Beckett said, shaking her head before she was smiling. "But we can use a subject change." She wasn't surprised when the other two women laughed, and they began talking about LA, which she wasn't surprised they wanted to know more about. That took them through the meal and after they'd cleaned up they went into the family room where they were sitting together and finishing their drinks.

"How far do you think they are?" Lily asked as she was looking at her watch.

"About halfway through," Beckett said, having checked the time herself. She smiled and then said, "Who would you say wins?"

"David," Lily replied. She smiled when Rebecca looked at her and shrugged saying, "Brad doesn't play as much."

"Should we bet?" Rebecca asked then. They looked at each other and then began laughing before she saw Beckett was looking at her watch. "I thought you were tired."

Giving her friend a look Beckett said, "I am, I'm impatient for him to get back so we can go to the dance class."

"Not much longer," Lily said. She then asked, "I've been wondering, how was it when you were writing over there?"

"We couldn't write too much," Beckett said. "Luckily our publisher wasn't too pushy about chapters. But we are going to settle back into it next week."

"Even with Christmas?" Rebecca asked.

"We've gotten a little over half the gifts for everyone," Beckett replied. "And most have been sent to my cousin's house already."  
"Do you have bigger gifts?" Lily said.

"They'll have to open pictures, but Rick wants to wrap them… fancy or… jokingly or something," Beckett said. "But not until we're over there." She and her friends then talked about the gifts they were getting for their husbands and her mind wandered to her own, wondering what he was doing at that moment and hoping they were going to be on their way home soon.

* * *

"They give him super vision," Brad said to David.

Standing up straight and looking at his friends Castle said, "What are you talking about?"

"He's trying to throw you," David commented with a smile.

Rolling his eyes Castle said, "I thought we weren't making this a serious game? And don't we need to get back soon, the kids'll be finished with school."

"Ah, that's why he's been wanting to get through this game," Brad said. "The dance class."

"Rebecca and I won't be able to make it," David said. "I have to go in to City Hall for a meeting. But I went this past week luckily."

"Are they still teaching the other kids?" Brad asked.

Castle didn't say anything, going up to the tee and preparing his shot before he took it, relieved it was the last hole.

"Nice," David said. "And yeah, they are since I think their teacher wants them to learn their Jive really well," he said as they were getting into the golf cart they were using.

"Probably by heart," Castle said. "Because some of those steps are a little more complex than she's taught them so far. And I think Julia said something about the way it was put together… the steps."

"I think I know how this'll end up," David commented when they got to where their golf balls were.

"Apparently being impatient to go home helps," Brad commented.

"Guys," Castle groaned after he'd hit his golf ball in. Luckily it didn't take his friends too long to do the same and he asked, "Don't you want to see your wives too?"

"That would be nice, but we need to go to work," Brad commented. "Your work is…" he began to say before he blanched.

"Yeah, I would stop there," Castle said, studying him.

"Sorry, but you got what I meant," Brad told him.

"I did," Castle said, sitting in the passenger seat of the golf cart. As they were heading back to the clubhouse to return the cart, he asked David, sitting in the back, "How'd we do?"

"It was a tie, you and Brad," the mayor replied.

Taking the score card, Castle looked it over and said, "You're only one behind."

"I'd rather have played mini-golf with the kids," David said. He smiled when the two said they did too and said, "Though we'll do this again in the spring?"

"Definitely." "Lils will make me set it up if I don't," Castle and then Brad said.

The three men laughed before they got the cart set and went to change out of their golf shoes. When they were meeting at the car they didn't say much, driving back to their neighborhood.

When they were pulling in past the gate at his house Castle said, "We'll have to have dinner together at some time."

"Just us couples?" David asked.

"Yeah," Castle replied.

"I'm game," Brad said. "Let us know."

Castle was nodding but they were stopping at the front door and they got out of the car to head inside before they were meeting their wives. "They just got up from their naps?" he asked since they were coming down the foyer stairs.

"They did," Beckett said with a smile. "How was it?"

"Good, cold but fun," Castle said.

"If you're wondering about scores Rick and Brad tied," David said. He smiled when Dani hugged him around the neck and he said, "It's okay, I had more fun going around talking."

"Yes, we talked about you," Rebecca said, rolling her eyes. "But you need to go, and I have that conference call."

Since Lily needed to go to work too they were saying goodbye to each other, the wives agreeing to a future dinner together until Castle and Beckett were alone with Josie, turning to each other.

"It's almost time," he said.

"Twenty minutes," Beckett said as she checked her watch since he was holding the baby. "Shouldn't you change?"

"I thought I'd go like this," Castle told her. When she shook her head, he leaned down and they kissed gently before he was giving Josie back to her. "I'll be back," he said to them both.

"Come on sweetie," Beckett said before she heard her phone making a text alert sound. She hurried to the family room and set Josie down before she got her phone from her pocket to read the message. "Looks like your grandparents are going to be late today," she said to the baby as Josie was grabbing the side of Max's neck. She watched the baby to make sure she wasn't going to pull the Setter's fur and said, "But we'll take you sweetie, I promise." She smiled when the baby did and picked her up to put her on her lap before she heard her husband coming down the stairs.

"What?" Castle asked, seeing his wife watching him as he came inside.

"Our parents are staying in Montauk a little longer," Beckett told him.

"I got the same message," Castle told her, scooping the baby up into his arms. "I just hope your dad's friend will get them back in time."

"He will, Dad said he has a date tonight at six," Beckett replied.

"Great," Castle said as he helped her up with his free hand. They hurried to get Josie bundled up before they were getting their things and heading into the car. He was driving and he asked, "How was lunch?"

"Fun," Beckett said. "We were on our own since they were taking naps. And before you ask, we did talk about you guys and they asked about Tahiti."

Nodding Castle said, "They asked me too."

"I told them about that couple," Beckett said.

"Me too," Castle said. "I'm not kidding," he said when he was parking at the school. "They were disgusted too."

Beckett smiled before she got out of the car and let her husband get Josie, walking with him to hurry into the high school and the dance studio. They found the kids were in the changing rooms, a few other parents there, and they sat together in the middle of the chairs before she saw the teacher was walking over to them.

"I'm glad to see you're back," Ms. Grey was saying as she shook their hands. "I don't know if Julia and Eliza told you-"

"That we did well with the Argentine Tango?" Castle asked.

When the teacher nodded Beckett smiled and said, "They did, thank you though it helped we had previous lessons."

"She's right, I don't think we would have done it if we hadn't had those lessons," Castle said in agreement.

"Oh, will you be returning to them at all?" Grey asked.

"We'll see how things are in the spring for us," Castle said before his wife could say anything.

After the teacher had nodded Beckett looked at her husband and said, "Really?"

"You wouldn't want to?" Castle asked. "At the very least think about it, we have until April to do it again. And just for two months."

"I'll think about it," Beckett said.

Squeezing her hand to thank her, Castle turned to look at the dressing room door that had opened on the girls' side. He smiled seeing Eliza stepping out and he waved before watching with wide eyes as the little girl let out an, "Eep!" and turned around to race back inside the dressing room. He looked at his wife and saw the bemusement he felt on her face and he said, "She must not have done well on the spelling bee."

Shaking her head Beckett corrected him saying, "She probably didn't win. You need to assure her it's okay if she doesn't." When he looked confused again, she said firmly, "Yes you. She's going to think you'll be upset; she knows you were the first writer of us both."

Castle nodded in agreement and then said, "What about you?"

"I'll talk to her too, but start," Beckett told him firmly. She smiled when he nodded and then looked with him over to the dressing room door so they could see when their second youngest would come outside.

"Lizzy, you're being silly," Julia was telling her little sister. "Mom and Dad won't care you didn't win; they'll be happy that you did so good the first time." When Eliza just held onto her tightly, she sighed and said, "Come on, we have to go or we'll be late."

Though she didn't want to go, Eliza finally took her sister's hand and they went together out into studio, trying not to pull back when Julia was leading her over to their parents and sister.

"Hey girls, how was school today?" Castle asked.

"Good," Julia said, trying not to shove her little sister in front of her.

"I… I didn't win the spelling bee," Eliza said nervously, not looking at the two but instead at the baby.

Cupping her chin, Castle made her look up at him and said, "Whatever place you got-"

"Second," Julia interrupted. "Quentin out spelled her."

"Oh… that's not bad at all," Castle said. "Why were you so worried we'd be mad? I couldn't spell that well when I was your age."

"No?" Eliza asked with wide eyes.

"Of course not, you have to learn before you can spell that well," Beckett said. "And do you know what word you misspelled?"

"Yeah, it was the extra hard word, holiday," Eliza explained. "I said two ls instead of just one."

"That's an honest mistake," Castle said quickly. "But you made it to that word so I'm proud of you."

"Me too but your daddy's been working with words longer than me so if he says you did a good job then you did," Beckett said.

Seeing her father nodding, Eliza giggled softly and then threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Daddy," she whispered to him. She shared a kiss with him and then asked, "Will you help me next week? You and Mommy?"

"We will," Beckett answered for her husband. "Now go, you have class." She watched the girls going over to the others and said to her husband softly, "Good job."

"You too," Castle said. He then leaned over, as he could see Grey was going to start the class, and he whispered, "We have to make sure she knows these are just for fun."

Beckett managed to nod before the teacher was beginning the lesson and they watched together as Grey then had the kids pair off before they were starting some new steps. She smiled as she recognized them from the first Jive the kids had done on the show, towards the end. The lesson focused only on that and she was surprised to see that Eliza was dancing with ease though she knew it was because her sister was teaching her at home too.

"Okay," Grey said, having been walking around the pairs to check on their progress. "We have to go for the weekend, but-" she started to say before the door opened.

"Hello," a tall, African-American man said as he stepped inside with Quentin from Eliza's class. "I'm sorry but my son… decided to play hooky from his first class."

"That's alright, it works out better though he wouldn't have had to dance yet," Grey said. "There's not that much left if you'd like to watch still."

"Sure," the man said.

Seeing her friend, Eliza waved at him before she frowned as he slouched in his chair before his father spoke to him. She had to turn her attention to the dance floor as the teacher had asked her sister and the other three to demonstrate the Jive for them one last time. She was bouncing up and down during their dancing and clapping her hands before they were stopping. She applauded with the others and heard Grey saying they would start learning the four's Viennese Waltz. Instead of going to the changing room with the other girls she rushed over to Quentin saying, "You're gonna learn to dance too?"

"Are you Eliza?" the boy's father asked.

"Yeah… I'm Eliza," the little girl said shyly. She looked at her parents, who were getting up, and then looked back at her friend and said, "I gotta go change but dancing's lots of fun." She started to leave and then said, "Oh, I don't have a partner, but if you danced maybe we could do that together."

Castle and Beckett went over to the boy and his father after Eliza had gone into the girl's changing room and introduced themselves and Josie before the man was telling them his name.

"I'm Winston McIntyre," the man said. "And I assume you know my son Quentin already from your daughter."

"We do," Beckett said, smiling at him as he was looking up at them with wide eyes.

"Thanks for playing with Eliza though she was so late coming to the school this year," Castle said.

"Hopefully you'll be partners with her," Julia said, appearing behind her parents suddenly. She smiled when they looked at her and she said to Castle and Beckett, "Mari's watching out for her." Turning back to the little boy she said, "I hope you'll dance for sure; Lizzy really needs a partner since she's dancing with mine and Peter is way taller than her."

Laughing at her exaggerating the word way, Quentin then grew confused and asked, "Who's Lizzy."

"That's what I call Eliza," Julia said. "Sorry, I'm used to everyone knowing about that. But will you come back Monday, watch at least?"

"Okay," Quentin said slowly, glancing up at his father.

"We better get going," Winston said. "Thank you," he told the girl. He said goodbye to the family, and he took his son out of the studio while they were waving to them.

"Nice," Castle said to Julia.

"I know that look on his face," the girl said, smiling as Eliza was coming out to them with Mari. "He wants to, but I bet he's got an older brother who's saying dancing is for sissies or something like that. Oh! I need to talk to Ms. Grey," she said suddenly. "There's no way we can do the Viennese Waltz yet, that'll scare him off."

"Well love," Castle said to his wife as they were watching their second oldest hurry over to where the teacher was. "I think we can be sure she'll be a great teacher."

"We can," Beckett said simply before she was smiling at him and they got Mari and Eliza bundled up until Julia was coming back to them. She wanted to ask the girl what dance the class was going to learn the next week when David was coming in. She said goodbye to the girl and the mayor and they hurried out to the car since Julia had her things on.


	60. Brings Me Back (Part 2)

"So," Castle said, turning to look at Julia in the backseat while Beckett was driving them home. "What dance will you do instead?"

"The Cha-Cha-Cha," Julia replied. "But, for Quentin, we're going to have basic steps before we start that." She leaned over to look at her little sister saying, "That way he won't worry about putting his hand on your back."

"Ooh," Eliza said in realization. "That's a good idea Jules."

"Bababa amamm," Josie vocalized.

"That means she agrees," Julia said, laughing when Eliza wrinkled her nose at her.

"Okay girls," Beckett said, pulling past the gate after it was opened. "You're going to get out with your dad and then head inside."

"What about you?" Eliza asked her.

"I need to turn the car around for when we go to dinner," Beckett replied.

After he had Josie out of the car, Castle took the other two into the house where they were greeted by the dogs before Beckett was joining them. "Okay we-" he started to say.

"The show!" Julia suddenly exclaimed. "The one that Skye's supposed to be on. You did record it right?" she said as she looked back and forth at her parents.

"Yeah," Castle replied with a smile. "And homework?"

"Done," Julia said with a returning smile. "I love having Study Hall on Fridays."

"Miss Thurston says we won't have homework on Fridays," Eliza said.

"Then we can go and watch," Beckett told them. "Should we get them a snack?" she asked her husband.

"I don't think they need it," Castle answered, seeing the two girls shaking their heads rapidly.

"Okay, we'll go watch now," Beckett said in amusement. When they were in the family room the girls went to the couch; the coffee table against the wall from earlier still; and she went with them as her husband had given her the baby. They were sitting all together as the show began and they watched the opening of _The Ellen Show_ before the first commercial break.

"Why did she ask her back?" Julia suddenly said. "She was on not too long ago."

"Skye mentioned people were going on social media and asking that she come back," Beckett replied before her husband was pressing play on the remote and they looked at the screen as the host was speaking once the applause had died down from the audience.

"Next on the show," Ellen said. "Is the NTSB Investigator/singer/musician/linguist who won the last season of the show _Dancing With the Stars_. Please welcome back Skye McDouglas."

Beckett smiled seeing the investigator walking out from the side and beginning to dance the Jive to the Queen song that she, Derek and the kids had danced to on GMA since it was playing. Her eyes widened as she managed to pull Ellen in and was trying to teach her to the audience's cheers.

"Okay," the host said laughing, shaking her hands. "I'll leave the professional dancing to you."

"I've left it," Skye said, laughingly as they were sitting. "I love that introduction to me."

"It took a while," Ellen said, nodding her head. She then said, "So congratulations on your win. How are you feeling a week later?"

"Still shocked, especially when I see the trophy," Skye replied.

"Do you have a place for it?" Ellen said.

"Yeah, the living room," Skye said. "My daughters said it'd be a yearlong Christmas decoration."

"Your daughters were in a couple dances," Ellen then said. "Did they want to?"

"They did," Skye said as she nodded her head. "I wanted them to be involved and so did they. And my wife was okay with everything which was the most important thing." She then smiled and said, "They're actually asking if we can go back next season."

"Speaking of the show," Ellen then said. "You made friends with everyone during the season, but you seemed to be closest to one fellow star."

Looking at the screen to her left Skye smiled and said, "Yeah, Eddie's a… darling. We're going to keep in touch."

"Why did you have that kind of connection?" Ellen said as the picture went from the investigator and Eddie in their school uniforms for the team dance to the pair dressed in regular clothing.

"I'm not quite sure," Skye said. "I suppose it'd be the love of England and just the love of comedy. We had fun playing off each other in that way and-" she started to say. She was cut off when someone squeezed her shoulders and she yelled, jumping up before she turned and saw that it was the actor.

"She didn't know he was going to be there?" Julia asked in surprise.

"No, she just thought it was going to be herself," Beckett said.

"How cool," Julia said with a smile as Skye and Eddie were parting from their hug. She wasn't surprised when the host was asking the actor about their connection which he answered immediately.

"I suppose it was as if we were a comedy team," Eddie began.

"Vaudeville?" Skye asked.

"Oh of course," Eddie told her with a nod. He then said, "But when you meet someone who isn't afraid to just laugh and have fun it helps."

"You were on an episode of _Whose Line Is It Anyway?_ in England," Ellen said as the two were giving each other a hug and speaking nonsense while the audience laughed. "And Skye I've heard that you enjoy playing with improv."

"I'm not professional," the investigator replied. "But I do like it."

"Then why don't we play a game, one that you haven't played and you do with your band," Ellen said to the actor and investigator respectively. "Questions Only?"

"Sure, just us three?" Eddie asked.

"Four," Ellen said. "One more special guest who you'll see when we come back from break so stay tuned."

"Mary," the four said together when they were looking at each other as Castle was fast forwarding the show. They laughed and then turned their attention to the screen as it was back on.

"How will they do?" Eliza asked while Ellen was introducing Mary with them as they were standing.

"I think well," Castle said, looking at his wife.

"Probably," Beckett said.

"Okay, so we have a scene here to help us," Ellen said, holding up a card. "And it's in a supermarket. You all will help us, if one of us doesn't ask a question start buzzing us out." She then turned to her DJ for that episode and said, "You'll tell us when we're finished. Go ahead Skye," standing with the investigator.

"Do you have a deli here?" Skye said first.

"Do I look like I work here?" Ellen said.

"Have you been here before?" Skye asked her.

"Wouldn't I know there was a deli if I have?" Ellen asked.

"You're taking the mickey out of me, are you?" Skye said.

"I didn't know we were going to Disneyland," Ellen said, forgetting to ask a question. She widened her eyes when the DJ made a sound and the audience buzzed and she then realized what she'd done. She laughed as Skye squeezed her shoulder before moving so Eddie could take her place.

"Where's the worker?" Skye asked the actor.

"Why would I know?" Eddie said, looking away from her.

"Does anyone work here?" Skye said.

"Don't you own this market?" Eddie asked.

"I would… know," Skye started to say. "Well that went well," she said laughingly as the audience was making a buzzing sound.

The game continued, Mary going against both the actor and host before she messed up with Eddie again. Skye managed to out question the actor and she waited for Ellen to walk out to her.

"Where have you been?" the investigator said.

"Did I go somewhere?" Ellen said immediately.

"Would you like some help?" Skye asked.

"Weren't you the customer?" Ellen said.

"Don't you know I'm in disguise?" Skye said.

"What kind?" Ellen said.

"What kind do you like?" Skye replied.

"Why would I pick?" Ellen said.

"Would you believe me if said I was a man?" Skye said.

"Would you let me tell you I wouldn't?" Ellen asked.

"Are we saying the word wouldn't too many times?" Skye said.

"Are we going to stop?" Ellen said.

"Do we have to?" Skye said, making a pouting face.

Trying to think of something to say to that, Ellen was about to speak before the DJ was playing music and she shook Skye's hand before they were laughing.

"Have you talked to her?" Julia asked her mother as Castle was stopping the show when it went to commercials again.

"No, she had to go help with an investigation," Beckett said. "As soon as she finished filming earlier this afternoon. So I'll have to call her later."

"Now what can we do?" Eliza asked.

"Play with the dogs," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when the girls immediately got up and were calling to the dogs and he said to his wife, "I guess that was a good idea."

"It was," Beckett said, standing with him so they could go over to the hallway to watch the girls play until they would be going to dinner with the rest of their family.

* * *

"Eliza," Castle was saying as he sat in his chair next to her. "You can't see anything so why don't you look at the menu?"

"I know what I want already Daddy," the little girl protested. "The slider."

"It's fine," Beckett said with a smile when her husband looked at her.

"I already know," Julia said as her mother had turned to her. "The shrimp fettuccini?"

Nodding Beckett said, "Good, now please give me my phone back."

"How did you get that from her purse?" Louis said in surprise.

"She learned that trick from her mother," Castle commented.

"I got it when we were walking from the car," Julia said, wrinkling her nose at her father before she was smiling.

"Julia," Beckett said firmly, holding out her hand.

"What can we do now?" Eliza asked as she couldn't look outside to see the water as her father had told her.

"Order first," Castle said as two waiters were coming over to them. Since they'd been there so many times, they were able to order their drinks and food at the same time. When they were left alone again, he said to the girls, "Now we want to hear about your days at school, how were classes?"

Eliza started and talked about everything she had learned before she finished with getting to hold the teacher's chameleon. "It was so cute, and it was really happy on my hand, Miss Thurston said."

"Did she take pictures?" Beckett asked.

Nodding Eliza said, "She's gonna bring them on Monday and I can bring them home."

"Did you ask her about them?" Martha asked.

"Yeah, she said they're not hard to take care of but I have to get permission from you," Eliza said, looking at her parents.

"Maybe when you're older," Castle said, not surprised when his wife looked at him. "But that wasn't what was last remember?" He wasn't taken aback as the little girl wrinkled her nose and he said, "We want to hear about the spelling bee, no matter what happened."

Though she didn't really want to talk about it, Eliza told the others about the little competition between her and her classmates. She felt better when the others told her she'd done a great job spelling down everyone else before she and Quentin were facing off against each other. "I'm gonna study really hard and then do better next Friday," she said firmly.

"Just do the best you can," Castle told her, squeezing her shoulder.

"My turn?" Julia asked as the others started to look at her. She smiled and then talked about her classes before saying, "And I finished my homework," to her grandparents, big sister and Louis. "In Study Hall last so that was great."

"When will you have it last again?" the young man asked.

Julia took a moment to answer as she was thinking that out and she said, "Not next week, the one after?"

"I think on the Tuesday after the next one," Castle told her.

"You can't have study hall last every day," Beckett said in amusement as Julia was making a face.

Though she wanted to speak their food was being served and Julia waited until they were eating for a bit to speak. "In high school the classes don't move around like that," she said.

"No but you probably won't have Study Hall," Alexis said. She smiled when her sister looked at her and she said, "It depends on how many electives you take."  
Sighing Julia said, "The homework gets harder doesn't it?"

"A little, don't worry," Castle told her. "We'll help."

"We will too," Jim said as the girl had looked at him.

"I will when I can," Martha said.

"Thanks," Julia said with a smile before she returned to her food. She listened, looking at her sister across the table from her, as their family discussed what they might do for the weekend. She remembered that they were going out for a walk the next afternoon but was surprised when their father mentioned a new book. "Ours?" she asked as her parents looked at her.

"Yeah, we need to get started on it," Castle told her.

"But just the basics," Beckett said. "Only the plot though, you should have the chance to play."

"Outside?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"If it's not too cold," Beckett replied.

"What about playing now?" Julia asked as she noticed they'd finished their meal by then.

"Maybe," Castle said, putting his card with the bill.

"What about dessert?" Eliza asked hopefully.

"Popcorn and hot chocolate," Castle told her.

"Really?" Julia asked.

"Yes," Beckett said. "We'll have that after we've had a little exercise." She wasn't surprised when the girls were looking at her questioningly, but she didn't say anything as she was getting up since her husband had his card back. Their meal paid for she was getting up to get Josie into her outer layers before giving her to her father. She put on her coat and made sure Eliza was set before they went to their cars, heading back home. She shared a glance with her husband as their middle daughters were asking about what they would do but they didn't answer them before they were pulling into the garage.

"What do you think we're going to do?" Eliza asked in a whisper to her sister as they were walking inside the house.

"You'll find out," Castle told them as he put his hands on their shoulders from behind. "Give me your coats." He looked for Louis once he was in the entry and they were going together back to the garage while the others were distracting the girls.

"We can't play with the dogs again?" Julia was asking her mother as they were in the family room.

"Where's Daddy?" Eliza asked, suddenly noticing them missing.

"And Louis isn't here either," Julia added. She was going to run over to the doorway when she felt a hand take hers and she turned to see it was her big sister.

"Just a second," Alexis said.

Julia had a feeling as to what was going on, but she didn't say anything as she didn't want to spoil it for Eliza who was gasping shortly after that as the top of a tree suddenly appeared. "It's real!" she said in surprise.

"You didn't think we were going to get one?" Castle asked in amusement.

"How did you get it?" Eliza asked.

"Did you guys make a visit yesterday afternoon to the tree farm?" Beckett asked.

"But you didn't come with us," Eliza reminded her.

"I know, but we need to get it now or else we won't have it up for that long," Beckett said, letting her father take the tree stand to put it in the corner of the room for her husband and Louis.

"Are we still going to take everything down in January? On the sixth?" Julia asked her.

"It's a Wednesday, but we will start that day, not that Saturday," Beckett said firmly. She wasn't surprised when the girl frowned for a moment, but Castle was calling to them all to get their attention as they were standing the tree up. She told them when they had it straight and she went to the office to get the ornament boxes her father had gotten the day before while the kids had been in school.

"Do you need help?" Alexis asked, coming into the room at that moment.

"Yeah, we have a lot of boxes," Beckett said.

"Mom," Julia called before her mother walked into the room with Alexis following her. "Who's going to water the tree while we're gone?"

"David said he'd do that," Castle answered for his wife with a smile. "So it'll still be here once we come back."

"Can we start?" Eliza asked eagerly as she knew the ornaments were in the boxes.

"First we need to put on the lights and the star," Castle reminded her. "I'll go get them," he told them as he hurried out to go to the office.

"What about the rest of the decorations?" Julia asked her mother, watching her open the first box.

"We'll work on that this weekend too," Beckett told her. She then looked over at the doorway as her husband was coming in with two more boxes. She went over to him and they began to put the lights first after they had tested them all to make sure they were working still.

"I can't wait," Eliza said eagerly before she thought of something, turning to Josie. "Can we show her the lights?"

"Wait until we're finished," Castle called, he and his wife circling the tree.

Letting her husband take the last of the lights on his own to the very top of the tree, Beckett got the star ready and then let him take it to set on the very top. "Okay," she said, turning to the others. "Let me have Josie." She took the baby from her father and carried her over to the tree where Castle was plugging them in.

Hearing the baby laughing, Eliza looked up at her and smiled when she saw her reaching out to the tree. When Josie was yawning, she gasped and said, "Oh, don't do that Josa, you'll have to go to bed and you'll miss the decorating!"

"She was going to already," Castle said, kissing the top of the baby's head. "It's almost past her bedtime."

"We're going to show her the tree tomorrow," Julia said. "But she can't really touch the ornaments you know."

"'Cause she might eat them?" Eliza asked slowly.

"Exactly, you did the same your first Christmas," Castle commented. "But she'll get older and she'll be able to hang them up like you will."

Sighing Eliza went with her sister to the baby, kissing her goodnight before Castle and Beckett were leaving the room. She gasped again when she thought of something and rushed over to the doorway calling, "Can we look at the ornaments?"

Turning with her husband Beckett said, "You can, but just look okay? We've been waiting all week to hang them up with you."

"We'll wait," Eliza said seriously before she ran back into the room.

"Don't worry," Castle said as he ran his hand over the back of the baby's head just before they started up the stairs. "You'll be decorating with us in no time."

Feeling Josie leaning against her, Beckett said, "I think that's the least of her worries."

"I don't blame her," Castle said, getting to the top of the stairs then. He followed her down the hall to the baby's room and he watched her move to start changing the baby though he was grabbing Josie's pajamas.

"I almost thought they'd be Christmas," Beckett said with a smile as she took the snowflake dark blue onesie from him.

"I figured you'd like this one better," Castle told her simply. When she gave him a look he said quickly, "Tomorrow I'll grab one of those."

Shaking her head Beckett was smiling though it wasn't for the baby at first though she was focusing her attention on Josie. The baby was falling asleep as soon as she had her dressed and she and her husband kissed her and told her goodnight before they went to the crib together. She tucked her in and though they knew they needed to get downstairs with everyone else they couldn't help staying for a little, watching their baby sleeping. She felt a rush of love watching her but she was the first to shake herself, touching her husband's arm so they could leave Josie to her sleep with Max and Molly on their beds.

"I'm wondering," Castle said as they were going down the hall. "How often you were thinking of me while I was playing."

Glancing at him Beckett said, "Most likely the same amount you thought of me." She couldn't help laughing softly as her husband was nodding rapidly and she stopped him so they could share a brief kiss. "We'll do better later," she said as they stared at one another.

"Much," Castle said, nodding once that time in his agreement. He took her hand, to shake himself then, and they were going the rest of the way down the hall so they could head to the family room.

"Oh, there they are," Martha said with a smile as the girls had been waiting a little impatiently for their parents.

Eliza literally bounded across the room to reach the doorway just as her mother was appearing in it and she was about to speak before Beckett was picking her up to do so first.

"We're going to get the popcorn and hot cocoa," she told her firmly. "And then start decorating."

Castle tried not to laugh as the little girl looked torn, but she finally nodded and he followed his wife to the kitchen though Eliza had remained in the family room. He made the drinks quickly while Beckett was getting the popcorn and when they finished, they carried the trays over to the family room.

"Are we ever going to get any new ones?" Julia asked, looking at the ornament she was holding.

"Those aren't that old," Beckett said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was just wondering," Julia replied.

"Where did you go?" Castle asked his mother.

"The shop in downtown," Martha told him. "Just to see what they had. There was a set of ornaments that were themed to peacocks."

"So you both saw something you liked?" Beckett asked with a smile. When they nodded she said, "We'll go and see them, but that doesn't mean we'll go and buy them."

Watching the girls nodding, since they were both drinking from the mugs, Castle said, "Can you two drink your hot chocolate and decorate at the same time."

"I think you mean take turns Dad," Alexis told him.

"We can," Julia said as her little sister was giggling next to her. "I'm ready to start."

"Me too," Eliza said eagerly before they were hurrying to grab an ornament and hang it on the tree. She had hung a few when she grabbed a shell ornament and she said, "Jules."

"Mom?" Julia said as she was taking the ornament.

"You can hang it, you're tall enough to put it up higher," Beckett said with a smile.

Julia nodded and then hung her ornament before she was going to the tree and finding a good branch. Once she had done that, she was stepping back to check it and smiled before she went back to the box.

"You two aren't going to join in?" Castle asked his father in law and mother as they were sitting on armchairs.

"There's enough here," Martha said. "To help."

"That's not fair," Eliza said. "You should get to decorate too."

"They will," Louis suddenly said. When they looked at him he explained to the others saying, "Mum and Dad put a tree in every room-"

"Real ones?" Julia asked eagerly.

"Real," Louis answered swiftly with a smile. "But there are ornaments for them… I think Mam is getting new ones for all of you but just a few."

"She doesn't need to," Beckett said with a frown.

"She knew you'd say that," Louis said. "And she said if you did to tell you that she buys locally, so it's supporting local crafts people."

"I'm eager to see what there is," Castle said, not surprised his wife nodded.

"So am I," Beckett said before she noticed that they'd hung the last of the ornaments. "Girls?"

"We don't have to go to bed, do we?" Julia said in surprise.

"No, not yet," Beckett replied. "Eat some popcorn before you need to go to bed." She wasn't surprised when the two sat on the floor, looking up at their tree and she went with Castle to put the boxes aside to put away in the garage the next day. "Are we focusing on the other boxes?" she asked, having caught sight of them in the living room.

"Of course," Castle said, taking her hand and leading her back to the others. They reached the doorway and were quickly getting out of the way of the girls as they hurried by.

"Don't run," Beckett called to them, shaking her head and smiling at the same time.

"What was that all about?" Castle asked.

"You'll see," Jim said as they could hear the girls coming back down the hall.

"Are these for us?" Beckett said as Eliza was handing a large piece of paper to her.

"Yeah, we made them while you were gone," the little girl said.

"They're really nice," Castle said, Julia showing him the one she'd made. "You should have put them on the fridge."

"We wanted to show them to you first," the girl replied. "Hang them tomorrow?"

"Yes," Beckett said. "We can play something together now. But not for too long okay?"

"In my case?" Julia asked.

"Actually, you two can go to bed at the same time," Castle said. He wasn't surprised when the girls looked from him to their mother with wide eyes and he said, "Seriously, but just because we don't want to miss out on playing with you."

Sharing a look with her sister, Julia rushed over to the cupboard with their board games inside and picked out the Life game that was themed to the Haunted Mansion.

"Wait," Beckett said as she recalled how many players that game allowed. "There's not enough pieces for us all."

"We'll watch," Jim told his daughter. He smiled at her when she turned to him and said, "Really Katie, we've been playing with them so it's your turn."

Knowing her father was serious and seeing the smile on her mother in law's face, Beckett nodded and turned her attention to the game as she and Castle were helping the girls get it set up. Once it was ready, they were taking their turns spinning and as they were going over the board Eliza was asking something.

"Did you and Daddy have games you were playing? Like this one?" the little girl said.

"No," Castle said with a smile. "There weren't any board games but there was a paddle ball set, so we played with that on the beach."

"Who won?" Alexis asked.

Shaking his head Castle said, "We weren't competing. Did we tell you guys about the shark?"

Beckett wished her husband hadn't worded it like that, but she wasn't surprised that it got their daughters' attention quickly. She let him tell the story, waiting for him to finish before she then said, "And we saw a sea turtle after that luckily."

"Did you swim with it?" Eliza asked eagerly.

"Until we reached our hut," Beckett said. "It was a lot of fun."

"I wanna go see fishies like that," Eliza said, sighing in her jealousy.

"We can do that when we go to Hawaii," Castle said. "But I'm not sure when that will be." He looked at his wife and asked, "A couple more years?"

Beckett nodded and told the girls, "We'll try to go for Spring Break but not until your sister is about to turn two."

"That'll take f-" Eliza started to complain.

"Josie will be older," Julia interrupted her sister. "And she'll be able to do more."

Eliza frowned before she then smiled and said, "She'll be a year old for Mexico."

"Not quite," Beckett reminded her. "But almost."

"Are we still playing?" Louis asked jokingly. He smiled when the little girl looked at him and he said, "Your turn."

Nodding her head rapidly, Eliza turned her attention to the board game and spun to see how far she would be moving that time.

Beckett squeezed the little girl's shoulder as their game started up again and she shared a smile with her husband as they enjoyed the atmosphere of the room and being back at home with their loved ones.

* * *

Yawning widely Castle said, "I wonder if the bath was the best idea."

"It is," Beckett said with a smile as she looked at the water surrounding them. It was later that night and she and her husband were together, relaxing after they had put their two middle daughters to bed. Alexis and Louis had returned to their townhouse and their parents had gone to their rooms so they were on their own. They had decided to take a bath together as they didn't want to just go to bed but were too tired to attempt any intimacy. "I feel better."

"Yeah that's true… I do too," Castle said with a nod. He kissed the side of his wife's head and told her, "Do you want a story."

Smiling Beckett said, "Wait until we're out on the bed."

Castle kissed her again and then rested his chin on her shoulder saying, "I love this, though I didn't mind before with them."

"You can want both," Beckett told him with a smile. "I know I do."

Nodding, Castle pressed his cheek to hers and then said, "But for now it's back to everything?"

"Yes, we need to write again," Beckett said with amusement. "And we'll do that on Monday. This weekend is about the house and the kids."

"Yep," Castle said, laughing when she glanced back at him.

"Okay, we should get out, you're getting sleepy," Beckett told him jokingly. But she was moving and getting out of the water, making sure that she was drying herself off and going to the bedroom. Her husband was following her, but they dressed swiftly together and went back into the bathroom to finish preparing for bed.

"Now?" Castle asked after they were getting into bed and he saw the way his wife was looking at him.

"Yes," Beckett told him firmly. "Preferably something with the girls."

"I had that in mind already," Castle replied. "And it does deal with them since we went to the cinema."

Smiling at her husband's wording, Beckett asked, "When?"

"It was July tenth in 1948," Castle said. "And we had gone to see _Easter Parade_ finally, we had all wanted to go."

"Were any of them married?" Beckett asked, remembering their daughters were twenty-six, almost twenty-one, almost twenty and eighteen respectively at that point in time.

"Yes… no… damn it I can't really get that," Castle said, shaking his head. "You figure Julia would be at least."

"Then that means we haven't met them yet," Beckett said slowly, for some reason not liking that idea but knowing that was how it was going to be until they knew who she would be with in that life. Shaking herself she then said, "Is it during the movie?"

"No, after," Castle said. "Julia and Alexis were singing together in the living room while we were watching."

* * *

 _In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it  
You'd be the grandest fellow in the Easter parade  
I'll be all in clover and when they look us over  
We'll be the proudest couple in the Easter parade_

 _"Oh, that was swell," Josephine said, applauding for her big sisters that had been singing the main song from the movie with their arms around each other's shoulders._

 _"She's right," Kate said, standing up. "And you remember all that after just seeing the movie once."_

 _"I may go back," Julia said with a smile. "That movie was the cat's meow."_

 _"For now," Kate said. "Will you help me with dinner girls?"_

 _"You don't have to worry Ma," Julia told her. "We'll make it."_

 _About to protest, since she had everything ready that she wanted to do, Kate was stopped by Julia and Elizabeth walking over to the kitchen. "I'll join in," she said to her husband._

 _"If they let you," Rick commented. He reached out and took her hand before telling their youngest two, "Go on and help your sisters."_

 _"What will we do now?" Kate asked him. She watched in surprise as her husband was reaching to the radio, turning it on and standing up. When he held his hand out to her, she smiled and took it and they were wrapping their arms around one another as they were swaying together._

 _"Shh," Julia said as her littlest sister was giggling lightly. "Don't interrupt them." When she glanced back at their parents her eyes widened and she said, "Come on, let's go."_

 _After they had parted, Kate told her husband, "They were watching us."  
"You would think they'd stop that," Rick said. "It would make them sick."_

 _"They must have heard the music," Kate replied before she went to the radio and turned it off as a faster Glen Miller song was starting. "We should see how they're doing."_

 _"And I'll need to set the table," Rick said. He followed his wife over to the kitchen and said, "Is everything jake in here?"_

 _"Yeah," Josephine said first with a smile. "We saw Ma wanted to make creamed chipped beef."_

 _"And potatoes," Alexandra added. "But… how Ma?"_

 _"Mashed," Kate said as she was going to the cupboard to get the plates for the table. "Will you all manage on your own?" She smiled when the three oldest assured her they would and the youngest nodded rapidly. "Your da and I will be setting the table."_

 _After they had walked together into the dining room Rick said, "You trust them enough?"_

 _"Of course," Kate said, knowing the girls could hear them. "Julia has a fair hand with cooking." She looked over at the kitchen, seeing the four walking around together before she turned to her husband saying, "What will we do now?" as they had finished by then._

 _"Would you like to dance again?" Rick asked her._

 _Laughing, Kate shook her head and was about to speak when their oldest was sticking her head into the room._

 _"Head outside and sit Ma," Julia told them. "You too Da, we won't be too much longer, but we'll make a salad and I'll cut the watermelon for dessert."_

 _"We have berries," Kate told her as her husband was taking her hand. "Put those in another bowl." She and her husband stepped out and went to the chairs in the backyard, sitting and listening to their daughters as they'd left the screen door open behind them._

 _They were quiet, holding hands, before they were looking up at the sky as the clouds were changing colors since it was getting closer to sunset. But before they got to that time, they were being called in for dinner by their second youngest and they went together to the dining room to join them._

 _"Oh Da, couldn't I have some wine as well?" Josephine asked._

 _"Not yet," Rick replied as he was pouring glasses for the others._

 _"But Alexandra isn't even twenty yet," Josephine said in protest as her parents weren't letting them drink until they were twenty while they were at home._

 _"Oh, give her a bit love," Kate said._

 _Looking to his wife to make sure that she was serious, Rick saw she was so he grabbed a wine glass and poured a very small amount as he knew Kate would direct him to._

 _"That's all?" Josephine said with a frown._

 _"That is," Rick said firmly. "Anymore and you'll be ossified. What?" he asked when the girls laughed softly._

 _"You mean tipsy Da," Elizabeth said._

 _Shrugging Rick said, "Let's eat, this meal looks wonderful."_

 _"He's right," Kate told them with a smile. "You girls did a wonderful job."_

 _"That was Julia," Alexandra said. "She said she could take care of it."_

 _"You'll be a great cook for your sweetheart," Kate said to her oldest, not surprised when she blushed and ducked her head._

 _"Thank you, Ma," Julia said with a smile. "But I just hope the mashed potatoes are good. Alexandra took care of them."_

 _"They're swell," Kate said reassuringly to the young woman who was sitting across the table from her. "And the salad is marvelous Josephine."_

 _"Thank you," the young woman replied. "Elizabeth helped dress it."_

 _"I'm very well taken care of by my girls," Rick commented. He smiled when the girls laughed, his wife squeezing his hand, and they turned their attention back to their food before it grew too cold. He and Kate got up to put away the dishes, though Alexandra and Josephine followed them into the kitchen to help and grab the bowls with dessert._

 _"Wait, we'll get those," Alexandra told their parents as she and Josephine went back into the room to find they were grabbing smaller bowls._

 _"We'll take these outside," Kate said suddenly. "Julia, Elizabeth? Bring the fruit out with you," she told them with a smile. After they were outside and sitting at the picnic table they had, she said, "Thank you girls for our dinner."_

 _"We thought you might like a rest Ma," Elizabeth said with a smile._

 _"Well… I only cook for us three now," Kate replied. "It wouldn't have been very difficult to cook for all of you. I used to."_

 _"And on your own," Julia said in awe._

 _"You learn, when you're a mother you learn," Kate said before eating a piece of watermelon._

 _They were silent then, looking up at the sky as the sun was setting though they couldn't see it, and Rick and Kate smiled at one another before they held hands for a moment. They squeezed gently, turning their attention to their daughters and their chatter as they were recalling the movie and newsreels they'd seen again._

* * *

"I've seen that movie before," Beckett said, pressing her cheek to his shoulder as they were laying down. She smiled and said, "I always loved it though Dad thought it was a little too adult."

"The romance plot line?" Castle asked. He felt his wife nodding and he said, "He's protective of you."

"Slightly less," Beckett said, not surprised he'd said that. "He's left that to you."

"Shouldn't that be to yourself?" Castle said.

"He's known I do that already," Beckett said easily. "But since he wants added protection…"

"Oh," Castle said in realization. He then rubbed her upper arm and said, "It was fun, even though we just had Josie there with us. They would do that, since they had the bridge of course, and we would usually have Sunday dinners though that was an exception as we had the movie we wanted to see all together."

"I preferred when they were all there," Beckett said. "Though… Josie didn't leave until she was… later in her twenties…"

"I don't know either," Castle said in understanding. "She was either married or she got a job… she was a teacher," he said swiftly as that came to him. "I mean in the city. She was with… someone," he said, his voice ending in anger as he couldn't discern it enough to be sure.

"Leave it Rick," Beckett said. "You'll be up all night trying to figure it out."

Castle sighed and then said, "True I-" before he was interrupted by his wife's phone making a text alert noise. "It's Skye," he stated instead of asking.

Glancing at him as she was reaching for her phone, Beckett took her phone and read her message before she smiled saying, "The people in charge at _Dancing With the Stars_ contacted her. They want her to go back at the start of next season to perform the opening. They also want her to judge The Beatles Night they'd want to try and do, and they would like the four to dance again."

"Just the one night?" Castle said. "Wait, Derek won't be there."

"No but he's told her he'll choreograph their dance for them," Beckett said. "She'll get in touch with the other parents," she said before she looked at her husband.

"I'm fine with her doing that," Castle said quickly. "You're not?"

"No, I am," Beckett said as fast as he had and with a smile. "But let's wait until after breakfast to tell her."

"She might notice you're holding something back," Castle pointed out to her.

Beckett, busy texting Skye at that moment, didn't answer and waited until she had sent the message saying, "We'll tell them after," firmly.

"Sure," Castle said, shrugging his shoulders. He helped her with the covers as she was laying down and he said, "But what about school?"

"We'll figure something out; we have time because they won't want her and the other kids there until that episode," Beckett said. "So it'll be a brief visit."

"Did she say what week it would be?" Castle asked her.

Shaking her head Beckett said, "Skye said that it's not a hundred percent sure yet but most likely it would be around week five or six. That would likely make it some point in April."

"Hopefully not the same week as Josie's birthday," Castle commented.

Beckett smiled and said, "A year."

"I know," Castle replied as he wrapped his arm around her since she was laying down fully. "What would you like to do?" he asked before he looked at her, startled when she laughed.

"I had a feeling that you were going to say something about that," Beckett explained, knowing he was probably looking at her in confusion. "But let's wait until we're closer okay?"

"Sure," Castle replied. "Time to sleep?"

"It is, we have a lot tomorrow," Beckett replied. She raised her head enough so they could kiss and once they'd done so she told him, "I love you Rick."

"I love you too Kate," Castle said before they were kissing again. It was a gentle kiss and he soon had her wrapped in his arms again as she laid down. "We have a lot to look forward to," he couldn't help saying after they'd murmured goodnight to one another. "Christmas at your cousin's… next year."

Beckett smiled and then told him, "I'm eager for it too, but we have writing and the girls have school. But we need to focus on the girls tomorrow."

"Go with me to dinner next weekend," Castle said suddenly.

"Alright," Beckett replied, smiling again. She pressed closer against him and said, "The club?"

"Yeah, that too," Castle said rapidly. He smiled himself when she yawned and said, "I'll get us reservations tomorrow. Night love."

"Night Rick," Beckett said with a sigh as she settled herself against him.

The pair were quiet after that, closing their eyes so they could start falling asleep though they couldn't help thinking of their upcoming night together. Castle and Beckett were both eager for the holiday season with their family, but they couldn't help becoming focused on each other. They let that follow them as they nodded off and they were soon dreaming of one another as they were wrapped tight in each other's arms.


End file.
